A rare homestay in Y Ty, covered with a snowflake shawl which makes everything glowing and glittering. VNS Photos Bui Dieu Minh

ENCHANTING: The green icing of the grass and water-filled rice fields makes it looks like a glowing SNOWY SPLENDOUR: A homestay in Y Ty, covered with a snowflake shawl which makes everything glowing and glittering, lake preparing for hibernation. The next day all of this will be gone.

I made up my mind in just a few minutes, cancelled some of my plans and I hopped on a coach heading to the mountains.

We reached the commune in Bat Xat District of Lao Cai Province as dawn was approaching. The guest house we stayed in was made of metal: metal floor, metal wall and metal roof. In the sub-zero climate, it truly felt like we were staying in a freezer. 

COLD AS ICE: Y Ty froze this week and peach blossoms turned into crystals.

I had the privilege to sleep on the only bed in the house, my fellow male photographers had to sleep elsewhere. Our goal was to get up before six in the morning the next day to hunt for photos of Y Ty waking up as snow is falling. 

This is not the first time snow has fallen on the northern mountains of Vietnam. In the past 10 years, snow has been recorded to fall in Mau Son Mountains in Lang Son Province, Sa Pa and even in the mountains of central Nghe An Province.

ONCE IN A WHILE: The rare image of the terraced fields with soft snowflakes draws tourists, some even fly up from HCM City to capture the rare beauty

ICED OUT: A lone tree has been frozen top to toe, a rare scene in a sub-tropical country.

At 6am, the temperature was -4 degree Celcius. We ventured out as it seemed warmer outside.

At noon, the snow starts to melt. My only two heat pads also started to wane away, and it really felt colder indoors than out. Having captured the rare beauty of Y Ty in snow and frost, we headed back home. VNS

Bui Dieu Minh

White snow transforms Y Ty Commune into European-style village

With white snow falling on many roads throughout Y Ty Commune in Bat Xat District of Lao Cai province, local residents were reminded of beautiful images of Europe, although this was the first time in living memory that snow has come to the area.

Tourists rush to northern commune to snap photos with snow

Many tourists have spent millions of VND over recent days travelling to Y Ty commune in Bat Xat district of Lao Cai province in order to experience snow for the first time in their life.