Terraces

Today we hired a tour guide for a trek along the valley below Sa Pa – a young lady called Pang from the Black H'mong tribe that are prevalent around these parts. We walked about five or six miles down into the valley, passing trough three villages where we were shown some of the local crafts (hemp weaving, indigo dyeing and the like), and the views along the way were outstanding. The shapes of the rice terraces were mesmerising despite not being planted up yet (planting happens in May with harvest in October). 

For some of the journey we were joined by a couple of old ladies (also Black H'mong – see extras) who succeeded in selling a few trinkets at one of the stops – we felt a *little* press-ganged into it but hey, it was all part of the fun. It was a real privilege to spend a few hours with Pang and to learn a little bit about about her life and that of her family and fellow villagers.