Includes FREE planning and background information. A heady landscape of towering evergreen peaks, fertile river valleys and scattered hill-tribe villages, northwest Vietnam is the most dramatic and mountainous region in the country. It’s a sparsely populated area (most of the towns are little more than overgrown villages) so it’s a great place to get off the beaten path and escape the urban sprawl and heavy traffic that characterises much of the travellers’ trail in Vietnam. Sapa, an old French hill station, makes a great base for a few days, with some superb hiking and stunning vistas of Fansipan, Vietnam’s highest peak. Northeast is Bac Ha, home to an astonishing Sunday market, and the province of Ha Giang, where you’ll find the valley of Dong Van. The fabled northwest loop road snakes an incredibly scenic path across to Dien Bien Phu and down to Mai Chau through lush lowland valleys and over chilly high mountain passes.
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