Day 2 - Nam Dam to Mau Due to Pho Bang

We left our lovely homestay and head off towards a town which I had read had a traditional ethnic market this morning. The ride took us through a beautiful pass through the clouds and small villages. The cool air, mountain mist and steep mountain sides made me really feel like being in the middle of nowhere! often passing smiling men, women and children dressed in beautifully colourful ethnic clothes and going about their day either carrying baskets of corn, stacks of wood or grass. We sadly arrive a little too late in Mau Due as the market is over and realise the markets here start around 4-5am and are usually over by 11am/midday. We back track a little and head to the town Pho Bang, which is a border town before China. We were told the border is very fluid here is people often crossing over to go to the markets on the China side, however when we arrive we find there is a manned boom gate and told that we can't pass because it's China on the other side. We see some brief blue sky in the afternoon before being rained on again as we look for another homestay in the next small town.Read more