The Ethnic Groups of Ha Giang: Who Lives Here
The Ethnic Groups of Ha Giang: Who Lives Here Travelers usually meet the ethnic groups of Ha Giang before they know anything about them. You stop at a market, buy something from a woman in clothing you have never seen before, and realise you have no idea who you have just been talking to. This […]
Hmong Linen Weaving: A Living Craft in Ha Giang
Hmong Linen Weaving: A Living Craft in Ha Giang The first thing you notice about Hmong linen weaving is the sound. A wooden loom being worked by hand has a rhythm to it, and in a village where several women are working, you hear the place before you see it. The second thing you notice, […]
Phong Nam Valley: Cao Bang’s Quiet Corner Near Ban Gioc
Phong Nam Valley: Cao Bang’s Quiet Corner Near Ban Gioc Most people arrive at Phong Nam Valley by accident. They came to Cao Bang for Ban Gioc Waterfall, the road passed through a wide flat valley of rice and stilt houses with limestone towers standing around the edges, and somebody said stop. That is how […]
Khau Vai Love Market: Meo Vac’s Tradition
Khau Vai Love Market: Meo Vac’s Tradition Khau Vai Love Market is the gathering most travelers to Ha Giang have heard about and almost none have seen. It happens once a year, in a remote commune in Meo Vac district, and if your dates do not line up you simply do not get to go. […]
Vietnamese Phrases for Ha Giang
Useful Vietnamese Phrases for Ha Giang You do not need Vietnamese to travel in Ha Giang. But learning even a handful of useful Vietnamese phrases changes the texture of the trip in a way that is difficult to describe until it happens to you. The moment is usually small. You say thank you properly at […]
Ha Giang Souvenirs: What to Bring Home
Ha Giang Souvenirs: What to Bring Home Most Ha Giang souvenirs that end up in a suitcase were not planned for. Somebody stops at a market for twenty minutes, watches an old woman working a loom, and leaves with a piece of indigo cloth they had no intention of buying that morning. That is the […]
Ha Giang ATM and Cash: What to Bring on the Loop
Ha Giang ATM and Cash: What to Bring on the Loop Finding a Ha Giang ATM is not difficult in the city. Finding one in a village at four in the afternoon when you have run out of small notes is a different situation entirely, and it is the one this guide is written to […]
Ha Giang SIM Card and Internet on the Loop
Ha Giang SIM Card and Internet on the Loop Most travelers ask about a Ha Giang SIM card for one of two reasons. Either they need to stay reachable, or they have heard the mountains are a dead zone and want to know how cut off they are about to be. The real answer sits […]
Quay Son River: Cao Bang’s Emerald Water
Quay Son River: Cao Bang’s Emerald Water The first time you see the Quay Son River, you will probably assume the photo you saw beforehand was edited. It was not. On a good morning in Trung Khanh the water is a flat jade green, the kind of colour that looks wrong next to the brown […]
Ha Giang Corn Wine and Happy Water: A Traveler’s Guide
Ha Giang Corn Wine and Happy Water: A Traveler’s Guide Somewhere on your second evening in the mountains, a small cup will appear in front of you. Nobody will announce it. The host will fill it from a plastic bottle that once held cooking oil, raise their own cup, look you in the eye, and […]