Vietnam - Ha Giang - Part I

After returning from Ha Long Bay we had initially planned to go down to Hoi An. We decided after looking at flights and determining how we would get to Cambodia from Vietnam that we would head to Northern Vietnam and visit the region of Ha Giang ( pronounced Ha Zang more or less ).

This would end up being one the highlights of our trip. As we would experience beautiful peaks and valleys across the area and also learn about the minority ethnic communities of Vietnam.

We would take a bus from Hoi An to get up there. Aina had read up on how manage the bus situation, as it is sort of odd. We had read to ignore everyone asking us questions when we got the terminal and walk into the main building. We would see the various ticket counters and turn to the right and pass some guards, explaining we were taking a bus. Once to the parking terminal we would have to seek out the bus we needed for Ha Giang, it had a sign fortunately. We would pay for our ticket on the bus. What the tickets serve I would assume would be to increase the price for tourists.

The seats are sort of like lazy boys but smaller and less comfortable and you have a tiny shoebox to place your feet within. I do not have small feet.

We would plan our "loop" of Ha Giang once we got up there. We would take three days and go the opposite direction of the normal / suggested route. This would allow to see markets in Du Gia, where we would spend the first night, and in Dong Van.

We rented a moto and headed off to work Du Gia.

In Du Gia we managed to be there for the Saturday market. The evening before there were many preparations for the market. We decided to eat dinner at the same restaurant we had eaten lunch in during the afternoon. It was family run with the father being the cook. He was really nice and gave us large portions for dinner. As we were finishing up, he sat down beside me and produced a small bottle of corn liquor sort like the liquor from mash for whiskey before it is processed. He signaled the number 3, placing small glasses in front of me and Aina. We drank the shot with him and he began to pour again. We insisted "no,no" but he grabbed ahold of my glass and Aina had not finished hers yet. We took another shot and then I held on to my glass. He took a third shot and went back to cooking. After we had finished, I motioned to him that I was taking Aina's shot. He then invited us to his table with his wife where they were eating a fruit similar to a peach. He and his wife began to peel and feed us the fruit. He started to try and ask questions, we used Google translate as he explained he had his wife and children and asked us questions. It was a nice moment as we asked about his children and he asked how old we were and why we didnt have children haha.

The next day there were so many people in the small town that was now packed with people throughout. Many people from the surrounding areas and ethnic groups would have been there since 4am setting up and organizing.