Preview of Claude_and_iain’s blog at TravelPod. Read the full blog here: www.travelpod.com This blog preview was made by TravelPod using the TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow creator. Entry from: Sapa, Vietnam Entry Title: "Among The H'mong" Entry: "Yeah, its another one. I've been plotting my retirement again, and Sapa would do nicely. Sapa is 38km away from the border with China, sufficiently remote that any travel agent fighting to get you there would describe it as real Vietnam. However, that same travel agent would die a quick death at the hands if the locals, most of whom don't consider themselves Vietnamese at all. The people are H'mong. This is the same tribe found in Laos and a little pocket of Thailand who find themselves without a country, but not too much the worse for it. They speak their own very distinct languages (different from one tribe to the next, even though they may live within a few kilometres) - something i found hard to remember as i cheerfully greeted them in my stilted Vietnamese each day. Oops. You reach Sapa via Lao Cai, then make a long 4WD trip winding up the mountain - made longer because once our driver found 3rd gear he was never giving it up, no matter how steep the grade or low the revs. It was cheering to see so many people going about their business on this one long stretch of road. All were doing it in very traditional attire that over the years we have jadedly come to associate with hilltribes reselling all major types of film and ...