Trekking through the hills of Northern Vietnam - Sapa

After 2 months of basically no exercise apart from walking and snorkelling it was time to head to Sapa, a small town in the hills of northern Vietnam for some trekking. I caught an overnight sleeper train from Hanoi to a place called Lao Chai which is very close to the Chinese border. I booked a cheaper ticket ($10) hoping to still get a decent bit of sleep... It didn't happen! My cabin which had four beds was soon turned into a mini casino. There were 12 Vietnamese crammed around a tiny table playing a weird version of blackjack. It was almost a party atmosphere with pistachios, green mangoes and rice wine being passed around inbetween the loud shouts of the player with the winning cards. Many of the Vietnamese tried to drag me into the fun however the stakes soon became very high and I could not figure out how the game actually worked! A disturbed sleep followed along with a howling air conditioner strong enough to make me feel like I was already in the UK! A sleepy 5.30am arrival in Lao Chai was followed by a 45 minute bus ride through the clouds and around some tight corners to reach Sapa. I somehow managed to pay 30 thousand dong ($1.50) who i thought was the driver but was then again asked for another 30 thousand apon arrival in Sapa! Ah Jesus! I checked into a $5 room and had a delicious omelette and yummy Vietnamese coffee (super strong with condensed milk). I met a couple of lads from London (Paul & Henry) over lunch and after an afternoon of comparing prices we eventually booked 4 days of trekking.
Our first trek was the touristy route which included a homestay in a minority village. Our guide Dem spoke brilliant English and enjoyed a good laugh. He realised that we were reasonably fit guys and decided to take us off the tourist route and up some more difficult terrain. After 17km of trekking through rice paddies and up steep hills we spent the last 15mins in pouring rain before finally reaching our homestay just on dark. We were warmly greeted by a young family who quickly ushered us inside to the warmth of the open fire/cooking area and a hot cup of Vietnamese tea. After drying off the two seemingly shy boys became comfortable with their new guests and it wasn't long before a game of indoor gow (hacky sack) started. The little monsters clearly loved the attention and a fun hour or so of games followed. The mother spoke brilliant English and her cooking (helped by Dem) was damn good too. The basic fire in the ground acted as the stove with everything being cooked in the one wok. There is no exhaust/ventilation in the bamboo hut so as you can imagine the 'kitchen' becomes a very smokey place. Dinner time and funny enough we were served garlic French fries along with a more traditional Vietnamese meal of different stir fries and rice. The husband was a little quiet and unsure of his English but soon decided it was rice wine time! Each family has a 'home brew' of this potent stuff and drink it most nights. It is served as a shot and after a shout of HAi TIE BAH YOR it's bottoms up! After 8 hours of trekking and 7 or so quick shots of rice wine, everyone was in pretty good spirits.
A good nights sleep followed up stairs on a thin mattress with a mosquito net. A massive serving of pancakes with banana was served for brekky. Not the most traditional Vietnamese meal but I was certainly not complaining! After a few group photos it was goodbye to the entertaining family and off into the hills again. We stopped by a small school on top of a hill and some other minority villages, each which speak a different language. Another 12km of walking through amazing scenery followed with water buffaloes, piglets, chickens and ducks all going about their business. We returned back to Sapa by Jeep and decided pizza & beer was needed for our next 2 days of trekking.
Our next mission was the highest mountain in Vietnam, Mt. Fansipan. We joined with some others to make a group of 8 plus 4 porters, with Dem still our reliable guide to get us up AND down the slippery 3143m high mountain. You start the climb at around 2100m and 2 days is normally recommended to reach the summit and come back down again. The first day was reasonably tough with lots of steep ups and downs. The bamboo trees were a huge help in giving you something to hold onto whilst pulling yourself up or sliding down rock, mud or slippery grass. Lunch was a ham & salad baguette which hit the spot. We then continued to climb to our overnight camping spot which sits at around 2700m. A huge bbq dinner with a mixture of stirfries was served and kept everyone happy. Oh and of course some Vietnamese rice wine to go with it! We slept in a tin shed with a raised bamboo floor as our bed with another pissy camping mattress. Sapa is pretty chilly most of the time and it was extremely windy so lucky we were provided with decent sleeping bags. It seemed to be a very popular weekend to do fansipan as there were around 30 people packed into the tin shed. After a suprisingly good sleep it was a cold 5.30am wake for a pho (noodle soup) breakfast. The gear was packed up and we set off to reach the summit in pretty chilly conditions. The next 2 hours were super challenging with a few ladders to climb and many more steep obstacles to overcome, not to mention the lack of oxygen. We finally reached the summit which was a little disappointing as it was so cloudy and super windy! On a good day you can apparently see Laos and China, we were lucky enough to see glimpses of close by mountains when the cloud cleared for a split second. It took the rest of the day to descend with a lunch stop at base camp keeping energy levels high. The day cleared up basically after we had left the summit which made for some brilliant views on the way down. We made it back to Sapa around 4pm and were handed cold beers by the tour company for conquering Mt. Fansipan! Woooh!


The casino aboard the night train to Sapa! Madness!


The first morning in Sapa I could not see a thing!



The 1 hour later this was the view from the street.


Tables & Chairs at a very comfortable restaurant.



Minority village lady who followed us all day


Wild horse & Pony along the way.




The view from halfway up Mt Fansipan.



Home for night halfway up Mt. Fansipan.




Trekking through the bamboo forest


We made it! Fansipan Summit 3143m.


Only a little bit windy!!




Our ride home post home stay.



Homestay with a very cool and energetic family.



Visiting a school on the way to homestay.



Can you see the path all the way over the top?



Fansipan crew



Tree climbing up Fanispan



A brown snake... Loook hard!



Rice fields on the way to our homestay.



Down Mt. Fansipan we go! A long day...



Crossing over a suspended bridge!



This little fella was keen.



Stunning views.



This little one looked a little hungry.


Don't get too close!