Trip of couple Anne-Marie and Christian AUDE with the local agency Vietnam Evasion
From September 20, 2019 to October 2, 2019
Tour : Hanoi – Bac Ha – Hoang Su Phi – Ha Giang – Dong Van – Lung Phin – Lan Ha Bay
Episode 5: The Gates of Heaven
Before leaving on the Road to Happiness, a small map of North Vietnam with our 8 days route in blue and the rest in red (about 1200km)
At the foot of the Gate of Heaven is the small town of Tam Son (or Quan Ba from the name of the district)
and 10 km further the small village of Nam Dam on the edge of a small lake, where there are several guesthouses and lodges, in the country of the red Dao.
Nous passerons la nuit au charmant “Dao Lodge” maison en pisé de 4 chambres en bois et bambou :
Une dernière balade nous permet de rencontrer des Dao rouge, mais on ne peut pas communiquer cette fois car on a laissé Vinh se reposer, épuisé de nous dire à chaque fois :
” Non c’est pas une Dao à Long Tunique, c’est une Dao rouge, c’est pas une Nung, c’est une Tay” on ne désespère pas d’y arriver un jour.
The meal is done in a house close to the lodge… and it is left for the “Chúc suc khoe”.
Between 2 glasses of alcohol of rice we still have time to taste an excellent meal, once again.
No photos, I do not know why they are blurred.
The next day a long stage awaits us until Meo Vac in a lunar landscape of limestone peaks and granite outcrops.
This plateau is also called “the country of rocks”, where people try to get their living from a bare land.
It seems that many Vietnamese painters and photographers go there to immortalize these landscapes.
For some, these are the most beautiful landscapes of Vietnam that await us… indeed it is very beautiful (and especially very surprising) but we prefer other landscapes
From the exit of Nam Dam, a descent towards a green valley followed by a detour lead us to a small village with the usual activities :
This village has a weaving workshop :
The track which joins the main road has some km is impracticable without all-terrain vehicle: we are obliged to turn back to find another road.
The main road goes up in bottom of valley until a fork with a very steep road on the right: Vinh asks the driver to wait a little because it is a recent road which was collapsed the previous week. This road saves a detour of 45km or approximately 1h30.
2 small buses go down, Vinh concludes that it is opened again, we are thus left in the middle of a steep slope of scree to a village surrounded by trees, like an oasis in the middle of the stones: we wonder what can live its inhabitants in a so inhospitable place, without cultivable ground, with cold winters.
We cross the village on foot, while the road bypasses it, and there we see very poor people (but still dressed with dignity) in miserable wooden shacks, who cultivate tiny plots of land…
Although the inhabitants (we did not see a man) are smiling towards us, we feel a little voyeur, so we cross rather quickly.
It is in this village that we ask Vinh to leave the bag of clothes of child and women that we had brought: T-shirt, pants, sweet (here the winter is cold), no bathing suit :((
The road always climbs with a few rockslides, but it always just passes the edge of the void
I love these strange signs with their amazing precision!
It’s been 2 hours (we could even say 5 days) that there are only curves and they decide that here it turns.
Next episode : From the Heaven Gate to Ma Pi Leng pass, Meo Vac
Fantastiques routes Bac Ha – Hoang Su Phi – Ha Giang – Dong Van – Baie Lan Ha (épisode 1)
Fantastic routes Bac Ha – Hoang Su Phi – Ha Giang – Dong Van – Lan Ha Bay (episode 2)
Fantastic routes Bac Ha – Hoang Su Phi – Ha Giang – Dong Van – Lan Ha Bay (episode 3)
Fantastic routes Bac Ha – Hoang Su Phi – Ha Giang – Dong Van – Lan Ha Bay (episode 4)
Fantastic roads Bac Ha – Hoang Su Phi – Ha Giang – Dong Van – Lan Ha Bay (episode 6)
Fantastic roads Bac Ha – Hoang Su Phi – Ha Giang – Dong Van – Lan Ha Bay (episode 7)
Fantastic roads Bac Ha – Hoang Su Phi – Ha Giang – Dong Van – Lan Ha Bay (episode 8)
Fantastic roads Bac Ha – Hoang Su Phi – Ha Giang – Dong Van – Lan Ha Bay (episode 9)
Fantastic roads Bac Ha – Hoang Su Phi – Ha Giang – Dong Van – Lan Ha Bay (episode 10)
