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photographie-irie > Bridge Beyond Muong Houm, Muong Houm, Vietnam      Heading out beyond Muong Houm you get the feeling you are really heading into the mountain wilderness. The skyline gets more rugged, mountains higher and further isloated from serious civilzation. At various points in history, rebelious factions fighting for greater autonomy hid very effectively in those rugged mountains beyond.
photographie-irie > Rice Paddy Home, Muong Houm, Vietnam     The ubiquitous Vietnamese flag shows where another mountain village climbs up the high valley just above and to the right of it a bit, in the middle of the V leading deeper into big mountains. This big spread in front with flag flying sits nicely along a river in bottom land, but minority ethnic villages extend well into the mountains in the rear, achieving even more bucolic isolation than this already distant spot.
photographie-irie > Isolated Village, Road to Muong Houm, Vietnam When villages happened along the way on our rides in the countryside, they would most often be in beautiful settings with a hidden, "nestled in the landscape" feel. Our paths would most often take us near villages, but not through them, as if they were still seeking a greater degree of privacy than simply afforded by being so far removed from Vietnamese civilization.
photographie-irie > Mountain Valley, Road to Muong Huom, Vietnam                Beautiful rugged peaks, meandering rivers, lush rice paddies, narrow bridges and quaint ethnic villages set the stage on the way to Sunday market in Muong Huom. The length of the ride from Sapa was such that it makes sense for this to be a two day affair, with a night at a home stay in Muong Houm the Saturday night before, especially so you can be at the market bright and early when things are hoppin' and the most ethnic minorities are there.
photographie-irie > Rice Paddy Field, in route to Muong Houm, Vietnam       As pleasant as Sapa town is, it's popularity makes getting away into the countryside that much better, in order to see a bit more of the real lives lived here where tourism has not changed things as much. That can be difficult, however, since challenging travel makes arranged tours to other markets and places most popular, with the resulting drawback of these tours bringing the tourist hordes to those places. My choice was to rent a motorbike and get lost in this hills. Then to hire a guide on another bike so I could actually get where I wanted to go. Hearing of places not visited, that is where I wanted to go, to participate in markets scheduled a certain day in the week to provide all regional tribal people a chance to come sell their wares and socialze with other tribal people. This was where less frequently seen tribes could be found. I was actively discouraged from attempting some journeys, especially on motorbike, because of long, poor jeep trail conditions, and the fact that tourists don't go there, especially by motorbike. So of course these were positive highlights of the journey, where astonished locals were so surprised to see a foreigner on a bike, some extremely wary of this alien, but many as friendly as could be to meet this intrepid and stupid traveler. Along the way beautiful valleys, dramatic peaks and local culture unfolded before our eyes. And my guide, who had never biked there himself, always prior having taken the few tourists going by jeep, was as pleased with this most fun open air experience outside the bumpy jeep as was I.
Bridge Beyond Muong Houm, Muong Houm, Vietnam     

Heading out beyond Muong Houm you get the feeling you are really heading into the mountain wilderness. The skyline gets more rugged, mountains higher and further isloated from serious civilzation. At various points in history, rebelious factions fighting for greater autonomy hid very effectively in those rugged mountains beyond.
photographie-irie > Bridge Beyond Muong Houm, Muong Houm, Vietnam      Heading out beyond Muong Houm you get the feeling you are really heading into the mountain wilderness. The skyline gets more rugged, mountains higher and further isloated from serious civilzation. At various points in history, rebelious factions fighting for greater autonomy hid very effectively in those rugged mountains beyond.
Bridge Beyond Muong Houm, Muong Houm, Vietnam     

Heading out beyond Muong Houm you get the feeling you are really heading into the mountain wilderness. The skyline gets more rugged, mountains higher and further isloated from serious civilzation. At various points in history, rebelious factions fighting for greater autonomy hid very effectively in those rugged mountains beyond.
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