Sa Pa

Nestled near the Vietnamese-Chinese border in north west Vietnam is what once was a small agricultural town centre of Sapa. Now a tourist hotspot, this rapidly growing town is flocking with tourists to the region to view hills of rice paddies and walk through small nearby still agricutural Vietnamese villages. And for the next three days, we were going to be some of these tourists.

We took an overnight bus from Hanoi. These are different than their South American counterparts. There are three “bunk beds” per row, and we all fit somewhat well into them. A couple inches too short for me, but I managed okay. We had heard a lot of horror stories about these overnight buses, but it really was fine.

We arrived before the sunrise, and spent the next three hours in a Sapa hostel gaining some more rest, which would become our local base of operations. Finally our tour departed. There were ten eager hikers, and our one local guide, Cece.

A guide felt necessary for what we did. There’s no way without local knowledge that we would have known what trails to take, or any of the viewpoints. For the knowledge alone, Cece was invaluable.

The first day of hiking was to a village 10km away, named Ta Van. It started with a walk through the town, where we got a nice view of the main square and the church, before sidestepping down a deep muddy pathway into the rice fields.

The weather for the entirety of our hiking was that of foggy mist, with small rains interspersed throughout the day. We rarely had sun. As a result, the non-concrete pathways that we were on, which was about half of the day, were a thick, slippery orange mud. We all slipped a lot, sometimes a full wipeout due to the conditions.

Early on in the hike we were joined by a group of local ladies, looking to make friends with us to sell their wares at the end. We tried to ignore them, but when the mud hit early and they offered their help, everyone accepted. The way these women would casually walk up and down these muddy slopes in their little no traction gumboots was impressive. Hardly a slip between any of them.

The scenery that we could see between the clouds was very pretty. Flooded terraces 4-5ft high wrapped around the hills and valleys. Small reflections of the land and sky in the rice pools. Cows, water buffalo, chickens and ducks would hang out in and around the pools.

The first four kilometers of the hike were the hardest terrain we have ever hiked. With the slippery mud, each foot had to be carefully placed and tested before competing your step. Any carelessness and you would wipe right out. The path was sometimes 6 inches wide, with a flooded rice paddy to your left, and one more 5ft down to your right. It was very slow going, and a lot of the hundreds of tourists on the same walk as us were not close to prepared. Many travel girlies were holding makeshift funerals for their clean bright white shoes. A few tears were being held back. The scenery was gorgeous, but you had to completely stop moving in a stable location to be able to enjoy it.

The path eventually turned to concrete, where motorbikes would pass us every once in a while. The society here was formerly agrarian, but has now completely shifted into tourism, with nearly every family opening their home to a homestay. Massive sections of hills are being taken out to install massive resort hotels. A lot of the locals are being employed by these endeavors, but the tourism feels more like an intrusion on their lifestyle and land rather than a benefit.

We made it to our homestay, and got to hang out with our group for the evening. We met a couple, Jake and Georgia from Wales, who had just finished South America as well. They were quite similar to us, and it was fun swapping stories with them. Cam helped roll the spring rolls for dinner, which was a family style feast of multiple dishes and rice. We all went to bed fairly early, and slept really really well

The second day was a short walk through a bamboo forest to a car that would pick us up. The ground was a little dryer, so walking was easier. We didn’t have our assistants today. Instead, Cece got us all bamboo poles to help with our walking.

The highlight of the day was a short uphill climb through a bamboo forest. The bamboo was really fun, as we could glide and swing between the stalks on the mud. Some buffalo politely passed us on the way as well. I imagine this is what monkeys swinging through trees feels like.

There was a quick pit stop at a waterfall as well. I tried to scale the side of it, a rocky steep slope, looking for nothing in particular. I ended up finding an anxious girlfriend when I returned though.

The hike was short, and we got transported to the hostel for the night. It started raining hard, so we refrained from exploring the town. We said goodbye to our group, which were all headed back to Hanoi, and retired for the evening.

The final day of hiking, we were again joined by Cece, and Martin, a Dutch military man on a quick last minute vacation. We were going north to Ta Phin today, a route that is hardly touristed. I believe we were guinea pigs for determining if this is a worthy route for tourists in the future.

Unfortunately, it was hard to tell. The fog was so thick, and you really couldn’t see much at all. The path was really muddy again, and we had no local ladies or bamboo for help this time. I resorted to sliding down some hills, much to the nervousness of Cam and Cece. It was much nicer walking this path though, as there were no other tourists around. A needed change from the hundreds of the last two days.

We saw a local getting a new house built. A lot of the community joined in to assist them, including a long line of women with tin roof sheets strapped to their backs. It was explained to us that when a new project needs done, the whole community chips in to help the family. There’s no wages/ ownership dispute, labour anything. Its fairly simple.

The views we did see were very lovely though. This area was less manicured than the other sections. There was more walking through forest rather than along side a terrace. Every once in a while the valley poked its head through the fog, and we could see a vibrant shimmer of flooded terraces below us. Cece would stop at certain points and proclaim “this is normally a fantastic view!” We can only imagine.

We made it to the end of the trail soaking wet once again, and a shame that the weather was so poor for us. This is supposed to be the dry season in Vietnam, and all we are getting is rain. So we’re off on a night bus once again to somewhere a little farther, to hopefully get some sun. We will see you there!