Blogs from Northwest, Vietnam, Asia - page 9

Pour la première fois on s'éloigne tout à fait de l'itinéraire prévu et on part pour Ha Giang, tout au nord du Vietnam : selon plusieurs personnes c'est une des plus belles régions montagneuses du nord et encore peu connue par rapport au nord-ouest. Le bus de nuit nous dépose à 3h45 dans la ville de Ha Giang, où l'on s'embarque pour la journée la plus longue et la plus éprouvante depuis qu'on est ici ! On n'a pas fermé l'oeil de la nuit, néanmoins on décide de commencer dès qu'il fait jour l'exploration de la région. Premier obstacle (pour ma part en tout cas): le scooter n'est pas adapté aux routes de montagne, on nous refile des motos semi-automatiques... Ensuite, nos gros sacs sur le dos sont trop encombrants pour la moto... on décide de ... read more

We arrived in Dien Bien Phu after a fairly long day on the bus from Oudomxai in Laos. Awkwardly we were on a sleeper bus for the day, which meant that you could only lie down, no sitting option. You never know what species of bus you're going to get in SE Asia, a fact of life we're trying to embrace! Crossing the border at Tay Trang (most northern crossing into Vietnam from Laos) was a piece of cake. We had heard that people had some difficulties with the next border crossing down, but as we were on the one bus for the whole trip it was very streamlined. On arrival at Dien Bien Phu we were unexpectedly met with what has now become a theme of our trip: public holidays. We were expecting to be ... read more

Hi everyone, Well, its been a while since blogs so I have a lot to catch up on. I am writing this sitting in a little village on the wooden balcony of a fairly basic homestay with the sounds of roosters crowing and pigs snorting around me! Of course there is no wifi here, so I’m writing this to post later. The village is in a mountain highlands area of north west Vietnam very close to the Chinese border. It’s famous for its ethnic groups in their colourful traditional costumes and today is the weekly market so I’m looking forward to walking up there after breakfast. I saw a few ladies working the fields in heavily woven and colourful clothes on my ‘guided walk’ around the local villages yesterday. It was with a local English student ... read more

Lead the way. "I've never felt more insignificant than I do now, as I stand in the middle of Sa Pa. I'm sad after leaving Ma Ma Sung's house. I have grown attached to the family and the love that they displayed toward one another. I crave that motherly love. I find myself wandering the market place searching in hope of running into either Ma Ma Sung or Ma Ma Chi for one last farewell. I would give up everything I have for a simple life with the complete family that I'd once had." Journal Entry: 02.19.2014 The fog caption id="attachment_1815" align="alignnone" width="43... read more

Geo: 22.3945, 104.056Sa Pa is in the mountain, west of Lao Cai. It's the opposite side compared to Bac Ha and it's much greener. We managed to find an hotel with a terrace offering a great view on the Fansipan (highest summit in Vietnam). So the first evening we just grabbed some food at the market and ate while watching the sun setting behind the mountain. On our first day we just walked around and above town. We also did some shopping. There is so many shops selling cheap outdoor equipment. In the end, Elfi bought a small day pack and that's it.Home stay experience. There is many Black H'Mong women on the market trying to sell you bags or take you to their village. We decided to try a home stay. Our guide was Mu. ... read more