I'm Thirsty Land Quan Ba between Heaven's Gate and Fairy Bosom

After breakfast, we went straight into the mountains for a hike. It was mostly uphill, about 500 meters, through the rice terraces and forest. We had to take off our shoes briefly to cross a river. The water was simply wonderful.

After that, we continued uphill for a while before arriving at a small village of the Dao people (pronounced 'Saou'). Vang gave us some explanations about this ethnic group and we had the opportunity to observe and try out the post-harvest activities.

Once we were back in the valley, we had a delicious lunch before continuing the next part of the tour by car. We drove up the famous Ha Giang Loop with its countless hairpin turns until we reached the so-called Heaven's Gate. From here, we had a fantastic view of the valley, and Vang showed us where we would descend later.

The end of the hike was at another viewpoint, which we didn't miss. Despite the crowd of tourists, we had a wonderful view of the 'Fairy Bosom' - a hill formation that resembles breasts. Vang told us the legend of the fairy who had to leave her child on earth and left the hills as a gift to ensure its well-being.

The next two hours were mostly downhill along a small road, passing by countless rice fields that are currently empty as the harvest season is over. We were greeted by the locals along the way, and we saw some women in their traditional costumes.

When we arrived at the village, we saw numerous signs for homestays. After staying with the Black Tay tribe the previous day, our accommodation today was in a village of the Black Dao tribe. Our host greeted us warmly, and in the evening, we had a delicious meal together with him and his wife. Toang, our driver, kept his promise from the previous evening and took good care of us, making sure our glass of corn wine was never empty.

After dinner, we had the chance to closely examine the typical silver jewelry of the Dao people, and we laughed heartily when Toang was adorned with it.

Before the evening came to an end, the Dao people in the village performed a symbolic ceremony for the tourists, marking the transition of the young boys into manhood. We all danced together to conclude the ceremony.