Authentic trip to Vietnam in the Lai Chau region.
Family group Mrs. Fabienne Nguyen from France, 2 persons, from 30/4/2018 to 9/5/2018.
Deep tour in Lai Chau and Mai Chau region in 10 days : Hanoi – Sa Pa – Lai Chau – Sin Suoi Ho – Muong So – Phong Tho – Sin Ho – Muong Lay – Son La – Mai Chau
Day 1 ( 30/4): Hanoi – Sa Pa
In the morning, we leave with our driver Hiep and Vinh our guide.
The first part was very classical, road from Hanoi to Sapa, arrival in the middle of a 3 days weekend. It was a vast fair filled with Vietnamese tourists and things like Disney land that blink, not enough to fall in love, a good point however for the market, the H’Mong and Dao had brought out their most beautiful costumes … there were many people,
Night at the hotel, big beautiful room, a more, a small swimming pool and a very good breakfast that we can take in terrace. Attention, at the foot of the hotel a Karaoke which can disturb the sensitive ears,
Day 2 ( 1/5): Sa Pa – Ban Bo – Nà Tam – Soi Thau – Ban Hon – Lai Châu
The next day, road for the pass of O Quy Ho with a stop at the silver waterfall..to see that if we pass in front.
Not of what to be ecstatic, one goes up a flight of steps, passes the footbridge and goes down again on the opposite side, it is exploited and very visited in spite of the morning hour, the passage is paying.
The road is beautiful, too bad the sky is a bit cloudy and the mist covers the summits. I could however make some “wadded up” but nevertheless beautiful photos.
Stop (to be done) at the small market of Binh Lu, the merchants are lined up along the road and propose some vegetables. On the other side of the road, a promontory offers a beautiful panorama, the village is slightly downhill and is very small.
We arrive at Ban Bo, the village of the water wheels. There are about twenty of them in a row along the river, the show is surprising especially as many black Thais are at the bath with their beautiful costumes for some … it’s Sunday, families come there to barbecue and enjoy the bath, it is very good child, good time!
Normally the wheels are removed after the irrigation period and put under cover, here they remain in place, tourism obliges.
Ban Hon, Lu village, we stop instead in a small hamlet attached to this village which is too “organized” for our taste.
The first visited house will be the good one, we are very well received, we are offered an infusion, the house on stilts is big, the fireplace is slightly away and the main room is vast, it is a big family which lives here
The mother weaves and the beautiful daughter cooks, the children (4) are all in the doorway looking at us laughing, not shy for 2 cents.
We will stay more than an hour, Mrs Lu mother who has the lacquered teeth shows us how she proceeds. No more filing the teeth before lacquering, but this is the only difference with the ancestral practice.
The lacquer comes from a tree that we make, after debarking, burn on the embers, a black juice comes out of it, it is him which will be applied to the finger on the teeth every day and the evening, during 15 days, the operation is renewed if necessary. The young people do not lacquer their teeth any more.
I bought, on proposal of Mrs. Lu a complete outfit, headdress, belt, skirt, jacket … a real treasure, just missing the earrings, when leaving she offered me a bag, it was a beautiful meeting! Alas, my photos are not beautiful, it was dark, I was in backlight and I admit, that captivated because she told us, I did not apply myself at all.
Arrival in Lai Chau after a few stops to take pictures of fishermen fishing in the river…The city is not really beautiful, but it doesn’t matter, it will be only to sleep, we have a superb suite, delicate attention, thanks to the agency! Very good breakfast.
Day 3 (2/5) : Lai Chau – Si Thau Chai – Ta Leng – Sin Suôi Hồ
We leave for Thac Tac Tinh, the waterfall of love.
The legend tells that a young girl of Dao minority, Lau Lan, as beautiful as the forest of Lan fell in love with a boy of the village but their happiness was not long, the boy No is poor, the father of the girl had planned a rich marriage for his daughter … Tragic end: Lau Lan and No were united for eternity throwing themselves from the top of the waterfall.
Arnaud and Vinh will climb the 3 km that lead to the top of the beautiful waterfall, I could only follow the 1° km…too steep and uneven for me. Hiep, our driver who accompanied us for this climb (a great guy, tattooed everywhere, but with a heart as big as a wardrobe) rented a motorcycle from a village woman and we left together to climb the mountain by the track to a Dao village of Si Thau Chai (about 15km one way).
Located at 1,400 meters above sea level, the village of Si Thau Chai is about 40 km from the city of Lai Chau, the village of Si Thau Chai in the commune of Ho Thau, Tam Duong district, is home to 62 households of the Dao ethnic group … Wonderful moments, it climbs like not possible, it turns, but what landscapes! We had a blast! What happiness! The village: If Thau Chai is part of a tourist program, it is only accessible by motorcycle for the moment, a track is in project as well as an area of parapente…the interest remains the track to go there, the village is arranged with statues of roosters, buffaloes and goats, a little Kitsch to my taste,
Ta Leng is the place to go!
Small H’Mong villages clinging to the slopes of Mount Ta Leng, beautiful rice terraces, all small, like handkerchiefs but there are everywhere where the eyes rest… it’s preserved, far from everything, it’s like I like !!.
Vinh contacted a young H’mong for a future trek in the area, he said it is possible to reach Sin Suoi Ho in 2 hours, I think it will take the day … Vinh also by the way, it remains a plan to remember!
It rains, we join Sin Suoi Ho by the main road, the track initially planned is not good.
Sin Suoi Ho, very pretty village of orchids, we arrive under rain showers and will not see much of it as the rain is strong. The meal is taken in a house where we were to stay in the evening. Vinh changed the program for a market that tickled him…I regretted missing a longer stop at these H’Mong Hoa (H’mong flower)…maybe I would come back one day.
I cooked with the H’Mong lady, she, a chicken with cardamom, I, a piperade, very warm culinary exchanges! The boys were waiting drinking the Bia…as it should be!
From Sin Suoi Ho we take the direction of Muong So, an unforeseen stage which is added following the modifications of Vinh, the guest house is pleasant, the village does not have anything very particular if it is not hot springs which we will not see.
In Muong So visit the small Nàng Han temple
Legend has it that Nàng Han came from a poor family in Chieng Sa (now Muong So commune). Disguised as a man, she rose to call on young men to fight against the Chinese invaders. After having brought back the troops from the battle, she bathed in Xi’an (Muong So commune) and flew to the sky…
Everywhere in the Northwest, people dance xoè. But it is in Muong So that this “specialty” originated. Legend has it that a lord by the name of Đèo Văn Ơn, fascinated by the grace and suppleness of the young girls who danced xoè, decided to create three dance troupes. The dancers were then chosen for their beauty, according to selection criteria that beauty contest organizers would not deny…
Day 4 (3/5): Sin Suối Hồ – Mo Si Cau – Mường So
Breakfast on the market under a shed of a delicious pho!
We go to Gia Khâu, Sì Lở Lầu, to see this famous market to reculer said of the horn and to see the Yao Tapan, extremely rare ethnic group in Vietnam, they come from the other side of the street, from China!
– The “ăn trộm” festival held in Si Lo Lau village, Phong Tho district is held every year on the full moon day of January.
The festival starts with a procession called Trip Van. A young healthy person is chosen, his task is to carry two pipes to carry the water. From the water source, after the village patriarch or prestigious people have performed the ceremony of worshiping the gods, the water is brought to the central tank so that everyone can take the water and bless the new year. Then the year in the village will be lush and peaceful.
– A unique custom: the Dao conceive here that to fly is to give oneself a chance for the new year to be more favorable. Those who steal without being caught will have good luck all year long. And if the owner does not catch the thief, this year will be less good for him.
We stop at the hotel in Cau Pa So where we will spend the next night, we leave our luggage and linen to be washed, the owner says that it is possible to go to the market that it does not pose problem.
The landscape is probably the most beautiful I have seen in Vietnam, the Ma Pi Leng is almost supplanted, it’s great, but this damn rain does not let us go … I imagine what it would have given under the sun.
After more than 2 hours of road without crossing anybody and crossing only a small city we arrive in the clouds at more than 2500 meters in the village of the market of the horn.
The market known as of the horn carries this name in reference to the days of the buffalo and or the goat of the lunar calendar.
The show is there from the beginning, the Yao Tapan – wearing a red cloth or sponge horn (fashionable, haha) all belted with a huge solid silver crown! The head is shaved, the earrings and the rest of the outfit look like those of the Dao Do of Ta Phin. We take pictures with these happy ladies, there are also some Ha Nhi with the big black thread headdress…we are in the angels…!
On the way back we make a stop for lunch along the road, there we meet a couple of young married H’Mong, he is 21 years old, she is 13 years old, a real baby, in Vietnam – law of 2014 – it is forbidden to marry so young! 18 is the required age for women, but we see here, in these remote areas, that this law is not followed … They are married for 1 month, they tell us that it is a desired marriage, they love each other … We invite them to lunch.
We will spend the night in Cau Pa So (Phong To) in an establishment run by a woman as rich as Cresus (she owns precious stone mines and thinks she is the Queen of England, but without the class)!
To note, an evening meal, inedible, no breakfast planned, nobody in the kitchen, a maid will make us a fried egg, Vinh and the driver will go opposite to eat a Pho. The driver and Vinh are very badly lodged, our room at 40$ called VIP is not better although located in the new building in full work (dust at will, windows rooms… and I pass), the bathtub is particular, impossible to fill it without flooding the bathroom,, the tap is badly directed, when with the water heater, it quite simply failed, at least its water supply (cold fortunately)… big leak, a technician will intervene to repair.
Day 5 (4/5): Muong So – Phong Thô
Arnaud and Vinh have to do a trek, a local guide accompanies them, so I will spend the rest of the day with Hiep the driver. The owner of the hotel assures that the authorization to circulate is not necessary and that in addition she knows the guards well, she had already said that the day before…
The trek turns into a 2 hours hike, we have to join the walkers in a village.
We take, some of us the path through the banana trees, the others (Hiep and I) the road to Pu To (I can’t find it on my map, I don’t know where we are going).
On the way we pass a big dam and arrive on a vast banana wholesale market in Ban Nam Coum, from there we see China. There are big Chinese trucks that come to load the bunches at the exit of the plantation, the fruits are conditioned on the spot in cardboard boxes the whole orchestrated by the Chinese trader, they are Dao who work on this site.
It is 10 o’clock, we arrived in a small village (Pu To), before we followed on kilometers a kind of wall lined with ditches and I noticed many milestones sometimes Chinese….the communication is not possible with Hiep, I wait for Vinh to explain me…in fact it is the border that we will follow on more than 10 km.
We settle down in a store, café, warehouse and wait for 5 hours on our stools…nothing to do in this small village which has only one street and it’s raining, it’s cold, Hiep is sick, he has a fever ……!
We finally find a house to take a meal, a delicious tomato soup with eggs when finally our walkers arrive, they are lost… They are closely followed by a forest guard… prohibition to be there! We have to leave as soon as possible, without filming, without taking pictures, not convenient at all the man… it is at this moment that arrives an ethnic group that I do not know, I managed to take 2 pictures…
2nd night at Cau Pa So, we will ask for Banh Mi for breakfast and eat them on the road away from this ugly hotel.
Day 6 (5/5): Phong Thô – Sin Hồ
Today we will go to Sin Ho for the Sunday market, on the way we deviate a little on a small road, there is a market to visit….sur place, we make only a few meters, 50, not more, a gendarme joins us, this village is forbidden to the foreign tourists without permit to circulate…just had time to see 2 Ha Nhi.
Meeting Dao Le Viet en route.
– For information, the permits of circulation for this region, sensitive zone, militarized and very close to China, are to be asked to the authorities of immigration in Hanoi, it is necessary to count one week on the spot to have or not the said authorizations..
Sin Ho is a medium-sized city, not very beautiful…tonight we will go to take a herbal bath. Vinh is struggling to find the right place…
We arrive at the home of a Dao woman, a bit of a witch, a bit of a healer, her appearance is comical, she wears a big red coat (it is not far from 30°C) and a towel on her head.
We tram-pouillon all 4 (the driver being of all the parts) a big half hour in big tubs filled with hot water and decoctions of herbs…then, follows a massage…or a disassembling, with the choice.
I have never been so pawed, kneaded, hit even, twisted in all directions, I come out of there completely worn out but as strange as it is.
The meal at the Dao “red coat” is good, the drink offered is delicious, hibiscus and grape juice macerated and slightly alcoholic. The place is unusual, not very clean, but the experience was much more.
Night at the only hotel in Sin Ho frequented by a few fortune tellers, Vinh and Hiep found one with a client in their room in the middle of a business deal, they asked to change rooms so as not to disturb them, haha !
Day 7 (6/5): Sin Hồ – Muong Lay
The Sin Ho market was a bit disappointing, the ethnic groups were present but not as many as expected, only vegetables, many herbs and medicinal plants, food (excellent honey fritters) or Chinese trinkets, no animals.
Road to Muong Lay and the Pha Din pass.
In Muong Lay we definitely left the high mountains at more than 2000 meters, the landscapes are more “spread out” and often border the river, Pha Din will not offer the expected spectacle, the road was redone by hiding the horizon. The old road is not practicable any more.
The evening Karaoke with 4, the hotel is empty we will be the only occupants …. nice evening, the friend Vinh sings well and Hiep is an actor out of pair! Nice laugh!
We are in the second hotel of the “lady” of Cau Pa So but here things are different, the couple of guards is super nice!
Good meal prepared by the janitor, very good breakfast with banana fritters, yum, yum!
Day 8 (7/5): Muong Lay – Son La
Son La, we visit the prison, we have time, but, it is not really my cup of tea … I am however attached to this part of the history of Vietnam and France, trying to remain impartial (not easy for a Frenchwoman in this place where there is much propaganda).
Day 9 (8/5): Son La – Mai Chau
We will pass by Moc Chau with a stop at the pass to drink a very good coffee (roasted without butter and without addition of vanilla or other flavors which gives it a particular taste that we do not like).
Arrival in Mai Chau, in a nice little village in the middle of rice fields, we will make a big tour by motorcycle, each one its own except for me which is walked by my buddy of the moment: Hiep… decidedly we make good team!
We often talk about the importance of the guide but the driver also has his place and on this trip we teamed up with 4 people without shadows and always in a good mood,
The guest house Thuyet Nhung is very pleasant, I highly recommend it, we are far from the crowd in the heart of rice fields and the welcome is very nice. In the evening a show was ordered by 2 other customers, we are invited. It will be different from the one we saw 2 years ago in Xam Khoè, a little less authentic but still good.
Day 10 : Mai Chau – Hanoi
Return to Hanoi
Conclusion :
Our authentic trip to Vietnam was superb with beautiful discoveries and beautiful landscapes.
We are delighted with this experience, this authentic trip to Vietnam and aware that few will see and meet what we have been allowed!
Vinh is always so involved, we appreciate his great culture and his kindness.
The presence of Hiep was a real pleasure, this boy is cheerful and always willing to help.
The first part of Ta Leng passing by the Tac Tinh waterfall and up to the village of Sin Suoi Ho, as well as the Thai and Lu villages such as Ban Bo, Ban Hon, allow to propose a very nice tour without administrative encumbrances, an incursion to Muong So and the market of Sin Ho are enviable according to the time available.
This suggestion will be to foresee with an arrival by Sa Pa and its market accompanied by a trek with perhaps a return by Mu Cang Chai which would avoid the long road of Muong Lay – Son La – Mai Chau which we liked only for some sites, especially as we knew a part of it.
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