Waterfalls and views

On our walk into Love Waterfall we saw an albino water buffalo. He looked sunburnt! It was very cloudy at the falls but Bob managed to take some better photos.

We also stopped at Silver Waterfall, which is near the road, but still an admission charge and 300 steps up!

 Another day we did another uphill trek at Ham Rong, the mountain  overlooking Sapa. It had interesting limestone formations and many flower gardens.

Plus cloud, which is all part of the amazing scenery and atmosphere here.

Looking down to the lake in Sapa. 

Village trek

Our party of four adventurers set out on a village trek to Lao Chai and Ta Van. It was a hot day and we quickly found ourselves surrounded by "friends" who had umbrellas to shield us from the sun.

Having friends comes with responsibilities and once we had bought an item we were free to walk on unhindered.

In Lao Chai we found this grandmother weaving natural hemp fibres on her loom. The cloth is narrow in width but metres long.

The hemp hangs outside to dry after it has been processed into yarn. It is quite coarse and gives a rough, stiff texture to the woven cloth.

This photo shows the process of polishing the indigo dyed cloth to give it a high shine. The flat stone is rubbed over the cloth to achieve the sheen.

A coat and sleeveless vest featuring the embroidered collar and should patches common in this area. Many Hmong women wear this daily.

 

On to Sapa

Overnight sleeper train from Hanoi to Sapa in the mountainous NW of Vietnam and we are transported to the home of the numerous hill tribes that call this region home.

This cute spot, Sapa Elegance Hotel will be home for the next week. Sometimes you can be lucky with location and we have been- away from the noise of downtown but easy walking to the action.

The local villagers, here Black Hmong, are everywhere and comb the streets looking for customers to buy their textile goods. There is so much to choose from that it is overwhelming. These baskets carry produce from the fields and wood as well as sales items.

At the large market building in town we find more to tempt us. Old embroidered items are picked apart, recycled and remade into new tourist goods.