Hi friends, I hope your week is going great so far.
Mine has been pretty hectic with organising webinars, end of the month reports, preparing a mail-out for the end of the year and new projects. Normally, Nov and Dec are the months that I don't take on new projects, however, this year I am really excited about the potential of our team embracing new technology so we put a target to move the team on the new platform before the end of the new year.
Anyway, I think today I deserve a little break from work by going home early and finishing this article that I want to share with you. It is my first hiking trip to the roof of Indochina, Fansipan, the highest peak at 3,147m which is located in Sapa, Vietnam. So join me in this post to get lost in forests and mountains, spending our whole day hiking up and our evenings to see the stars.
Please note that this hiking I did was in 2013 when they hadn't built the Gondola and a pagoda on top of the mountain yet. If you are not a fan of climbing the mountain, you can take the gondola to go up for a quick visit, check-in and then ride the gondola back. But for me, hiking is the best way to experience this magnificent mountain.
The travel distance between Hanoi and Sapa is around 340km. At the time of my travel, the highway hadn't yet been built so we had to take a train from Hanoi to Lao Cai train station, then we rode a bus to Sapa. The total time was more than 12 hours. Now with the new highway, it only takes 6 hours by bus.
We took the train overnight and arrived at around 10 am. The weather was really nice, not too cold, not too warm. It was like paradise for me as it was really hot in Hanoi. To climb the mountain, we need to get a pass authorised by a government department so we decided to book a tour from a travel agency for 1,000,000 VND (around $40 USD). They helped us to take care of needed documents and also assigned one local porter to accompany us.
Group photo at the start of Thác Tình Yêu (Love Waterfall)
We followed the easiest route known as the Tram Ton Pass trail at 1600m which is the trail that begins at the entrance to Thác Tình Yêu (Love Waterfall). Some people claim that it is possible to climb Mount Fansipan in one day via the Tram Ton Pass trail, however, for me and my friend, it was our first time climbing the mountain so we chose the easiest one.
At first, I was quite confident with this hike as I had been practising for months, climbing stairs, spending 2 hours every day walking to work and working out. I even read tips when going on a hike, for example, don't drink water too fast, hold it in your mouth before swallowing it or do not sit down immediately with your backpack as it is hard to stand up.
The first part of the hike was not too hard, however, my friend and I didn't sleep well the night before on the train as it was quite noisy and the bed wasn't comfy enough. Moreover, the local porter was walking quite fast. At first, we had been trying to keep up with his speed. Unfortunately, climbing up hills with an unmarked trail didn't help at all.
Unmarked Trail where we had to climb rocks to go down
I didn't want to sit down immediately - one of the tips I read online to successfully conquer this mountain
Because of the altitude, both I and my friend had difficulties breathing due to a lack of oxygen. This is our first time climbing a mountain so our body hadn't adjusted to a new thing yet.
We arrived at the first stop after 2 hours of tracking. We were so thankful for having the local portal as he helps to arrange a small area for us to rest and have our quick lunch.
According to him, the distance from the first stop to the hut that we were going to spend our first night is not too far away so we could take our time to enjoy the views. It was so good to see the sun shining in the afternoon as the forecast for the next days were not good.
a photo taken for our porter
At 5 pm, we met other members of the group at the hut. Then we spent another hour or so exploring around while our porter was cooking our dinner. I went to bed early on the first day as I was exhausted. In addition to that, the lodge we stayed in was at 2200m level and is hidden inside the forest so there was not much to see.
The next day, the weather was overcast in the morning. It was cold and wet. My legs were sore from yesterday walking, however, I got used to hiking so I didn't feel much of the pain. Even though we had to climb through some big rocks and pass through a very small and narrow rail, it was all good.
Crossing a narrow trail which was quite dangerous on a not-so-good day. Photo Src
We spent the second night at the lodge at 2,800m and this is a good location to see the night sky. After dinner, we stayed outside for a while to enjoy the beauty of the stars. It was my first time seeing the night sky full of stars. I used to see a dark night sky with lots of stars when I was small. But looking at them from a close distance like that was my first time. Outside the hut, some people lit up a campfire so we could stay warm while enjoying the night.
The next morning we woke up at 5 am to go to the peak. It was still overcast in the morning. My legs didn't want to walk anymore and I could feel the pain after resting at night. I hate that feeling. At some points, my friend and I thought we might have to give up the peak and just stay at the hut to wait. But when we talked about how we travelled all the way from Hanoi to see it, we both agreed it would be a real shame to give up now. We took breaks and encourage each other that we would be there soon.
Exhausted we were discussing whether we should go back and wait at the lodge
And yes, finally we saw the peak. Both of us were so thrilled to be there. We couldn't see much as the clouds were all over the place but the feeling of staying up at 3,147m was everything. We made it to the peak, we conquer it, we were on top of Indochina.
I really wanted to stay a bit longer to see beautiful sunshine and layers of clouds. It is the incredible view from the internet that made me travel all the way from Hanoi and climb for almost 2 days to be here. I didn't want to leave without seeing it. However, it was freezing there and our porter said we didn't have enough time. We had a long way back to town.
Fortunately, the weather on our last day was quite good. There was no rain as per the forecast. Going down was easier, however, I didn't wear the proper shoes for this hike. My feet were so sore and I could feel my toes got pressed towards the shoes.
At 5 pm, it started getting dark and we had to use our phone headlight to see the trail. We still had another hour to walk ahead of us I know you might think why don't you bring a proper torch when hiking. This was our first time so we didn't really know as most people said they finished it early on the last days. We are so grateful for the porter as he didn't leave us behind. Each of us gave him a tip of 200,000 VDD (10 USD~equals to my one-day salary at that time) as a thank-you present for his help.
We arrived at our hostel at 7 pm, longing for a hot shower as we didn't have it for 2 days. It was the best warm and satisfying shower I've ever had. Nothing fancy or luxury, just to be able to take showers was enough at that time. For the next day, we were awarded a tour around Sapa. I didn't take photos but I asked my sister to send me photos from her last visit to show you.
Photos from my sister
At the moment, the Fansipan peak looks a bit different to the one shown in my posts. I was gutted to see they started building things on this mountain range. They clear a huge part of the forest just for the sake of making profits. Fansipan used to be a challenging destination for those who are brave and with enough determination can conquer it. Now it is just another tourist destination.
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