Describe a place you have travelled to that you would recommend to others

I'd like to talk about Ha Giang, a mountainous province in the far north of Vietnam, right on the border with China. I went there last April with two colleagues, over a long weekend. None of us trusted ourselves on those roads, so we each hired a local driver and rode on the back of a motorbike for three days, covering roughly 350 kilometres in a big loop from Ha Giang City up to Dong Van and back. The days followed a simple pattern. We set off at about seven, had lunch in small family kitchens, and slept in homestays run by local families. The highlight was the Ma Pi Leng Pass. The road is cut into the side of a cliff, and far below there's a river so green it looks painted. I'm afraid of heights, and my driver, a cheerful twenty-year-old called Su, noticed me gripping the seat. He shouted over his shoulder, "Don't look down, sister, look at the road like I do!" That wasn't entirely reassuring, but it made me laugh. In the evenings our hosts poured rather too much corn wine and taught us a toast that I can still shout but can't spell. I'd recommend Ha Giang for a few reasons. First, the scenery is on a different scale from anywhere else I've been in Vietnam: grey limestone peaks in every direction, with tiny cornfields planted between the rocks. Second, it's still fairly unspoilt, because there are no big resorts. And finally, it's cheap; the whole trip cost me under four million dong. My one piece of advice is to go with a driver unless you're very experienced.