The four berth cabin for the Livitrans service from Hanoi to Lao Cai. Clean, comfortable and good value for money.
Two of my three travel companions. It was a little noisier than I expected but I still managed to get a decent sleep during the eight hour ride.
Lao Cai with the Red River which runs from here through to Hanoi.
The beautiful drive to Sapa along the long route via Muong Hum.
The beautiful drive to Sapa along the long route via Muong Hum. While much of the rice cultivation remains manual, these machines have been introduced recently and make the harvest much easier.
Sapa town. Development has been shambolic but the town still has plenty of charm.
The afternoon walk down to Cat Cat.
Cat Cat village.
The Holiday Sapa Hotel. Not pretty but comfortable, well located and with great views.
Day 3. Hmong women making and selling fabric in Sapa's main market.
Day 3. This Hmong family invited us in for a chat.
Day 3. Former Catholic convent on the road to Ta Phin. It was barely completed when war rendered it inoperable in the 1940s.
Day 3. Red Dzao woman Ta Phin.
Day 3. A swarm of Black Hmong sellers, many of them children, surround travellers in Sapa town.
Day 3. Sapa's black chicken on the Vietnamese restaurant street - Pham Xuan Huan.
Day 4. Crossing Tram Ton Pass en route to Pa So.
Day 4. Stunning views enroute to Pa So
Day 4. Landslides are a common feature of the journey - especially in the wet season.
Day 4. Enroute to Pa So. Road works are also very common. These are creating both landslides and terrible erosion leaving many stretches of the pristine landscape scarred.
Near Pa So and new Lai Chau town. A gorgeous simple house in a spectacular setting.
Day 5. Pa So to Dien Bien Phu. A Thai minority family invites us in for a chat.
Day 5. A slightly incongruous scene. This war memorial marks the battle of Dien Bien Phu. It is odd to imagine such vicious fighting more than fifty years ago in what is now a beautiful and peaceful scene amidst the simple huts of a Thai minority village.
Day 6. General de Castries' bunker, Dien Bien Phu.
Day 6. Trenches at A1 Hill, also known as Eliane 2, Dien Bien Phu.
Day 6. One of the few French tanks deployed at Dien Bien Phu now has pride of place on top of Hill A1 looking over the Muong Thanh Valley to the mountains from which the Viet Minh attack came.
Day 6. Dog meat is very popular in Vietnam's far north and there are many dog restaurants in Dien Bien Phu. I wondered whether this unlikely Bavarian hostess imagined she might end up spruiking dog meat.
Day 6. General Giap's bunker complex outside of Dien Bien Phu.
Day 6. Pa Khoang Lake.
Day 7. A Vietnam Airlines's ATR72 on the tarmac at Dien Bien Phu's airport.
