Dream Trip 2008: September

Great Travel Moment

During my trip to Vietnam, I visited a remote town in the mountains to the north called Sapa. Through a tourist agency, I was paired with Sam, an Australian chemistry PhD student, and our guide, Mu, a reserved 17 year old girl from one of the nearby villages. Together we set off for a two day trek into the backcountry. We wound our way down the slippery mud paths, through terraced rice fields and across a lattice of gushing mountain streams. Occasionally we had to share the path with lumbering water buffalo and villagers going about their daily tasks. That evening we stayed in a village with a family. In the photo, we are rolling spring rolls in rice paper while the mother of the house cooks chicken in a wok over a wood fire. I took the picture by placing my camera on a bag of rice and setting the timer (I'm in the tan shirt). Dinner was divine. Via Mu's translation, conversation topics over the course of the night stretched from love, to war, to technology, to witchcraft.