Vietnam

May 2014

This was a short trip with the main purpose of experiencing homestay and hiking in Sapa, a small hilly town located in northern Vietnam and close to the Chinese border. The journey started from Hanoi to Lào Cai taking an overnight sleeper train from 21:30 till next morning 5:30. It was during the train journey when food poisoning (from earlier lunch/dinner) set in and my travel meds were ineffective. I couldn't eat for the next 3 days in Sapa and had some crackers to keep me going. I learnt my lesson not to eat like a local at the start of a trip.

About 100km from Sapa (about 3 hours drive), Bac Ha has a vibrant Sunday market where various ethnic minority groups in their respective attires would congregate. The main group is Flower H'mong in their very colorful traditional outfits. My host and guide is from the Red Dao tribe and she wore a red head-scarf even during hiking. On my last day, we did an off-trek hike that we both explored for the first time (along with some little companions we met on the way who followed us almost 50% of the journey). There was one little girl who was so sweet looking, I reserved the last photo of this gallery for my favorite.