Dong Van Old Quarter

Dong Van sits in a bowl of grey limestone near the northern edge of the country, and its old quarter amounts to a single square with perhaps thirty surviving houses. They were built by Chinese, Tay and Hmong families around a century ago: two storeys of mud brick and timber, yin and yang tiles, deep eaves and rows of red lanterns strung along the fronts. In the middle stands the stone market hall from the 1920s, heavy pillars under a tiled roof, which fills on Sunday mornings with people down from the hamlets in indigo and embroidery. The eroded limestone country around the town is a UNESCO global geopark, and Dong Van is the usual base for driving it.

What you actually see

• The old houses - two-storey mud brick and timber fronts with tiled roofs and hanging lanterns.
• The stone market hall - a pillared market building from the 1920s at the centre of the square.
• Sunday market - the weekly gathering of Hmong, Tay and Lo Lo families from the surrounding hills.
• The karst plateau - the eroded limestone country around the town, listed as a global geopark.

When to go

September to November is the driest stretch, and buckwheat flowers across the plateau in October and November. Spring brings mist and drizzle that can hide the landscape entirely, and winter nights here are genuinely cold. Arrive on a Saturday to catch the Sunday market, which starts at dawn and thins by mid-morning. Two nights makes the long drive worthwhile.

Honest expectations

The old quarter is small, a square and a couple of streets, and most ground floors are now cafes and guesthouses serving loop traffic. Outside market morning the town is sleepy, and the rest of Dong Van is plain concrete. Getting here is a long winding drive that many people find hard going, and fog can settle over the plateau for days.

Nearby

The Vuong family mansion at Sa Phin and the Ma Pi Leng pass road are within an hour.