North East, away from the maddening tourists

By now enjoying the company of our newfound friends from Oz, together organised a car and driver to take us to the northeast, roads seldom travelled by westerners and only recently opened up owing to the proximity of the Chinese border. Landscape of rounded limestone crags, remote farming villages, mountains and gorges. New markets with new minority people for us and not one other Westerner. The driver, Mr Tung, spoke no English but he got on his cellphone and let us talk to an interpreter, a great resource as the language was pretty difficult with its use of inflection. Pointed to everything we wanted to eat, gesturing, writing numbers and trying to second guess what people were saying because there was no English there.

Ended our trip at Lao Cai, border town to China and gateway to Sa Pa, tourist town near Vietnams highest mountain, Franispan. Heaps of tourists, crass hotels, restaurants and liberally interspersed with Black Hmong, smaller, less colourful cousins of the Flower people from Bac Ha. They have harder land to till, colder, higher, only one crop of rice, so plenty of time to pan handle the tourists. Did a trek, nine westerners and a gaggle of Black Hmong women and kids. Stayed at a home stay set in a rice paddy by the river,good local food and a chance to talk to other travellers and formulate our itinerary.