Sapa: Ta Phin homecoming

The overnight train from Hanoi delivered us to the north-western town of Lao Cai, bordering China - we just can't keep away!  From Lao Cai we ascended the well-trodden path to Sapa, our base for the next couple of nights.

May, our wonderful Red Dzao guide, then took us under her wing as we trekked through a winter landscape of terraced rice fields and hills to her village.  She quite happily invited us to her family home, her Mum looking after two grandchildren while Dad worked on Chinese texts at the window.  Such warmth and contentment.