Watching the dawn come up over the hills west of Xín Mần
This collection of pages, on the Xín Mần area, continues the journey to the west of the town, through the Nàn Mạ Commune, on the way to
Bắc Hà
in neighbouring Lào Cai. As everywhere in the northern parts of Vietnam the road climbs over passes and towards the clouds and these provide photos for the first part of this page; there are also photographs of the local women in their special costumes, they come from the Hmong community, considerable effort seems to go into kitting themselves
out in these bright colours.
Women picking their way down the hillside towards (and away from) the market in Xín Mần Town
Morning mist, still touched with pink
The pink disappears, but in the valleys the mist hangs on
A house peeps out over the brightening morning
On the higher mountains the mist persists for much longer
Down at more homely levels, a buffalo allows bareback riding
While another one simply lends domestic ease
A potential amphitheatre - of terracing
A Don Quixote figure (sporting a woman's hat) this rider is saddled, although twisted round to look as though he is riding side-saddle
By this village, a group of western visitors...
...met these Hmong women and children
At a discreet distance, they were definitely interested in the vehicles, as well as their occupants
Such elaborate clothing; both in making and maintaining
- however, not for the youngest
Vietnam is home to over a million Hmong people, one of the largest ethnic minority groups in the country. A slightly larger group is found in China. They are concentrated in the northern highland areas such a around Xín Mần. The population includes many sub-groups with differing languages, cultural habits and costumes
This is Sán Chải village, with its splendid position. Having quite forgotten, at a different season, I took...
...the picture again three years later. The trees are similar, but notice the school has an extension to your left
And here is Sán Chải in the context of its beautiful landscape; taken at the time of the first photo above. Actually it is just out of Xín Mần Province and into the neighbouring Lào Cai, more photos of that borderland in coming pages
Trailers...
The next Picture Posting
page takes you to the border area between Xín Mần and Lào Cai, in northern Vietnam.
The next page
of the Ruminations Section is headed 'Reeth Hillside'.
Or go to the contents of the Ruminations Section.
The last page's photos came from the town of Xín Mần
To a page with some more colour, but from India
To some views looking down on clouds in Tenerife
...guide to this site