permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

Sapa, Vietnam Photo Gallery by Chuck Kuhn at pbase.com
http://www.pbase.com/ckuhn55/sapa_vietnam

Sapa, Vietnam The old hill station of Sa Pa sits high on the edge of a
plateau surrounded by spectacular scenery and the Hoang Lien Mountains,
which boast Vietnam's highest peak, Fan Si Pan. Sa Pa functions as a market
town and a gathering spot for local tribes who come into town to trade
every weekend. The market is excellent for buying handicrafts and for
watching the passing parade of a fascinating blend of people. Colourful
tunics of the Dao and Giay people mix with the black and blue clothing and
silver ornamentation of the Black Hmong tribe, while bright red scarves
cover the heads of the Red Hmong who carry large woven baskets on their
backs brimming with goods. Vietnam is a country full of photographic
opportunities. The landscape is diverse and includes a very long and
beautiful coastline, karstic rock formations, and mountains. Because
Vietnam is just doing its first steps in the modern world (unlike Thailand
or China which are much more developed) there are still plenty of
opportunities to observe traditional lifestyles and traditions. People have
an amazing ethnic diversity and most like to be photographed. There is also
interesting architecture all around the country, although it is not as
spectacular as in other countries of South-East Asia such as Cambodia or
Myanmar. Now is a good time to visit Vietnam. Vietnam opened itself to
tourism in the late 80s. At the beginning there were still a lot of red
tape and travel restrictions, and the tourist infrastructure was quite
poor. In the late 90s I found it easy to travel in Vietnam. The country is
industrializing extremely quickly to meet the needs of its dense
population. Things are changing very fast, in a few years, the traditional
way of life might be gone, and uncontrolled development might have spoiled
some of the finest scenery.