Start of our Far North Loop

Feb. 24 – 25: We are on day 2 of our 13 Day Far North Loop which we arranged through Far East Tours. We are travelling with a driver who speaks no English and our guide/ translator Josie whose English is quite good. Most of our travels will be in areas where few foreign tourists travel so a guide who speaks Vietnamese is essential.

The first day was more of an “in-transit” day with few stops along the way to Nghia Lo, where we stayed overnight. We left at 11:00 a.m. for the 188 km (3 1/2 hour) drive. Unfortunately there were no appropriate lunch places en route so in hindsight we should have left earlier and taken a “picnic lunch” to eat along the way. Our hotel in Nghia Lo was fine but it would be worth driving an hour longer and staying at Le Champ in Tu Le. This is a much more scenic and interesting village.

Day 2 from Nghia Lo to Mu Cang Chai (2 1/2 hour drive) was very scenic as we travelled through the Hoang Lien Son range, which has some of the highest mountains in Indochina. We made many short stops for pictures along the way and extended stops so we could visit the ethnic minority villages.

Our stop in the valley of Tu Le was one of our extended stops. Tu Le is home to the HMong and Thai ethnic minority communities. Our guide was able to arrange for 3 local Thai fellows to take us on their bikes through the countryside and into a Thai minority village. As you will see from the pictures we had some wonderful interactions with the Thai people.

Mu Cang Chai Ecolodge, where we are staying for 2 nights, is even more basic and rustic than the farmstay. All is good though as the bed is comfortable and we have our travelling pillows. We have a great view from our room ….Mu Cang Chai has 700 hectares of terraced rice fields and in harvest season it would be stunning – the fields are “resting” right now and will not be planted until May/June.

We reached Mu Cang Chai Ecolodge early afternoon which gave us time to visit a couple of the Hmong villages close by. It was great as a few of the young HMong staff (Hu, Cua and De) from our Ecolodge took us around the local villages on the back of their motorbikes. Being with locals from the village, we were able to see in some homes and once again interact with the people.

The HMong ladies wear the same head scarf as the Thai, but the Hmong normally wear the colourful skirt. Thai wear a black skirt or pants.