How a press trip to the mountains near the Chinese border almost ended in tragedy
Saturday, July 22, 2017, will henceforth be known as the day I could have died, but didn’t.
I could have died from exhaustion and exposure and dehydration on a trek through dense jungle, but I didn’t.
I could have died from a head injury when I was thrown from my motorcycle on a treacherous mountain road, but I didn’t.
I was lucky, that’s for sure.
I had been asked if I wanted to do a trip to Cao Bang, for a magazine I wrote freelance for. Cao Bang — a mountainous area the north-east of Vietnam, near the Chinese border — is just starting to open up to tourism, and there are a number of NGOs working in the area, supporting local people with community development initiatives, including converting houses into homestays and tourism training. An NGO had approached the magazine wanting media coverage. The magazine had previously sent a writer to Ha Giang with the same NGO with no problems, so they had no hesitation sending another writer and they put the call out.
Of course, I jumped at the chance because a) I went to Mu Cang Chai the previous weekend and it was a fabulous trip; b) it seemed like an awesome thing to do to see more of northern Vietnam; and c) it was…
