Short trip to Dong Van

Due to abnormally warm weather in Ha Giang at the start of the year, sadly the plumb blossom that I had hoped to photograph was absent from all but a few isolated trees. But I did manage a few reasonable photos during the 5 day trip, and it was great to just get away from the busy streets of Hanoi and spend a few days in the quiet town of Dong Van, nestled in the mountainous region of Ha Giang.  

Dong Van is around 150km from Ha Giang City and just a couple of kilometers from the Vietnam/ China border. The old town still has many older photogenic buildings: some of the heritage buildings dating back to the influential Luong Huy family of Tay ethnic group were built in the early 19th century and surround the old market place. After a major fire in the town in the 1920’s, the French rebuilt much of the town. There has been further rebuilding around the old market square over the last few years and some older buildings have been updated, and while some of the quaintness has gone the square still retains a pleasant character and laid back ambience. The market town atmosphere still makes this town one of my favorites in the north of Vietnam. Breakfast in the square in one of the small establishments selling egg and mushrooms in rice pancakes (Bánh Cuốn) with soup is a real treat. My favourite shop, which had been the front room of a tiny house on the square, had just completed a major refurbishment, and was once again open for business producing the same great breakfasts from a larger and less chaotic space than before.

There is also an abundance of Vietnamese coffee shops on the market square making this a great spot to sit in the sun and relax for an hour or so. The large coffee shop at the top left hand corner of the square, once a house belonging to the Luong family is an impressive building of stone columns, ying yang terracotta tiling and internal galleries with the small interior open to the stars. The coffee shop also doubles as a hostel, sleeping quarters on the galleries on the upper floor.

The last few days the cloud came down and sun didn’t appear again, but we managed to find some interesting village life, characters to drink and smile with (sadly we didn’t share a common language), taking photos of the peoples as they left the village and walked into the fields and misty mountains to work and visit places more remote.

All photos taken on Canon 5Dlll