Sapa, a Northern Frontier Town

After one last day in Hanoi, in which Helen finally was able to obtain a ticket to see the famous Water Puppets, we took the night sleeper train north to Sapa, 380 km from the capital city. Our travel companions in the compartment were a lovely couple from Australia. As a result, we felt safe and had a relatively good night's sleep.

As our hotel room was not available until 18:00, the hotel owner offered us a room in his B&B outside town. The garden was so beautiful, we sat for hours taking in the warm sunshine (no humidity), marvelling at the layout and symmetry of the trees, flowers and flowering shrubs, one of the most charming spots we had seen on our travel and an inspiration for us (incompetent) gardeners.

The Hoang Lien Mountains lie at the southeastern extent of the Himalayan chain. The National Park is located at the flank of these mountains and includes Vietnam's highest peak, Fanispan, at 3,143 m. The town of Sapa itself lies in the Muong Hoa valley, 1,600m above sea level. The hills are covered with rice field terraces and the area is coveted for trekking experiences and the visits to many hill tribes who are settled here. 

The weather is unique to Vietnam as it is highly seasonal, with a subtropical climate in the summer and a temperate climate during the winter. The temperatures during the last few days have fluctuated between 21C-26C during the day and 9C-14C at night. With a vegetation that resembles the countryside in the Laurentians, the weather can be misty and drizzly. We have been quite lucky - no drizzle - although the morning mist lingered and our photographs do not show the wonderful vistas that we experienced.

The people of the Sapa area have been very poor even by Vietnam rural standards. However, in recent years, tourism has steadily increased and last year over 1 million visitors have come to this special region.

Excluding the ethnic Vietnamese people (Kinh), eight different ethnic minority groups are found in Sapa, the majority being H'mong and Dzao.

A H'mong woman preparing land for corn planting as her daughter looks on.



A 90ish H'mong woman working on a needpoint piece - her thick glasses helped!



Mama cooking dinner over an open fire in a Dzao home

After a day of lounging about, we took a guided tour with Eric and Debbie, also from Australia, up and down hillsides and across a small river. The tour guide was the same one who had guided Inge, Albert and me last year and he remembered with embarrassment how he had told us last year that our trek was 15km when in reality we had walked for 21.4km until exhaustion. However, this year we had a pleasant 10k hike, although our calves and thighs, not used to the steep up and down hills were reminding us that we are definitely out of shape.

 

When we resumed our trek after lunch, a family of H'mong followed us, hoping to sell some of their wares. Although we had no intention of doing so, they followed us for some 5km, up and down hills, never giving up. We finally put up a collection to make them and us happy....

Our extended trekking family

To improve our fitness, we decided to undertake a trek to Cat Cat village the next day on our own, not realizing that it involved going down steep stone steps for 500m. When we reached 400m, we realized that the hike involved climbing a similar amount of stairs at the other side of the valley. So, faced with a stark choice, we turned around and climbed back up. Too pooped to walk a further kilometre uphill into Sapa, we took a motorcycle taxi and boosted our spirits with a cappuccino and lunch instead. Some hikers we are!

On day four of our stay we took a tour to Heavens Gate, at 2,000m a birds-eye view of the valley below and the surrounding mountains. What a panoramic view! Clouds and mist drifted below us - therefore no pictures. We took a long walk to the Love Waterfall and came back to Sapa and our last supper (smoked buffalo meat) and a great glass of wine at the Hill Station Restaurant.

Tomorrow we are taking the sleeper train back to Hanoi and a few hours later we will catch a flight to Hong Kong, our last stop on this amazing trip.............