Around the world youth leaders are demanding change and inspiring others to join them in making the world a better place. Currently, 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is gaining massive media attention by taking a lead in the environmental activism. Greta has inspired millions of people worldwide to take action and is demanding that we collectively fight against global climate change to prevent future disasters. Although some remain critical, no one can deny that she has succeeded in bringing the problem of climate change to the table and mobilised people globally.  Greta began her journey protesting alone in front of the Swedish Parliament, with the aim of pushing the Swedish government to address the climate crisis. Hereafter, Greta lunched ‘Fridays for Future’, inspiring millions of young people around the world to skip school on Fridays to demand climate action from their governments. On the 20th of September an estimated 4 million people in 161 countries worldwide, went on the streets and held the largest climate change demonstration, largely inspired by Greta.
 
What Greta is showing us, is that big impacts start small. What began as one girl standing up for what she believes in, has inspired millions of others to join her and take action. 

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

Children are the future. In order to further community development, we at ETHOS are trying a new approach of empowering youth leaders to help us run our health and hygiene seminars and anti-human trafficking workshops in the villages. We have chosen a small team of girls that we will support and train to deliver our projects. The idea is that the girls will be delivering the content of our projects to the children that attends the workshops and thus become group leaders. Hopefully, by empowering this group of teenage girls and teaching them valuable skills, they will grow into becoming community leaders and drive development in their villages forward. Additionally, the hope is that this group of girls will become positive role models and inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more.

If you want to see the teaching ad learning in action, have a look at this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0loC6fJEe70&t=11s

Globally, women and girls continue to suffer discrimination and violence, and this is no different for women in Vietnam. According to numbers from a survey conducted by the UN in Vietnam, a staggering 58% of all married women in Vietnam has experienced either physical, mental or sexual violence carried out by their husbands. Domestic violence not only has a profound negative impact on the women directly subjected to the violence, it also causes long term harm to their children who are unwillingly trapped in an unsafe environment.
 
Within the Hmong communities, domestic violence is especially widespread and is considered to be a private matter between husband and wife. Although the women of many Hmong families are the breadwinners and are earning an income through selling of handicrafts to tourists or working as guides, the women are still granted a lower social position than men. At ETHOS we often hear stories about domestic violence and in some cases, we are directly involved in supporting victims of domestic violence. One of the cases we have recently dealt with is So’s situation.
 
So grew up with a father addicted to opium, and a mother who suffered greatly from his addiction and violent behaviour. So’s father would often hit the mother while So and her two other sisters were in the same room. In the aftermath of one of the father’s violent attacks, it became too much for the mother and she decided to escape in order to save her life. She left behind the three girls with Phil and Hoa and sold herself to human traffickers who found her a husband in China.
 
After the mother was gone, So made some terrible decisions for herself. One of them was to get a job in Sapa town. Here, she got in contact with a couple of men who tricked her and sold her to traffickers in China. After months in China, So fled and returned to Vietnam. However, soon after she came back, she met an older Hmong man, fell in love and is now living in an abusive relationship, very similar to the one of her mother. Although we have offered consistent support and opportunities for So to break with her past, the cycle of abuse has seemed almost impossible for her to escape. 

Research has shown that children that grow up in secure and safe environments have an easy time forming positive relationships with people and have a stronger sense of self-worth. Contrasting, children that grow up in an environment with violence will often be drawn towards similar unsafe environments and seek violent partners. In So’s situation, having grown up in a violent environment has had the negative consequence that So is unable to create and maintain healthy relationships. So has been drawn towards the only lifestyle she knows, a lifestyle marked by instability.
 
At ETHOS we are currently trying to set up programmes to address the problem of domestic violence, to prevent situations, such as So’s. We are networking with a team of experts from around the world and are in direct consultation with our guide leadership team. However, we have through bitter experience learned how difficult it is to break with the cycle of abuse. Due to the normalization of violence as part of the Hmong families, children often grow up copying the behaviour of their parents. Thus, the boys grow up to become perpetrators and the girls victims and the cycle continues all over again.
 
At ETHOS we believe that prevention is always better than trying to solve the problems once the damage has been done. If you have any ideas as to how we could address the issue of domestic violence, empower women to stand up for their rights and work with men to change their violent behaviour, we would love to hear from you. 

HO CHI MINH CITY — At a handful of schools across Vietnam, children from ethnic minorities are finding something rare when they enter a classroom: They understand what the teacher is saying.

The country is experimenting with bilingual education for Khmer, Hmong and Jarai students, most of whom don’t speak Vietnamese, the national language. This could offer a promising solution to some of Vietnam’s yawning socioeconomic gaps.

The pilot classes teach primary school children in their mother tongue while phasing in Vietnamese. Results already show these pupils pulling ahead of minority peers who aren’t in the program, suggesting this method could have a long-term impact on their success.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said this month that Vietnam must fix the income and other disparities that ethnic minorities face. Expanding mother-tongue-based education would go a long way toward that end.

Currently, just 494 students across three provinces benefit from these bilingual classes, a joint project that pairs Unicef with the Education and Training Ministry. The sample is small but reflects progress.

“We see quite remarkable differences in the learning outcomes,” said Mitsue Uemura, chief of Unicef Vietnam’s education section.

In first grade, the average math score out of 100 for ethnic minorities in the experimental group was 75, compared with 61 in the control group. In second grade, the respective scores were 85 and 74.

Uemura told me that Unicef takes the strategy a step further by designing textbooks not only in the mother tongue but with cultural references that minorities identify with.

Vietnam counts 53 ethnic minorities comprising 14 percent of the population, as of the 2009 census; the remainder are Kinh. By nearly every measure, minorities lag far behind Kinh people in such areas as wealth, nutrition and infant mortality. This is true of education as well: 25 percent of Kinh make it all the way through middle school, while only 15 percent of minorities do, according to the General Statistics Office. The Hmong hold up the tail end, with nearly half of the community never attending school (compared with 3 percent of Kinh) and only 38 percent knowing how to read (compared with 96 percent of Kinh).

But the trials in bilingual learning are chipping away at barriers to equality. They’re certainly more effective than other initiatives that have been cosmetic, such as ethnic beauty pageants and festivals, or those programs that come too late for the children, like affirmative action at university.

Truong Van Mon, an anthropologist, told me that these improved communication skills would help minorities in everything from finding work and securing bank loans to signing up for health services.

“Language is important because it influences everything,” said Mon, whose business card has script in both Vietnamese and Cham, his native tongue.

Mon recalled growing up in the southern coastal town of Phan Rang, former capital of the ancient Champa empire. He struggled to learn Vietnamese, which he hadn’t encountered until going to school. Now he speaks it fluently and teaches at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City, but bilingual instruction would have eased the transition.

“You’re American, right?” he asked me in Vietnamese. “I’m Vietnamese. If we take a class in English, obviously you will do better.”

Unicef hasn’t calculated the cost for Vietnam to implement its teaching method nationwide, but a Unesco report quotes an estimate from “An Introduction to Language Policy: Theory and Method,” edited by Thomas Ricento, saying such programs can add 3 percent to 4 percent to a country’s education budget. That sounds like a small investment with a big return.

Last week, we called for advice from some of the world’s best explorers – our readers! Responses poured in on Facebook, providing tips for BBC Travel reader Donita Richards, who asked: “Is there anything that is a must do or must avoid for families in Vietnam? We are planning to take our children (3½ and 1½ years old) next February.”


Check out some of the advice we received from our travel community.

From Noelle Morgan: "Beautiful county, lovely people. They drive like nuts so look left and right and 20 times more before crossing the road. I got bitten to death, so maybe bring mosquito nets for the kids’ beds."

From Kristy McGregor: "I don't have children but I have led tour groups through Vietnam. Like almost everywhere around the world – everyone loves children. Highlights for me were always the food (hire a babysitter for a couple of nights and enjoy some adult time – the seafood is to die for), wandering the markets (expose your children to the wonderful sights and smells), and some beach time. One of my favorite places was Hoi An – so beautiful at night with lanterns, markets, shopping, restaurants, boat rides on Perfume River, safe at night, traffic not as busy as Saigon or Hanoi, beachside close by and just a lovely atmosphere. Whatever you choose to do I am sure you will enjoy!"

From Vy Nguyen: "During February, we celebrate The Lunar New Year. There are loads of things to do: visit the flower market, eat delicious foods and wander around Saigon. Be careful with the traffic. I hope you will enjoy my country."

From Robin Mason: "Before going, get vaccinations and do not venture into chicken-chopping markets. Sapa is fine, we drove from Haiphong to Sapa – it was a windy road so train is best from Hanoi. Halong Bay is wonderful, as is most of Vietnam."

From Rachel Lynn Collins: "Be very careful in traffic. Before I went to Ho Chi Minh City, I was given lessons on how to cross the road. Sounded silly at the time but it’s very different there! Traffic does not stop, you just walk at an even pace in a straight line and vehicles swerve around you."

From Anne Bendiksby: "Loved travelling in beautiful Vietnam with my 5-year- old! I can't recommend it enough. It is such a child-friendly nation! It's so easy travelling in Asia with children! Be sure to visit the stunning island of Phu Quoc. Get up at 4 am and wander down to the beach in Nha Trang – you'll mingle with thousands of locals, families with children, all enjoying the cool part of the day... it’s amazing! The amusement park in Nha Trang is fabulous! The Waterpark in Ho Chi Minh is a must! Your children will love it! Happy travelling."

From Lilli Maier: "Seriously, bring mosquito nets, thin long sleeves and trousers, and baseball caps (for the sun) and kids-friendly sunscreen. Food is good in Vietnam – rice with veggies is always okay. I travelled with my eight-month-old daughter for eight months through Africa, so I think nothing would go wrong in Vietnam with kids."

From Sean Sager: "Go to the Thang Long Water Puppet Show in Hanoi! Also, go to the Vinpearl Amusement Park in Nha Trang (get a ride in the longest over-water cable car). Expose them to some of the best food in the world. And be careful crossing the roads!"

From Travel Junkie Diary: "Take a good first aid kit, travel insurance and a baby backpack. Do: Thang Long Water Puppet Show, Hanoi Water Park. Stay away from the highlands, hugging the coast from Hanoi down to Saigon. Stock up on sanitizers."

From Alfred Tann: "When someone wants to carry things for you in train stations, be careful. Either you won't get them back or this person would charge you $5 to $10."

From Constant Traveller: "Do not miss Hoi An and Hué for anything. Lots of history, clothes and good food to indulge in."

From Ulli Maier: "Depends what you want: if you really want to get the feeling of a Vietnamese family with two kids, rent a motorbike and drive around the city. Based on firsthand experience, let somebody take pictures – your friends at home won’t believe it otherwise."

From Michelle Shoucair Karam: "Hygiene, hygiene, hygiene when traveling with kids to Southeast Asia. Visit temples but read what to do and what not to do as they are very strict and religious. Always stay safe and don't forget the anti-bug gels, especially for kids!"

From Cecile De Forest: "Don't miss the Highlands! Take the overnight train from Hanoi to Sapa. Gorgeous! When crossing the street in Hanoi, go! Don't stop! The motorcyclists figure out your pace and avoid you. If you stop, you are in trouble. I loved Hanoi but hated Saigon. Halong Bay would be fun for the kids if they like boats."

From Corbett Villarrial: "I lived in Hanoi for six months opening a children’s fitness center. I had an amazing experience. The last 10 days of the trip, I went on a tour of five cities from Hanoi to the centre of Vietnam. People are lovely. Traffic is dangerous. Vietnam is a great way to get good food delivered for great prices. If you go to Hoi An, you can buy custom tailored shoes and clothes for good prices. If you see something you really like but the price is expensive, it's ok to barter – just keep it light and fun. Don’t eat fresh leafy greens... they can lead to tummy problems. Take bug repellent and sun screen. Hanoi has some great French architecture. Halong Bay might be fun for the kids, plus you can swim and explore some caves. The beaches of Da Nang are safe and fun. If I were to plan a trip again, I would prefer to do more 'hands-on' tours, like the lantern making and rice pancake making in Hoi An."

Travellers visiting poor and developing countries can get overwhelmed by poverty – specifically, by children on the street who are begging for money. But there are ethical implications in handing over a few coins to a child in need. Experts and experienced travellers often refrain from such acts of kindness because ultimately, they may do more harm than good.


Ryan Whitney, an international development specialist living in San Francisco, recalled tough situations in the Philippines and India when groups of children, wearing rags, would swarm a car he was in. “It’s heartbreaking,” he said. But his general rule when travelling is to not give money to children on the street because often, particularly in India, the kids are being exploited by an adult – not necessarily their parent – who keeps the money. It’s “almost like slavery”, he said. “You don’t ever really know where this money goes.”

Kids may be working, unwillingly, for a gang leader or even a parent who may have a drug or alcohol addiction. Alternatively, some welloff,  enterprising kids can earn more on the street from wealthy-by-comparison tourists than they get in spending money from their parents. Either way, the cash flow keeps kids out of school and on the path toward a life of begging.

Some of these kids are living on the streets alone, or with their families; others are working on the streets, begging or selling trinkets or shoe shines to sympathetic tourists. But buying items or paying for work may not be much better than handing out free money – the dollars still might not go to the child, who is still living on the streets. Travellers wanting to help would do more good by donating to international or local organizations working with these children and their families.

ChildSafe International, a project that aims to protect children from abuse, cites evidence that street kids are vulnerable to exploitation, including by the sex tourism trade, which has been growing in countries like Cambodia. Travellers trying to help individuals unwittingly increase the risk. “By feeling pity, giving money and food, child labour on the streets – a growing business – is supported and the children are sustained on the streets,” the group, an initiative of the Cambodia-based Friends-International, writes on its website. A report by the Consortium for Street Children, a group of more than 50 non-governmental organizations that help kids on the street, included case studies of NGOs working to protect children from sexual abuse and prostitution in Cambodia and Bangladesh. There also have been cases of children being maimed in order to bring in more money from begging, a horrific practice dramatized in the film Slumdog Millionaire. CNN reported last year on the plight of one Bangladeshi child who had survived an attack by a gang trying to force him to beg.

Many travellers believe that giving food or school supplies is a safe alternative to money. But unless you are sharing a snack along with a child, he or she can turn around and sell, or trade, the goods. According to the Consortium for Street Children report, kids in the town of Salvador, Brazil, asked tourists for milk powder for their families after it became clear that the foreigners did not want to give cash. But the kids, who were drug addicts, were trading the milk powder for crack cocaine.

Amanda Rieder, a well-travelled high-school Spanish teacher in Philadelphia, said that initially when visiting a foreign land she would have the same reaction as anyone else:  “Oh, this poor kid; a dollar is nothing for me.” But after spending significant time in one place it became clear to her that “they don’t actually get to keep the money” and so she generally does not hand out money to kids when she travels.

All this well-founded advice is tough to follow when standing face-to-face with a cute kid who needs help. Both Rieder and Whitney admit that they haven’t always stuck to their own rules. “I’ve had kids who are really charming,” Whitney said, recalling a particularly persistent -- and smiling -- boy in the Philippines selling flowers. “In the end, I gave him a dollar. I couldn’t help it.”

To capture a sense of life in a new destination, many travellers have used zoom lenses and hidden-camera tricks to surreptitiously snap photos of locals without their permission -- and likely -- without their knowledge. But approaching photography like a covert operation is not the most ethical way to get a great shot.


Paul Berger, professor of art at the University of Washington School of Art, said a good rule of thumb is to “assume you’re being seen and act appropriately”.

 Appropriate behaviour can be as simple as making eye contact with someone, showing your camera and making sure the person knows he or she is being photographed. If people don’t want their picture taken, they’ll probably tell you by looking away.

“Err on the side of being overly sensitive to people’s feelings,” Berger said. For instance, tourists visiting a cemetery or religious site may want to take a photo of someone in a clearly emotional state. But Berger said a great evocative shot can cross a personal boundary. “Photographing the religious site or memorial itself is ok, but not photos that centre in on an individual,” he said.

But sometimes travellers forget basic etiquette when in a foreign culture – or it goes out the window when trying to take a perfect photo. “There are more problems, I think, with people objectifying people [when travelling abroad],” said Lisa Helfert, a photographer from Bethesda, Maryland.  Locals in poverty-stricken areas can sometimes feel like they’re on display for traveller’s photos, a criticism levelled at operators of so-called slum tours.

Muriel Hasbun, chair of photography at the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, DC, said she tells her students to “treat everyone with respect and care”, explaining that both a portrait of someone and the experience of taking it are more meaningful if it’s a collaboration and a rapport is established. “Common-sense rules of social interaction and consensual types of exchanges are ideal and usually more rewarding to both parties,” Hasbun said. “One learns about a culture and a new place by meeting the people that one finds along the way.”

Tourists are also bound to be confronted by requests for money. There are many sites where “there is a tacit understanding that ‘picture opportunities’ are for sale,” Berger said. But if it’s not clear that this is a standard picture-for-a-price situation, then travellers need to think before snapping their cameras. “Again, the golden rule: would you be comfortable if someone asked you to pose for a photo?” Berger said.

Many times, children are the ones offering a photo of themselves for a small sum of money, having learned from picture-hungry tourists that they can easily sell a snapshot. But ideally, travellers should ask for a parent’s permission – just as they should ask permission of an adult who is about to be the focus of a photo.  And it can’t be a quick question and then a dash to the next willing subject. “When someone is projecting that they’re a guest in your area … if that’s kind of sincere, I think people generally respond,” Berger said. “But if you’re burdened with camera gear and breezing by, people pick that up of course.”

Lori Robertson writes the Ethical Traveller column for BBC Travel.

Visitors to developing countries often want to do something about the poverty they’re exposed to. But the mere act of travelling can make a difference.


The number of international travellers reached one billion for the first time in 2012 – and that means more money for the industry. According to theUnited Nations’ World Tourism Organization, tourism makes up 5% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product; it accounts for one in 12 jobs worldwide; and it’s either the number one or number two export earnings for 20 of the 48 least developed countries, including Tanzania and Samoa.

“Tourism has been described as the world’s largest transfer of resources from rich to poor, dwarfing international aid,” said Salli Felton, acting chief executive of the Travel Foundation, a UK-based charity that works with the travel industry on sustainability issues.

But getting tourism money to the poor can be easier in theory than reality. Many times, tourism dollars – such as those spent at foreign-owned resorts or tour operators – don’t stay in the traveller’s destinations. In addition, Felton explained that “developing countries often also import equipment, food and other goods from abroad to meet the expectations and standards of holidaymakers”. That means hotels and restaurants aren’t buying goods locally and supporting jobs and businesses in their home countries.

Still, experts see progress – and potential. There are many examples of small, local projects that have helped lower-income communities. For example, travellers can take part in Maasai village tours in Kenya, where nearly all of the tour fees once went to outside guides instead of the villagers. But the Travel Foundation helped develop a ticketing system that redirected fees to the community, who used the money to invest in education and sanitation.

Micro loans to local entrepreneurs have also gotten a lot of attention in recent years. Kristin Lamoureux, director of the International Institute of Tourism Studies at The George Washington University in Washington DC, said there are many examples of local people just needing the capital to get a business off the ground – giving the example of a woman in the Dominican Republic who received a small loan to start a juice stand, later expanding to six stands and 12 employees. And there are also community-owned enterprises, such as the Chalalan Ecolodge in Bolivia, which was set up with financial help from the US-based environmental organisation Conservation International. Chalalan has been fully owned by the local community since 2001, providing income to 70 families and employment alternatives to logging and hunting.

But large travel operators – such as major hotel chains – are increasingly playing a role as well. Small-scale tourism development is good, Lamoureux said, “but we also need to be focusing on the big players”. And the news there is fairly good: “10 years ago those hotels were encouraging guests to re-use their towels; now they’re talking about social welfare.”

For instance, Ritz Carlton has a Community Footprints social and environmental responsibility programme that, among other initiatives, has hotels and their staff partnering with local organisations on children issues, hunger and poverty through mentoring, volunteering and youth training programmes. Guests can also participate through half-day “voluntourism” opportunities, such as planting trees in Atlanta, Georgia, with a local initiative that aims to bring more trees to urban communities, or sorting donated food items for a hunger relief organisation in Philadelphia.

The big hotels and major attractions also have “a greater awareness that just creating jobs doesn’t necessarily mean you’re creating economic alternatives for the poorest of the poor”, Lamoureux said. There’s more attention to educating and mentoring youth so that they can work in a professional environment, and also grooming those employees to move into middle and upper management. “I really think that will be a major initiative of the tourism industry… in the next 10 to 20 years,” Lamoureux added.

Travellers also can take action themselves. Felton recommended asking travel agents about a hotel’s ownership or whether it’s affiliated with a sustainable certification program, such as Travelife, which awards hotels that meet social and environmental responsibility criteria. Lamoureux suggested asking what tourism providers’ social responsibility policies are and how many of their employees and managers are local residents. Travellers should also “get outside of the walls of the hotel and try to use their purchasing power”, Felton said. Eat at local restaurants, shop local and use local guides. “You’ll get more out of your holiday and ensure local people benefit from your stay.”

Lori Robertson writes the Ethical Traveller column for BBC Travel.

We booked the Livitrans Carriages for our trip to Lao Cai (Sapa) and were quite impressed with them. We paid for 4 tickets so we wouldn’t have to share our cabin with strangers- I’d imagine it would be quite cramped with 4 people + luggage (as I’m sure would be the case for any of the private carriages). The toilets were always quite clean and well maintained. The beds were, well, hard, but we both managed to get some decent sleep during the trip. One thing- on the way to Sapa, the carriages are at the back of the train, so the trip was relatively smooth. But on the return journey, you’re at the front of the train, and at times, you felt as though you were in the spin cycle of a washing machine!

We arrived in Lao Cai via train around 5am and had our pre-arranged guide waiting for us who took us via car to Sapa. We had breakfast at our hotel (Sapa Boutique- review written), a quick early morning exploration around the town (where we had our 1st taste of the determination of the local minorities to sell you something!), before we left on our trek to the village of Ta Van where we were having a home stay. We were able to leave the majority of our luggage at the hotel, and only had a small backpack for our 1 night at the homestay.

Although we weren’t looking for it, the Sapa market was the only time in Vietnam that we saw dog meat being butchered/ for sale.

So, at around 10am in the mist and fog, we set out on our trek which initially followed a main road out of Sapa. We had 4 women from the Black Hmong minority following us at one point until finally it dropped down to one. I suggested to my wife that we give her some money, get a photo and then tell her to go – so gave her 20,000 dong, took a photo.... and then discovered she was going to her village (Lao Chai) – which is where we were also going! We’re still laughing about this!

Just before we turn off the road and started trekking through the hills and rice terrace we were again ‘picked up’ by four women and girls in traditional Black Hmong dress who walked with us to Lao Chai. They were most helpful in getting us through some of the ‘trickier’ spots although we probably didn’t really need their help- but they were also good company. The trek went through some beautiful landscape and we were the only ones out there walking at that point. By this stage, the weather had also started to clear, and we found ourselves in the most beautiful scenery, walking with these amazingly dressed minorities- just a fantastic experience!

When we finally got to the Lao Chai where we were to stop for some lunch, we went to buy some of the local wares from our 4 ‘hitch-hikers’- when suddenly we were flooded with others all wanting to sell to us. It was all rather overwhelming and very full-on. But we did manage to buy some embroidered handbags and traditional headscarf's from the 4 who had been walking with us before we fled to the safety of our lunch cafe.

After lunch, we went on the main path through Lao Chai and on to Ta Van- the destination for our homestay (Red Zhao minority). It was Christmas Eve, but in the foothills, surrounded by this beautiful mountains bathed in sunlight, with mountain streams, rice terraces etc as far as the eye could see, it was almost like we were on another planet!

The homestay was a terrific experience, and the memory of being able to wake up on Christmas day in the middle of no-where with a Red Zhao family was one we’ll always treasure. Homestay is not like a ‘bed and breakfast’- but as such was exactly what we were looking for. They did have hot water, a hand-held shower, and toilets. But we were sharing their house (our beds were upstairs where the grain would normally be stored), and the Vietnamese Minorities (when they’re not trying to sell to you!), were quite shy- although, as I experienced, they did take great delight in laughing at me when i managed to break one of the flimsy plastic chairs while sitting in it!!

During our stay we watched as dinner was traditionally cooked on an open fire (buffalo stir-fry, bbq pork, spring rolls, tofu. Awesome!), had some local ‘fire water’, and at about 8pm, went to bed quite exhausted.

Christmas day, and after a breakfast of pancakes, banana and honey, we left the homestay and continued on with some more trekking- from Ta Van to Giang Tachai via rice paddies and trail – went through the Bamboo Forest and saw the Waterfall. It was very muddy trekking and tough to stay clean but it was really great. We had two Zay women follow us (one from the day before) a fair part of the trek. We visited a number of H’mong houses along the way – some were very poor with the absolute basics for living. One house in particular had children barely dressed, were smeared in dirt and in need of a good bath.

We finished trekking in the village of Giang Tachai – on the way up, we saw a lot of children and gave them some toys, crayons, balloons and lollies we had bought with us – very funny seeing them hold out one hand for a lolly then stick it behind their back and put out their other hand for more.

We then were driven back to Sapa- had a great late lunch at the Gecko Restaurant, after which my wife had a foot massage and a visit to a silver shop (across the street from our hotel) where she bought some jewellery based on Flower H’mong and Red Zay traditional jewellery design!

The following day (Sunday- 26/12) was our last in this part of Vietnam, and on the trip back to Lao Cai we travelled to Bac Ha markets and saw the Flower H’mong women dressed in their traditional outfits. The markets were such a sea of colour and a real highlight of our entire trip- if you have the chance, these markets are a ‘must do’ on any trip to Vietnam.

This represents a huge change for the town. The traditional heart of Sapa is to be demolished and the new market will replace it.  And its a huge market!!!