The remaking of Highway 34 in progress. The reconstruction was an undoubted boon to the whole area. As with all road making in Vietnam, the process is not allowed to interrupt the flow of traffic. Faced with the above scene all road users are simply expected to find their way between the workers, machines, and new surfaces; traffic control is unheard-of
Young workers snapping, and posing for, the exotic westerners...
Highway 34, which runs between the provincial capitals of Cao Bằng and Hà Giang, used to be dire, involving two days on a motorbike swerving between potholes. Bảo Lạc came to the traveller's attention because it lies about half way between the those two cities. A stop and a rest there were mandatory. At that time the only accommodation was provided by a grim, time warped, government guest house. In addition food was hard to find, a most unusual problem in Vietnam. Now with the remaking of the roads in the north, and the coming of at least three good hotels, Bảo Lạc is a pleasant place to stop and relax. The town is over the boundary into the beautiful and unfrequented province of Cao Bằng. This page shows a little of road improvements, and the beginning of the spectacular
karst landscapes,
of which more in due course.
Cattle would not be taking much notice of traffic control should such exist. The stones for
Macadamisation
are scattered by hand from these platters. John McAdam is buried in
Moffat
...which are seen here, looking exotic while tending the faithful 40 year old Jeep; even it gets the occasional puncture
The road junction at Nà Phòng
(offering roads to Hà Giang or Meo Vac) has a simple cafe-cum-shop, but little else
The river runs behind the main street of Bảo Lạc
In some countries, sitting like this vendor, might be considered inelegant
A woman spreads her vegetables out in an open space by the bridge, this sight of villagers bringing their produce to the local town...
Sadly I have no idea what it was she had just seen
... is seen everywhere in Vietnam. Most commonly vendors sit in lines along the road and chat to their peers
Clothes washing machines changed the lives of Vietnamese women, previously their days were dominated by this chore
Out on the 'Highway' cattle often dictate the pace of progress
There are some two million ethnic Thai people in Vietnam, predominantly in the west, but also spread across the country. On the Bảo Lạc to Cao Bằng road these splendid Thai stilt houses with with tiled roofs and adjacent paddy fields, proudly display their heritage
Cattle in Vietnam are kept for work and for their meat, dairy products being of little value in a population without
lactase persistence
(the ability to digest milk after weening)
Tourists and locals watching...
...four
sets of ploughs at work
on this hillside
From photos higher up the page...
Along the road to the east of Bảo Lạc the traveller catches the first glimpse of these haunting karst hills which dominate the landscape of Cao Bằng
...two women with
billhooks
These two pictures from nearly the same spot give an idea of the beautiful sweeping valley; however, they were taken with different lenses, your tolerance is needed to marry them up: the field, with the oval path, is in both pictures. The next page takes you south from Bảo Lạc to the National Park of Ba Bể with its peaceful lake which forms the largest stretch of natural inland water in Vietnam. The lack of large lakes is principally due to the dominance of limestone rocks, for the country has between two and four metres of rain a year.
The last page was about the Mèo Vạc - Nà Phòng road
A page with more Vietnamese cattle - here swimming home
Road construction at the other end of the scale
