Switchbackin' 4

Dong Van

And now, suddenly, I'm in Dong Van, a larger town, sitting down in a restaurant with English on the menu. I just ordered a mango smoothie!

I felt remarkably well and not hungover today, and realised that for the whole party last night, not a drop of beer was drunk anywhere by anyone. Nor any wine. Nor random spirits, besides, of course, the locally distilled organic corn whisky, or, as it's known around here, the "happy water."

I didn't even have a hint of a hangover this morning, despite the copious amounts of the stuff I was politely forced to drink by the unrelenting and frequent friendly toasts. I mean, when you're the subject of the toast, ya can't not drink can ya.

Well, that's my excuse, and I'm stickin to it.

Again, it was a stunning ride to get here.

Rose gardens

This woman was making cotton yarn, to use in traditional weaving looms

The new overtaking the old (again). Stacks of old roof tiles, superceded by shiny new ones.

Lunchtime view

Ubiquitous bamboo smoking pipes

Plums and Roses

Heading up the many steep hills, I often found myself riding just a little bit faster than the kids walking home from (or to) school. They were sometimes really friendly, and sometimes a little more guarded. Sometimes we'd laugh and play little games as we moved along.

Many times they'd walk fast or jog to keep up with me, then sometimes stop when they got tired, and then suddenly sprint ahead of me, laughing, sweating, and looking very proud of themselves. So so cute.

I stopped at a really interesting Hmong mansion, which was built by Vuông Chính Đức in the 1920s. He was the head of the most powerful Hmong family in the region, which basically ruled over the whole district for over 100 years.

The complex includes architectural features common in China in the latter part of the 1800s, during the Qing dynasty, and was designed by stone artists (not stoned artists, although you never know) from Yunnan province in China, and built by local Hmong builders.

Outer gate

Entrance to the main building

The building is designed around a series of inner courtyards, surrounded by many rooms of varying sizes.

The woodwork is beautiful

Kitchen, for fiery cookups (and I guess the occasional fiery cockup)

Ancestor shrine. Very important.

Vuông family snaps. The large neck rings some of the women are wearing are called xấuv, and have a deep historical significance. They're worn to remind people of the era when the Hmong people were enslaved by the Chinese, and went through all sorts of hardships. They were persecuted by successive emperors, and had conflicts with other ethnic groups in China, so many eventually left and headed for Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

These days xuav are worn at special events and celebrations, and are also just used as a fashion accessory. They're always made of silver.

We tried to use the furniture, but it wouldn't fire

Spartan bedroom

Fire roasted egg, cassava ball and coconut snack

Spectacular, wherever you look

I got really close to the Chinese border today (within about a km).

Half Loopy

I guess I've sort of done about half of the Ha Giang loop now. I mean, there's so much to see around here, and I'm not sure if an actual official fixed loop even really exists, but I've ridden around half way around my own planned route.

I've been riding for 4 days up some very killer hills.

It's time to rest for a day or so, in the well-touristed town of Dong Van.

Time for some menus in English.

Time for banana pancakes with honey.

Time to get legless.❤️

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