The mountains of the north

With my partner in adventures back in town, Liz and I have had an amazing week in the north of Vietnam. After an overnight in Hanoi we headed straight to Ba Be Lakes a six hour drive north of the big smoke and the passing scenery certainly gave us an indication of what was to come. Green, green and more green.

The mountains and the rice paddies were spectacular and the people also had a very different look, particularly the women with their rounder faces and headscarves.

Once walking down the village pathways the tranquility of the area was overwhelming, as the people went about their work in the paddies and fishing.

The next day was one the highlights of my many days of travelling. We trekked for 8 hours under the guidance of a sprightly Mr Ninh, a 74 year old to an Hmong village. The first few hours were up, up, up along little goat tracks through the jungle until we arrived at a mountain top meadow which housed the population of 250.

We entered a local home to eat our packed lunch and it was so nice that we were not idolised. Merely given a little table and stools. Our simple lunch was perfect - sticky rice which was still warm after being wrapped in banana leaves dipped in crushed peanuts with salt and a couple of freshly fried eggs. Then, we were invited to join the family around the fire. They were so proud to have us in their home and the women were so natural in their traditional attire. The walk back was long but thankfully easier and gave us further changes to admire the magnificent mountain scenery. Plus, there was a sneaky motorbike ride with three of us on the bike to finish off - sans helmets of course!

The following day was a boat ride on the lakes and Norwegian fjords is the immediate comparison that I must make. Stunningly beautiful without the tourists and accompanying infrastructure.
Another quick stop in Hanoi and then a train trip took us to Tam Coc - an area of limestone karsts and yet more rice paddies. Again so spectacular and peaceful when you were off the tourist beat. Unfortunately, a light drizzle set in for our last couple of days and visibility was greatly reduced! It was nice to be cool for a change but it would have been oh so good to have seen some blue sky. More photos of the north