#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Vietnam, Nepal and Burma  Travel Forum >  >  Sapa and Taphin Hiltribe and other Vietnam pics

## MarilynMonroe

Fish's Laos thread, got me looking at some of my old photos when I did a three month tour around Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. I have many pics, but the pics from my visit to see the hilltribes north of Sapa was very unique. I thought I'd pop up a few photos of that trip. 


I drove on the back of a motorcycle along a narrow road with terraced rice paddies on both sides to get to the hilltribe village.



As I got closer to the hilltribe village, I felt like I was going into a totally different world. There was mist/fog all around.

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## MarilynMonroe

Planting rice I believe.

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## MarilynMonroe

Hardworking and beautiful people all around.

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## MarilynMonroe

I think the pig may be pregnant?





Kids being kids..playing jumprope.

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## lom

> I think the pig may be pregnant?


Vietnamese potbellied pig

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## MarilynMonroe

^Oh, thanks, I didn't know there was a name for it. 

I'll post some pics of Hanoi. I stayed for about a week. I took a train along the coast and stopped in Hoi An. I also did a two night trip in Halong Bay. 


Hanoi was the craziest place I've seen for traffic. I almost got killed in Vietnam which I'll never forget. I was on the back of a motodop taxi and he hit a bicycle and I spun out  in the middle of an intersection. I ended up taking three layers off my leg the size of a melon. Anyway, thankfully we weren't going fast, and I didn't get killed. It only laid me up for an extra three or four days in Hue. 

On to Hanoi




I stayed in the old quarter which was so quaint. 




St. Joseph's Cathedral which is pretty awesome within the old quarter.

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## MarilynMonroe

Royal Residence I guess where Ho Chi Minh used to work from. 


Ho's Mausoleum which was packed to get in. I didn't go in though.









Quite a touristy place Ho's place.

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## MarilynMonroe

This is the pagoda of Tran Quoc temple. 
I'll post more pics later. Hope you enjoy, bed time for me.

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## Saint Willy

> Royal Residence I guess where Ho Chi Minh used to work from.


Ho Chi Minh was not a royal and these were not royal residences.

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## reinvented

nice pictures, thanks

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## Edmond

> nice pictures, thanks


Yeah, the mountain hilltribe ones are nice to see.

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## sabang

Very nice indeed- thanks for sharing.  :irish:

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## MarilynMonroe

Thanks folks.. lots more to come, it's just to find the time to post. 


Strawberries anyone?

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## CalEden

Great photos! How was the train ride? Hoi An?

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## MarilynMonroe

^Thanks, the train ride was amazing! I took it all along the coast down to Hue. I then took a bus to Hoi An. Hoi An was very special. I actually took videos from the moving train. I'll try to post one. A few more from Hanoi first. This trip was back in 2008, so my memory on certain details are missing. I stopped in Hue first which is before Hoi An. I went from Hue to Danang to Hoi An. Hue is where I almost got killed. 







This is Hoan Kiem Lake which you can't miss in the middle of Hanoi. You can walk around it. 





IF you visit Hanoi, I'd highly suggest visiting the Water Puppet show. It is a must see!

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## MarilynMonroe

Once you cross the famous red bridge (Huc bridge), I posted above you get see this famous temple.




Other pics of it are posted above. It is sort of in the middle of the Lake.

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## MarilynMonroe

So getting to the moving train vid. 





Hoian was like you stepped back in time with old cobblestone streets and people riding bicycles around. It is also full of tailor shops and very touristy. You can get literally anything made here for cheap. I got some leather boots made and a ton of summer dresses. 















This bridge is famous it's called the Japanese covered bridge, made out of wood in the 1590's, made by the Japanese community.

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## MarilynMonroe

I took this video in 2008 North of Sapa. The quality isn't the greatest and it is very windy, but the views are pretty nice.

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## MarilynMonroe

Took this across from Fansipan the highest mountain in Vietnam, quite near the China border. I didn't know at the time that six years later I'd be moving to China.

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## MarilynMonroe

Conversation with the Taphin hilltribe and Red Dzao Hilltribe. They were super friendly.

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## katie23

Great pics & vids, MM. Thanks for sharing. Makes me miss Vietnam. Went there on a trip last year - Hanoi, Hue, Danang (+ Hoi An side trip), then Saigon. Didn't explore Sapa or Halong Bay - maybe next time. I want to hike Mt Fansipan too. Like you, I took the night train from Hanoi to Hue. I made a thread about it somewhere. Cheers!

Edit: did you join in a tour group wherein you hiked in the mountains & slept in a homestay place with the hill tribes? I've seen some of those tours in blogs/ vlogs.

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## Saint Willy

> IF you visit Hanoi, I'd highly suggest visiting the Water Puppet show. It is a must see!


It's a horrible tourist trap.

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## MarilynMonroe

> Edit: did you join in a tour group wherein you hiked in the mountains & slept in a homestay place with the hill tribes? I've seen some of those tours in blogs/ vlogs.


Thanks! I did see your Vietnam pics, I'm glad I can help you reminisce.  I did a one day tour from Sapa to the hilltribe area. I didn't stay overnight, however there are 2 night or longer stays if you want to do that. In regards to the mountains north of Sapa, I just hired a motortaxi and rode on the back of it. The views were stunning and even quite scary at times. I'll post more of Sapa and north of it, you'll see what I mean. The roads are narrow, busy and no side barriers. It honestly was the most amazing scenery I've ever seen (esp. if you love mountains!)






Along the way we saw a waterfall that I decided to get up and climb up. 



(sorry for the different size of pics, it is quite a job finding these pics on different external drives and in other places)

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## MarilynMonroe



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## MarilynMonroe

A few in Sapa itself.




downtown Sapa



The view behind my hotel was absolutely amazing. The mist /fog was nestled in the mountains and you couldn't see the bottom.

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## MarilynMonroe

Back to Hoian where I moved on to Danang area and visited My Son. My Son are ancient ruins from the ancient Cham empire. They are a UNESCO World Heritage site.

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## Klondyke

> This is Hoan Kiem Lake which you can't miss in the middle of Hanoi. You can walk around it.


Is there somewhere nearby a board saying that this is the lake where the famous pilot was fished out from by the local people, saving his life avoiding his drowning, after his bombing of their power plant?

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## MarilynMonroe

^Not that I recall, darling! Although, there is so much history in Vietnam. Also, so much history in Cambodia where I spent a month. Sadly, I never made it to Ho Chi Minh/Saigon.

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## Neverna

> So getting to the moving train vid.


Reminds me of my time in Vietnam, and probably the slowest trains in the world.

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## Klondyke

> Reminds me of my time in Vietnam, and probably the slowest trains in the world.


Ever by train in Thailand?

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## Neverna

> Ever by train in Thailand?


Yes, but Vietnamese trains were far slower (in my experience). The night train from Sapa to Hanoi was superb, though. Very plush, very nice.

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## MarilynMonroe

^Haha, really? I found the trains in Thailand much slower. The train from Hanoi to Sapa was deathly slow, but then again I took a day train, hard seater that ended up being delayed for three hours at one of the stops. I ended up being bored out of my mind as we couldn't leave the train and I ended up showing some Vietnamese people how to play solitaire. The train wasn't overly fast mind you in Vietnam, but it seemed to slow down quite a bit, and then speed up. It was no bullet train,  but I enjoyed the views and had a sleeper bunk.

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## Saint Willy

> I took a day train, hard seater


Jaysus, Mary and Joseph, I am so glad I am not on a backpacker, tight arse, budget again.

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## MarilynMonroe

^I took three months off of working to travel at the time, so I didn't have loads of money. I did stay in decent enough places, but not in luxury. It was only my second year living abroad, I didn't have a lot of dosh, but made the trip anyway and enjoyed every minute of it. Spent a lot more time in Thailand than any other country though. Anyway, I'm leavin the forum for awhile. Don't miss me too much, you bundle of negativity.

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## Joe 90

Cool pics and thread, thanks for taking the time to share.

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## pickel

No need to bore us with your affliction Joe, I'm sure she'd send you private pics of her udders if you just asked her.

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## Edmond

Brangelina. 

Bennifer.


Dickza.

Monjoe.

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## MarilynMonroe

> Cool pics and thread, thanks for taking the time to share.


Thanks, it was a trip down memory lane for sure, especially when travel is off the table for who knows how long now.  :Wink:

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## MarilynMonroe

I just realized I have more pics that I downloaded in Imgur for this thread. I'll pop them on.

Cua Dai Beach which is near Hoi An

It was a beautiful blue sky day and I was told the only beach near Hoi An to swim. It was very relaxing with some locals around, but pretty deserted.








This is before the local kids seem to attack.




Then throngs of people seemed to take over the shelter, shielding them from the sun I gathered.








Locals hanging out







Saw very few people trying to sell things on the beach.. except this sweety.

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