Vietnam: Dinh Quan

Dinh Quan was the next destination on my travels. I had past through the town on my first pass through Vietnam and I had been impressed with the truly stupendous boulders that littered the town. So as the bus rolled through from Cat Tien I jumped off and decided to explore.

I managed to check in to a relatively nice (and more importantly cheap) hotel and was soon exploring the town. It was bizarre to see shops and garages literally backing onto rocks that were twice the size of them and in some cases being used as billboards to advertise local products.

Wandering the town, I was drawn to the distance figure of a buddha that sat high on the rocks overlooking the area. It turned out that the area it sat in had been turned into a wonderful area of semi wild parkland and as I scampered over rocks and climbed past fences I was struck by just how beautiful the area was.

After I had toured the massive buddha I puffed and panted my way up the rock face on the other side of the park and was rewarded with a massive rock that was perched precariously on one side. I sunbathed beside it and enjoyed ice tea with the local teenagers who were hanging out by the boulders.

Vietnam: The hills of Sapa

 After the (fairly ) rushed pace of the Harlong Bay tour I took a days break in Hanoi to relax before booking an overnight bus to the mountainous region of Sapa.

After the unique experience of taking the sleeper bus, I took a quick snooze before heading to explore the mountain town. The first impression was one of overwhelming beauty, in Sapa huge alps like hills are cut with layer after layer of rice paddies. Tribe people wander the town in the most colourful outfits imaginable and the rivers that run through the forests turn into spectacular waterfalls.

I started my first day's trek by exploring one of the local villages, where they sold the most lovely clothes imaginable. I then treked down through the town to a nearby waterfall, by this point I was ready to have lunch so I sat enjoying the scene and talked to the friendly locals who provided my lunch. They advised me to stick around until the performance of a local traditional dance, in which the tribal girls danced coquettishly with their male counterparts.

To round off the day I took a walk through the hills that ran from the centre and found a particularly lovely and isolated trail through the undergrowth. I stopped by the nearby river and just enjoyed the view.

After a night spend teaching English to local orphans and enjoying the delicious food there I took a tour to the famous flower market, where every possible product, animal and item of clothing vied with the local people to be the most spectacular sight there. We then took a tour through a traditionally village before returning to relax and enjoy the Christmas festivities in the local town square.

I took one final day to relax and wander around the region of Sapa before booking my bus on to my next destination.