From a tiny mountain village in northern Vietnam...

After the amazing tour in Ha Giang, we headed northwest to Sa Pa. With the sleeper bus (a brilliant invention: everyone has their own bunk in the bus, I slept great!), we drove through the night and upon arrival, at 4 am, we were even allowed to stay in the bus to sleep. At seven in the morning, we were picked up by our tour guide Mama Mú, who belongs to the H'mong ethnic group.

A seven-hour hike awaited us now to reach Mama Mú's small mountain village, where everything is still like it was a hundred years ago: rice fields are cultivated by hand and with the help of water buffaloes, food is often collected in the forest, and the traditional clothing that people wear every day is made from hemp, embroidered, and dyed with indigo, which grows right outside their door.

Since I was already fed up with beautiful landscapes after traveling for so long, I was absolutely fascinated by the H'mong culture. That's probably why it took us seven hours to reach our homestay: finally, I had the opportunity to ask questions again, finally, I could communicate again, as Mama Mú speaks English, unlike many of her fellow countrymen. So, I asked every chance I got, everything that came to mind! "How are the fibers drawn to dry and spin the hemp?