Laos & Vietnam - Sa Pa, Can Cau, Bac Ha & Lao Cai

This album is a selection of images from Sa Pa, Can Cau, Bac Ha & Lao Cai taken during Steve Davey's "Impressions of Laos & Vietnam" photo tour with Steve Davey in November/December 2012.

The tour meets in Bangkok to take the train north to Laos but I arrived a few days early and was able to get in some photography around Bangkok as well as trying to acclimatise to the heat having left London with winter weather.

We arrived in Laos in Vientiane, the capital. It is a strangle cross between fresh colonialism and communism. We are also very luck to great a tremendous sunset by the river with fisherman casting their nets.

We travelled through Laos to Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang In Vang Vieng, I was able to take a short hot air balloon flight even though there was not much wind but if provided a different perspective for my images. Luang Prabang is a beautiful city famous for the monks who collect arms on the streets early in the morning. It is also the home to a great photographer and videographer Adri Berger who with his wife runs The Big Tree Cafe … I strong recommend going to both Adri' gallery and their cafe if you are in Luang Prabang.

From Luang Prabang, we flew to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, which is probably one of the busiest and buzziest cities that I have ever visited. Cross the the road is an adventure regardless of the time of day. It was good to take a break to visit Sa Pa and Halong Bay in the middle of our time in Hanoi.

The remoteness of Sa Pa, Can Cau, Bac Ha and Lao Cai in northern Vietnam near the border with China was a huge contrast to the bustle of Hanoi. We had the opportunity to interact with the hill tribes and visit the markets which appear to be the centre of life in this part of Vietnam.

In Halong Bay, we had time to relax on a private "junk-style" boat amongst some stunning scenery … rock formations just towering out of the bay.

Check out Steve's site at http://www.bettertravelphotography.com for information on his future photo tours. Steve is an excellent teacher and happily imparts his years of experience plus he is great fun to travel with. I definitely recommend his tours.