%%From Hà Nội, driving along National Highway 6 for more than 300km, you reach the provincial capital of the same name, Sơn La, on a plateau some 600m above sea level. Sơn La is a northwestern moutainous province. It has two large plateaux also named Sơn La and Mộc Châu and an immense area of crop fields. The rest consists of valleys, high hills and mountains. The province is inhabited by Xa, H'Mông, Dao, Mường, Kinh (or Việt) , Kh'Mu, Tày, Thái.. The Thái is the largest single ethnic group. 80% of the province's natural area is covered with mountains. Sơn La Prison was built by the colonial regime to detain Vietnamese revolutionaries and other patriots. Tham Ke is a beautiful and attractive grotto. There is a piece of writing by King Lê Thái Tôn carved on a stone cliff outside the grotto from 1440. Tham Ta Toong is a complex of marvelous grottoes only 1.5km from Sơn La Hotel in Sơn La town. Tourists can visit the mountains of Tây Bắc (North-West) region and bathe at Ban Mong hot spring, whose water ranges from 35oC to 40oC . They can also visit ethnic minorities' hamlets to enjoy rượu cần (homebrewed rice whisky contained in common vases and taken in group by sucking it through reed stems) or watch Xoè Thái (Thai young women's dancing).