A special shout-out to Origin Travel. We usually prefer to travel independently. Due to the language barrier and unfamiliar territory, it was certainly a blessing that we chanced upon the company online and it helped that they were rated well on various platforms. Their website was informative and easy to navigate. After checking out numerous websites, we short-listed a few. Angela was super quick to respond even though it was a weekend. I had written a brief of what we wanted out of our trip and various recommendations came in before we finally settled. Even the online payment was secure.
Our 11 day Ha Giang and Ba Be Lake trip turned out to be a magical and spectacular one. It was well paced, with lots of stops to savour the views and experience local daily life. Our guide, Mr Huan was certainly very experienced and knowledgeable. We felt it was also a great learning journey for us too. From history, plants to social norms, there never was a dull moment on the trip. Our two different treks in the mountains with lunch at a local home deep in the mountains and motorbike "taxi" down the narrow mountain trail was beyond words.
Our driver, Mr Manh, ever the quiet one, was certainly a safe and skillful driver, navigating the mountainous roads some of which were not very well paved. There were a number of landslides and one which we had to detour to a single traffic roller coaster passable lane, a thrilling adventure in itself.
The accommodations and food were top-notched and most importantly to me at least, the toilets were super clean.....at least I did not see a single cockroach...
So, instead of the trip being the usual sight-seeing one, we got to experience an adventure that would lovingly last our lifetime. Thank you Ms Angela, Mr Huan, Mr Manh and Origin Travel !