The H’mong Opium Palace

Halfway between the Thấm Mã Pass and the Lũng Cú Flagpole, we made a stop at the Opium Palace of the H’mong. We were pretty excited about this. Of all the places which we’ve visited in our years of travel, almost none of them have had a name as intriguing as the “Opium Palace of the H’mong”.

The palace was built by the reigning H’mong King in 1902, during the French rule of Vietnam. From the very beginning it was envisioned as a base of operation for the H’mong people’s most lucrative ventur...