Mystic Misty Charm of Sapa

The touristy town of Sapa in northern Vietnam is a well-known and popular destination. With cheap travel costs, easy and convenient access via train, beautiful landscapes and interesting ethnic tribes, it's certainly formula for mass tourism.

But it was exactly it's popularity that had somewhat kept me from visiting Sapa for a time. Tales of incessant hassling from the ethnic minorities had put me off, and scamming of independent travelers are common. Nevertheless, I finally made a trip, and it turned out to be quite a pleasant experience, especially photography-wise!!

While the hassling by the local Hmong ladies are indeed a tad annoying, the charm of the place was hard to deny. I love a good landscape opportunity, and I was not disappointed. September was rice harvesting time in Sapa, and the fields are covered in glorious golden green. But surprisingly, what actually fascinated me was the mists!! I had 2 days of complete misty weather and it gave a different feel to the photos.

And the biggest surprise was when Sapa revealed glorious sunlight amidst the mysterious mists within a short window of time. It was exciting and truly spectacular. As shown in the timelapse below, towards the end of the video, the land was again shrouded in mists.

Thus the tip of the day is, whatever the forecast or outlook is, rise early to try to catch a glimpse of the sunrise. You never know when you would be treated to a show!!

Tarabuco Sunday Market

Local markets are always an attraction for me in my travels, and in South America, the local Andean markets make wonderful photographic (and shopping) excursions since they're typically very lively and colourful.

Just 1-2 hrs away by bus from Sucre Bolivia, Tarabuco hosts such a market. Every Sunday, tourists and locals alike would converge into this small Bolivian town. Aside from the permanent shops in town, locals from nearby villages also arrive to set up stalls. The town is home to the Yampara culture, one of the ethnic groups around the region, and so designs belonging to the Yampara on textiles, handicrafts etc can be found aplenty in the market.

In fact, Yampara attire, and especially their headgear, are apparent everywhere, being worn and sold by the locals. While textiles, weavings and handicrafts dominate the market square, more mundane stuff can be found as you move further away from the square - food produce, safety pins, kettles etc, the daily livelihood of the community.

Besides getting photos of indigenous people in their traditional attire, the Sunday market is a great place to get your souvenirs as well! There is relatively little harassing on tourists, and if you're looking to get ponchos or similar textiles, the designs in the market are beautiful! And perhaps you may even get an authentic handwoven one from the village!