Sapa- Vietnam

Sapa Vietnam is 400 km (9 hour drive by car) north-west of Hanoi. The cloud-covered town of Sapa is located at 1550 m above the sea level, cool all year round. There are many magnificent mountains including the peak of Indochina - Fansipan of 3143m elevation. 

 The area of Sapa is home to 7 ethnic groups with unique cultures, lifestyles and languages; all wearing their traditional attires, working on evergreen terraces. Hill tribes gather for the weekend market for trade and for meeting with lovers.  Sapa is a good place for relaxing holidays, for cultural touring, and/or for trekking and should not be missed on your trip to Vietnam.

Sapa Town from above

 The area was built into a hill station for the French colonialists to get away from the heat of Hanoi and the Red River Delta in the summer. There used to be many French-styled villas in town. But most of them were destroyed during the border clash with China in 1979.

 Nowadays Sapa attracts thousands of tourists from all of Vietnam and abroad thanks to the cool and fresh climate, the sublime nature beauty and the colorful hill tribe cultures.

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Ha Giang Vietnam travel guide

Ha Giang is located top-north of Vietnam. The area of Ha Giang Province is characterized by fabled limestone highlands with karst formations and colorful untouched ethnic minorities. Ha Giang is much shrouded in legend and is not touched by tourism.

Ha Giang is bordered to the north by China; to the south by Tuyen Quang and Yen Bai Provinces; to the east by Cao Bang and to the west by Lao Cai Province. Ha Giang has a temperate climate and it's almost cool all year round in Dong Van Rocky Plateau.

The gate to Ha Giang Province

Ha Giang is inhabited by 22 ethnic groups, many of whom maintain a very traditional culture and many live an isolated life from the mainstream society.

Dong Van Rock Plateau Ha Giang Vietnam

 

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Ta Chi Nhu Mountain (Phu Song Sung) - Yen Bai

The Ta Chi Nhu Mountain (aka Mount Phu Song Sung) in Tram Tau District of Yen Bai Province, which is 2,979m above sea level, is the 6th highest mountain peak in Vietnam.

Breathtaking mounain peaks on the way to the summit of Ta Chi Nhu

 The best time to climb Ta Chi Nhu is from November to early April. If you want to take photos of an ocean of clouds at the mountain peak, then you may want to take the trip from November through the first half of March. It is freezing cold from late November through early February.

Trekking Tour Ta Chi Nhu (Phu Song Sung) – 3 Days

Trekking Ta Chi Nhu (or Phu Song Sung, 2,979m) is an extremely hard mountain climbing tour for 3 days, 2 nights. The mountain, which is the 6th highest mountain peak in Vietnam, is in Tram Tau District of Yen Bai Province, 240km North-West of Hanoi. The best time to do the trip is from December through March.

Splendid view from point where the trek starts

Motorbike Tour from Hanoi to Tram Tau in Yen Bai

It had been lovely weather in Hanoi for some time, but I could feel the temperatures tended to get warmer day by day. It was coming towards the end of a wonderful spring anyway. News of early rains in the mountains reminded me that I had better hurry, else the most wonderful moments of the year were passing!

 
Ricefields at Son Tay, Ha Tay (now Hanoi), Vietnam

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Motorbike Tour from Hanoi to Tram Tau in Yen Bai

Junk Cruise on Foggy Halong Bay

 Spring! It had been wet in Hanoi and for the last few days it had been very foggy. No doubt that the vegetation was so green and the flowers were everywhere! The singing birds were more active in looking for food and partners. The whole world seemed to be charged with new energy.

Business had been very busy recently and I had not the time to prepare for any trips. There was no way that I could get out of the office for a long holiday now. There were a quite a few folks traveling in groups with Paradissa and it was necessary that I had to double-check the services on Halong Bay. Besides, one of our business partners had some new boats and we had better see them ourselves. That was a good reason then, it'd make me feel less guilty getting off from work for a couple of days. That was it, I'd be having a great time tomorrow!

The driver came at 0800 A.M and we arrived on Tuan Chau Island at 11:30 A.M. They had road construction somewhere on the highway to Lang Son and we had to wait for a while. Tuan Chau Island was much bigger now than a few years ago. It wouldn't surprise me to find a big city here some time soon. They were still reclaiming more land and a few more new buildings were being started...

Sun deck on a luxuy junk on Halong Bay

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Travel Ba Be by Motorbike: Escape from Hectic Life Part 2

I wake up by crows of the cocks in the early morning. It's still dark and cold outside and I have nothing to hurry for today. It's lovely lying in bed gazing mindlessly out of the window into the infinity of darkness. Things seem to be changing slowly as the mountains begin to reveal its green color gradually from the thick fog.

 After dozing off for a while, the day light brings me up again and the coffee is yelling my name. It's good time to start the day now. It's still cold and things are drying up quickly. There must have been a shower in the night. Everything is so quiet all around, most people are still in bed, I guess....

Early morning by the lake of Ba Be

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