We signed up for a four day, three night trek and found the experience unforgettable and immensely rewarding, especially as we had three and a half days of tough trekking during which we covered 60km.

One of the most visually striking characteristics of the land is the rice fields, which have been cut out of the hills and farmed in the same way for centuries. Resistance to change amongst the farmers is quite a large problem: apparently the local authorities have been trying in vain to pursuade them to use a different type of grain which, despite being of the same quality to that currently being used, would yield a crop double the weight. The fact that the rice paddies are a cornerstone of life here means that overprotection insures the farmers' stubborness presides over any potential opportunity, regardless of its size.

The real highlight of this trip was the villages and their occupants. We visited five tribes in ten different villages - out of a total of 54 tribes across the country. The thing that left the greatest impression on me was the differences between the first two: Lao Chai of the Black H'Mong people; and Ta Van of the Zay people. Despite the boundaries of these villages being only a hundred or so yards apart, these differences were immense and immediately obvious in that the Zays are so much more affluent than the H'Mongs. For a start, people's homes in Ta Van are a great deal larger than in Lao Chai (which,in reality are only wooden shacks), added to the fact that they are made of stone rather than wood. Ta Van has roads, relatively speaking, whereas Lao Chai has tracks. Ta Van has a few shops, and so on. The main reason for this is that one tribe sees the benefit of education whilst the other does not. This is not through the lack of opportunity as every village has a school which is invariably the best building in the village. There is no legal obligation though and it is the teachers role to try to explain to the community the benefits of doing so - something they do apparently do but the H'Mongs choose to ignore.

The main differences in lifestyle that this creates are the approaches to the village community itself, and the area's two staple industries: agriculture and tourism. As regards the community, this means that construction projects such as people's homes and communal areas are undertaken by the community, rather than individuals. This work is unpaid, but to refuse is tantamount to alienating yourself. As for the agriculture, individual farmland is shunned in favour of collective, thus allowing construction and other endeavors to take place without those doing it having to neglect their crops. As to the tourists, the H'Mong seem to think that the best way to make money here is to mercilessly hassle anyone they can find to buy hand made souvenirs. They'll generally ask the same person if they want to buy something at least ten times and get ten refusals before they get the message. More if that person's polite. The Zay's though, decided that it would be more prudent to host tourists - this was where we spent the first night. They also produce some of the trinkets that the H'Mongs are selling.

The selling techniques were displayed most vividly when, after the first day's trek, Mani and I were relaxing by a river and were accosted by three young girls who said they were aged 5 or 6. Eager to sell us their goods, they gave us a prolonged, ridiculously hard sell. By now our guide had told us about the education issue and we decided that if we were going to come away with souvenirs, we would buy them off adults, rather than children; the thinking being that any money they got off us would encourage their parents to continue to send them out selling rather than to school. After we had refused countless times, they went for the heartstrings, promising us that if "You no buy, we cry!" then pretending to weep their hearts out because we had been so cruel as to still say no. They then asked us why we wouldn't buy anything, so we told them that they shouldn't be selling things to tourists but they should be in school. Their reply? "You buy from us, we go school tomorrow. You no buy, we know go school!" For 30 minutes they persevered; the sad thing being that when we asked them about school they said that the times they had been they really enjoyed it. It was really heartbreaking to see such young kids not being allowed to enjoy their childhood. We held firm - all they got off us was some chocolate - something our guide told us we were right to do. He also illuminated an even sadder, more complex reason for their spending their time doing this than we had assumed. True, their parents do make them, but apparently the girls keep most of the money for themselves. This money they will save for a wedding dowry - the girls generally marry around 16 - which, if not sufficiently large, will illicit beatings from their husbands. It does seem to be an incredibly patriarchal society. The only people we saw selling goods were women and girls. The few children who were in the village school we visited were boys. We did see a few men working the fields but not many. And the only people we saw carrying things such as heavy-looking bags of rice - the women and girls. Apparently the boys spend their time playing and the men getting drunk. Arranged marriages are common here, as are girls committing suicide by eating a local leaf because of their prospective husband.

Compare this to the Zay people who, given exactly the same resources, are rich enough to insure each household has money left over from daily living to invest in its own livestock ... staggering. The H'Mong tribe must, indeed does see the differences in affluence as there is plenty of intermingling, but simply refuse to change their way of life and modernise in any way. The conclusion we came to is that they must be scared to do so because as they are very poor, the only thing they have going for them is their culture. If they make the necessary social changes, they risking losing this, and if those social changes don't work, they could be left with nothing - still poor but having forfeited their identity. Our guide agreed but said another reason for their fierce attachment to this identity is because of tourism - they feel that to exentuate it is what tourists want to see. He does think they will eventually change though - the neighbouring Zay's are just so rich by comparison.

Despite being comparatively well-off, the Zay people, like the majority of tribespeople, don't move far from home. The children are not receiving an education so that they can move away from the tribe, but rather that they are better equipped to deal with the tribal life through gaining the skills necessary to do business with outsiders, language skills for the tourists, and so on. Our guide told us of an excellent government programme whereby the most intelligent pupils are funded through higher education so they can return to be the village doctor or whatever. I would have thought that the return rate of people who had left, having seen the outside world's opportunities, would be quite low. The reality is exactly the opposite as those who leave find it too difficult to adjust after living in such a close-knit community their whole lives. The people we were staying with said that the life was all they knew and could never imagine leaving. Moving from village to village is not that rare, but so long as it is within the same tribe, and will usually occur as a result of marriage. To marry outside one's tribe is perceived as being an incredible insult to your people.

Evenings were spent staying in the homes of the richer tribes, who were very hospitable, despite not speaking any English; conversations being interpreted through our guide. One thing we were completely unprepared for on this trip was the amount of drinking we would be expected to do. As soon as we sat down for dinner, out came the rice wine; a sweet, tequila-like 30% proof local brew. Literally every three or four minutes a fresh shot would be poured for everyone. Mindful of the next day's trekking, Mani and I would quit after about half a dozen. Our guide explained to us that if our hosts had ran out of alchohol, it would be very shameful for them as their guests had not been properly satisfied. I think the same applied to the food as, each of the three nights, at least twice as much was laid out than was necessary.

The other village that left a big impression was Hyson of the Sapho people, only because it was so poor. This village was devasted by a landslide a few years ago and forced to relocate - now hardly anyone goes there. Its so poor - even farming is almost non-existent because of the infertile land - that the government have given it welfare in the form of one buffalo per family. Because of its isolation and lack of contact with the outside world, the people are extremely wary of strangers. The men were obviously not happy to have us around and the women actually looked scared of us. Unlike the H'Mongs, these pitiful people have no way of pulling themselves out of their extreme poverty.

There are other villages that are even poorer; so much so that it is illegal for guides to take tourists there. If anyone does go, all are arrested; guides and tourists. Other banned villages are those that are strictly religious, usually Catholicism, and those who are anti-government in one way or another.

These four days were some of the most memorable of my life, and definitely the highlight of the trip so far.