A water wheel near Sa Pa, but with a difference this, and the ones just below use bamboo pipes to lift the water up to the field
This series conducts you, in a westerly direction, across the provinces of Lào Cai and Lai Châu in the north-west of Vietnam. Here we come back to the hill-town of
Sa Pa
already featured on a previous page. Below photographs come from a small village to its north - Ta Phin - and to Cát Cát and Tả Van villages to Sa Pa's south-east. This is a highly visitor orientated area, and very different from most of the
villages shown
on these pages, even places such as
Mai Chau,
a village designed for tourists, is more laid back and relaxed than the tourist hot spots of Sa Pa with its waves of short stay visitors. This flow results in guide services, demonstrations, sales, and a volume of people that makes photography harder. However, here are some water wheels, curvaceous paths and domestic animals that retain the essential delight of rural Vietnam. Next time: the people and some crafts.
The angled bamboo poles act as buckets
Across the river you can see a rather westernised facility: children's swings to cater for
that flow of tourists mentioned above
A house nestling among vegetable patches, terraces and trees
Usually, in the north, houses are well spaced allowing their owners room to grow their own food. A packed community like this suggests government planned re-location
Shafts of light around the hills are typical of the area around Sa Pa. The foreground field has the stubble
of the last rice harvest
During winter, before the next crop is planted, the paddy fields offer bamboo reflections
A small cafe sits above the steep river bank, and below it...
Across that ravine, a bridge in
good repair
...a woman paddles towards the typically turquoise water
Under the bridge, a stream cascades through the rocks
Nearby, another stream joins from above, and tourists are accommodated with a viewing area
The black bundle, bottom right, is a tourist, elbow in the air
An elegant waste basket. The sign suggests, both more literally and poetically: "Abandon rubbish in here"
Google thinks these might be Muscovy ducks
...does show similar (un-named) goats near Sa Pa
A hen not needing Google, but white chicks? Google ...
These piglets seem to lack the steep forehead of the famous pot bellied Vietnamese pig
Two sets of eves: above with lapped shingles, and...
...here the wood has been built into the eve
Wi
n
d
i
n
g
P
a
t
h
s
Path in use by tourists - others of whom have left cans
Trailers...
The next Picture Posting
page is to show some of the people and their crafts that live in the above villages.
The next page
of the Ruminations Section is headed 'Butcher'.
Or go to the contents of the Ruminations Section.
The last page had photos from Lào Cai City and the central part of the Province
Go to a page about a rather bigger waterfall - Gullfoss in Iceland
To a page with photos from the town of Sa Pa itself
...guide to this site