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Sa Pa (Sapa), Vietnam
In the mountains of northwestern Vietnam's Lao Cai province, bordering the Yunnan province of China, a number of ethnic minorities inhabit scattered villages, including the Hmong, Dao, Tay, and Giay peoples, who all identify themselves by specific ethnic attire corresponding to their tribes and villages. The landscape is dominated by terraced rice farming which yields the staple food of the local people and villages dotting the mountains connected by narrow dirt paths. Bamboo forests also provide perhaps the next most important crop, for bamboo is used for building houses, fences, furniture, machines such as weaving looms, tools such as hiking sticks, baskets, and countless other uses. Sa Pa itself is a town located atop a large hill and contains the largest market in the area where the tribes often come to meet each other, and is also a tourist ctentre, but with the vastness of the region, it is not hard to get off the beaten path.

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Sa Pa market
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Sa Pa market
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Sa Pa market
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Sa Pa market
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Wood carving in Sa Pa
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Cooking eggs, bamboo rice, and sugarcane
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Fog rising over the Sa Pa valley
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Fog rising over the Sa Pa valley
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Small suspension bridge
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Hmong children in Ta Van
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Ta Van village and rope bridge
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Flock of muddy birds in Ta Van village
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Woman of the Black Hmong
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Rice farming is the primary usage of the land of Sa Pa
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Rolling hills and "buffalo hotels" -- rain shelters for the animals
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Bamboo forest
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Small rain shelter overlooking rice fields
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Black Hmong woman
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Rice farming terraces and paths between the villages
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Bamboo forest
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Bamboo forest
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Bamboo forest
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Waterfall
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Rice farming
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Spiderweb in morning dew
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Flower
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Every bit of usable land has been converted into a rice field
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Suspension bridge to Su Pani
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Suspension bridge to Su Pani
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Terraced rice farming
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Embroidery on the go: almost everything is done by hand in Sa Pa
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Free-roaming cattle
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Vegetable market
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Water birds
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Landscape of Ban Ho
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Youngsters playing on the mountain
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A woman resting on the way to Ban Ho, with a traditional carrying basket
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Ban Ho village
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Ban Ho village
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Building a house by hand
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Ban Ho village
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Traditional village kitchen: frying tofu over a bamboo fire
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Children of Ban Ho
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Bamboo shoots
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A homestay in Ban Ho where foreigners can lodge overnight
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Dinner, largely vegetarian
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Cooking at night
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Mystical sunrise in Ban Ho
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Bamboo woven fence
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Traditions brought by the French: Pancakes in the morning
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Ban Ho village
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Sun behind a banana tree
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Ban Ho village
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Bamboo woven fence
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Each village in the Sa Pa valley has its own traditional costume. Here, a girl from Ban Ho.
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Bamboo bridge. Bamboo is used for almost everything in this region.
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Rapids
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Water near Ban Ho
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Bamboo bridge
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Construction of a fence
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Backyard farming
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Spinning grating machine
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Path to the waterfall
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Ban Ho village and terraced rice farming
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Butterfly
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Water near Ban Ho
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Water near Ban Ho
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Waterfall
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Small suspension bridge
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"Buffalo hotel" -- rain shelter for animals
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Teachers eating lunch in a classroom on a school holiday in Ban Ho village
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Elementary school reading room
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A badminton court is a common sight in the courtyard of a traditional school.
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Shop in Ban Ho
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Lost Australian tourists adventuring on motorcycles get helped by villagers in Ban Ho
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Weaving loom; most clothing is made by hand.
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Pig
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Small pond
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Noodle soup with egg and vegetables, vegetarian
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Vietnamese coffee
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Chaotic break period of a school in Sa Pa
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Sa Pa town
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Sa Pa market
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Farming on a steep slope
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Sa Pa valley
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Sa Pa town
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Lao Cai train station, 3 km from the Chinese border