Okay, so this isn't somewhere I'll be going on my trip because I wont be going to Vietnam. But this is one of my favourite places that I've ever been to. It's called Sa Pa, and it's to the north of Hanoi. I've been there about 3 or 4 times and it is a truly magical place. At least twice (my memory is a bit shaky) I stayed in a place called the Victoria hotel which is this gorgeous hotel on the top of a big hill and you'd wake up in the morning and it was always cold and you'd walk from the hotel rooms to the breakfast dining area through this mist that was everywhere. It was so unlike the rest of Vietnam in so many ways not only by the climate and the setting but also by the people there. From what I can remember the two main ethnic groups were the H'mong and the Dao and they have amazing traditional outfits and were always so incredibly friendly, we had girls who would just give us friendship bracelets that they were selling for free.
It's hard to recall everything exactly because it's slowly getting on to 10 years since I've been there. I wish I went there back in 2007, but it's not the sort of place I would do on my own. I'd love to go back there one day and I hope that it is still the same. I know I'd be a bit upset if my favourite part of Vietnam had changed as much as the rest of the country.
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