No 15: Endless miles of smiles in Vietnam

We continue our series of the top 20 destinations of readers. By PETER IBBOTSON

I awake in the half-light of early morning and look out my third-floor hotel window.

Below me, a patchwork quilt of green spreads out, dotted here and there with labourers, their conical hats already in place against the heat to come.

At a further distance, where the vegetable gardens end, Mt Fanispan throws itself skyward with gargantuan majesty.

On its bottom slopes, the terraced rice paddies are burnished gold, coloured in sympathy with the yellow star of the Vietnamese flag.

I am in the mountainous region of Sapa, in Northwest Vietnam.

This is not the Vietnam the press told you about. There are no sudden ambushes here, no giant snakes in the humid jungle or firefights on malarious, crocodile-infested rivers.

Instead, there are smiling hill tribe girls that surround and befriend you as you step off the bus.

There are simple mountain villages two days' walk from the nearest road.

There is no hostility, but a sense of straightforward acceptance wherever you go.

Later that morning, I meet my guide and he convinces me to ride on the back of his cantankerous Russian motorcycle.

We wind along narrow gravel roads and then walk the rest of the day through fields of rice, past children riding water buffalo.

At night, we stay with a man from the H'mong tribe. He sleeps on a dirt floor and grinds corn by hand, but he smiles at me all the while.

FACT FILE


Getting there

Fly Auckland to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh return with Singapore Airlines from $1649 a person from Flight Centre. Add a 15-day Vietnam Discovered Tour from $2025 a person. The tour runs from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh and includes great sites and destinations such as Halong Bay, a train trip on the Reunification Express, Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang and the Cu Chi Tunnels.

Travel from February 1 to October 31 next year. Conditions apply. Contact Flight Centre on 0800 24 35 44 to book.

What to see and do

This former French resort town is tucked into the mountains near the Chinese and Laotian borders. It's a good place to encounter some of the many ethnic groups, known as hill tribes, that inhabit the country. The tribes go into Sapa for the weekend market - the textiles, embroidery and other needlecrafts are superb. You can use the town as a base for visiting their nearby villages. Be aware that members of some tribes won't tolerate having their pictures taken.

The beautiful hills around Sapa are a prime trekking destination. You'll see waterfalls, caves and lots of birds along the trails.

Travel tips

Don't wander off well-trodden paths. You could fall into overgrown trenches or encounter forgotten land mines and undetonated munitions. Never touch a leftover shell, grenade or mine.

Don't be surprised if taxi drivers swarm around as soon as you clear immigration at the airport.

Do take soap and toilet paper if you plan to travel off the beaten track.

Be cautious of street urchins - some are skilled pickpockets. Expect to pay a lot more than the locals for everything, and don't be tempted by the black market.

Vietnam Tourism