Trekking in Sa Pa

Sa Pa is a beautiful town set in the northern mountains of Vietnam, near the border with China. It takes an overnight train journey to get there from Hanoi. From the Lao Cai train station, it is a winding road up to Sa Pa town. I stayed there for 2 days, and trekked through terraced rice fields and villages of the ethnic minorities. My trekking guide, Maya (her real name is Gia, pronounced as Za) belonged to one of the ethnic minorities herself, and took me to visit her village and a local house.

Love Waterfall

By road from the Lao Cai train station up to Sa Pa

Hoang Lien National Park

Misty mountains

Trekking to the Love waterfall

My local guide, Maya, who belongs to the Black H'mong ethnic minority

The hill town of Sa Pa is chilly and beautiful in winter. The Town Square is a large empty area, where you could walk, sit and relax, or eat delicious Vietnamese food. I had all my meals at an excellent cafe called Gecko.

Sa Pa town

Town square

A village school

The rice terraces are brown, dry and misty in winter. In the summer months, they look beautiful in bright green and yellow. The trek took us through several villages, where we saw the inhabitants preparing food, children playing about and vendors selling local handicrafts.

Terraced rice fields, in the mountains of Sa Pa

Walking through local villages in the Muong Hoa valley

Dyed cloth used by the Black H'mong ethnic minority

Young girls from ethnic minority communities

Going to school

The Red Dao ethnic minority - according to an old custom, married women have to shave their heads and eyebrows

Wintry days at Bái Tử Long Bay

According to legend, when Vietnam was under siege from northern Chinese invaders, a dragon and her children descended on the country to protect it. The dragons fought with fire and emeralds, which later turned into rocks on the sea. The invaders were defeated and their ships sank into the sea. After that, the dragon made Ha Long Bay her lair, while her children waited on her at Bái Tử Long Bay. 

I did a 2-day 1-night cruise to Bái Tử Long Bay. IndoChina Junk is the only company that runs tours here and they have 13 nicely-decorated ships. It was a wonderful experience of relaxing, watching the limestone rocks sail by, meeting other people on the cruise ship and eating seafood delicacies. In winter, the scenery had a cold, calm and misty look; beautiful in grey and green!

View from near the captain's cabin

Limestone rocks, green waters and serenity!

Stark winter beauty

Upper deck on the ship

Around evening, we descended from the ship to a private beach. We spent an hour relaxing, talking and getting to know the Vietnamese staff on the ship and watching the local boys play beach football. I later went kayaking in the sea - an absolutely exhilarating experience!

Ships, boats and kayaks everywhere!

Beach football, with oars serving as goalposts

My first time on a cold beach!

The limestone rocks at Bái Tử Long Bay are soft, resulting in several cave formations

Exploring the caves

Our ship was parked here at night, amidst other ships

The next morning, we visited a floating village in the sea. There are many such villages in Ha Long Bay and Bái Tử Long Bay. Vietnamese people from the mainland settled there, to escape the American war. The limestone rocks form a natural barrier to the dangers of the open seas. The people make their living from tourism and get their supplies from the mainland. The villages have schools, and children learn to row a boat at the age of 5, which is the only way for them to get around.

The waters are clear and pristine

Our boat-woman

Houses in the floating village

A lone fisherman

Water puppet shows are a centuries-old tradition in Vietnam. The show is complimented by local music and uses characters and incidents from farm life, tales and stories, weddings and festivals.

Stage for a water puppet show at Yen Duc village

Puppets depicting rice cultivation using water buffaloes