Slipp’n in SaPa

By Bea
01-05/04/2019
We arrived in Sapa 2.5 hours later and boy what a contrast! We were bombarded with ladies trying to sell us their handicrafts or take us trekking. Men wanting us to take a taxi. It was full on! We walked towards our hotel gawking in horror at the massive new hotels (Pete almost vomited at the hideousness of the architecture) we were quite disappointed in the place. After a short walk headed down some stairs and came across a completely different area… grungy, dirtier, hip and cool at the same time. We were in “old Sapa” and thankfully that was where we were staying.

We had noticed when booking that the hotels had names like, ‘Sapa Mist’, ‘Mountain Cloud’ and ‘Cloud View’, walking down the streets of the old town we could see why, Sapa is basically a white out!! It was really quite eerie. At times the mist would roll in to the streets also and gave it a totally different atmosphere - quite blade runner-esqe.

In the afternoon we walked through to visit Cat Cat village…. A waste of time after Bac Ha, basically it's the village that Disneyland built. Too touristy!
That night we dined at the hill station restaurant, an elegant designer restaurant that did a really good contemporary take on north Vietnamese cuisine. The next day, we explored Sapa, got our washing done and getting a western food fix….. hamburgers!!!! You just need to do it every now and then!

We were very keen on doing a 3 day trek and while we had read that it was easy to do yourself we had also heard of a company called Sapa Sisters that is owned and operated by the female Hmong guides themselves. The company was set up about 14 years ago by 2 sisters and the cousin with the help of a Swedish lady with the objective of cutting out middle men and privately owned operators to create better opportunities and empowering hill tribe women, it now has 27 guides plus employ extras during peak periods.
The plan was to trek down the valley staying the first night in the house of local family then trekking further down the valley to a home stay, day three would be a short walk before being bussed back up the hill to Sapa.

The night before the trek, there were massive thunderstorm and the rain continued the next day, a great way to start a 3 day trek in the mountains. Our guide, ‘Pen’, all of about 4 foot nothing, greeted us at the shop and after the obligatory paperwork we headed off. She offered us the opportunity to spend night one at her own home with her family and have dinner with them. She said it was just up the hill so we eagerly accepted.

With a couple of days clothes in our day packs and clad in ponchos against the drizzling rain we headed out of town. A few hundred metres on Pen asked if we wanted to take the easier route following the road around, or the scenic, more challenging route along small tracks around the rice terraces. We took the latter! I had no idea what that was going to entail!! The rain continued, the rice paddies were muddy.. I mean copious amounts of mud!!! As walked up and down the very small pathways our feet completely disappeared into it (aka quicksand!) it was quite funny as our boots were so covered and heavy they were hard to lift.

I was sliding everywhere and as most of my friends know my wonderful sense of balance, I had a hard time keeping my feet!!! My butt was soon covered in as much mud as my boots! Our guide had to hold my hand on numerous occasions to help me down the steeper sections (after talking to others who we came across over the few days I was not alone!!). There was one point when pete was taking a photo, I had my arm extended in the air, holding up an umbrella to cover the camera, standing in this muddy rice paddy, and the thunder was sounding… I did have a brief moment questioning what the hell was I doing here.

After what seemed hours we eventually left the muddy fields and joined a pathway. It was quite a relief. We came across a few others with their guides, they were wet but clean!!! They opted for the ‘easy option’…. Boring farts!

After a 3.00pm lunch Pen checked, yet again, that we were ok to stay at her place up the hill, it didn't have a shower or hot water but there was a toilet, yes Pen we are OK, we are fine with that. We turned off the main path headed off up the hill and the 2km stroll to her house. We reached her house around 5:30pm!!!!! You do the math!!! Yes just up and over the hill mountain… did I have a massive brain fade or what! Omg the mountain was steep. It started on a small concrete path… not too bad, then it got crazy steep, then it got wet and slippery. My feet were just sliding straight back. I couldn't keep a hold.

The smooth concrete path finished at a rocky goat track cum water course, which we continued up. There were intermittent mud holes and water crossings amongst the rocks, and then it got seriously steep, with even bigger rocks. My muscles had taken a beating slipping and sliding about all day and now to be greeted by this, huge rocks I had to drag my self up and over, my body was soooo over it! I kept seeing these houses appear and wishfully thinking was this it? Are we there yet? Pen would say, shall we take 5 mins rest?...OK not even close, bugger.
(Note from Pete- As Bea dragged herself up this hell, up ahead Pen was walking up the path knitting and chatting on the phone!!!) Thankfully it had stopped raining that afternoon, so we could stop to admire the sensational views. Admittedly they got better as we were getting higher!
When we eventually arrived the buffalo was already in his house for the night, pigs were in their pen, the free range chickens & ducks had been fed, the obligatory dog and cats were chilling on the verandah and I needed a beer more than I ever needed one before!!!
Argh bollocks.. nearest shop was back down the hill where we had lunch, Pen suggested Pete could pop down and buy a couple, Pete suggested Pen could… well.. you can figure that out!
Note to self buy beer before climbing mountains!

Pen’s place was typical of the rustic timber farmhouses that dot the hillsides, built by hand over 25 years ago and added to over the years. Pen’s family, her husband, her in-laws and 2 of her 3 kids made us feel very welcome. Pen’s youngest son was at boarding school in the town so he could do extra study though I suspect it was to avoid the 1.5hr walk up and down that path each day. Most kids finish school in the early afternoon so they come can help work on the farm. We did see several kids helping plough the fields with the buffalo.

Pen boiled the kettle on the open fire in their kitchen and poured a lovely bowl of warm water for us to wash our muddied face and legs, much better.
Pen and her husband lit the fire and started cooking dinner and while pete helped pen with preparing the herbs from the garden, I sat on a little stool enjoying the fire. We and the family sat down to dinner in room and what a feast was simple home cooking at its best, tofu with a tomato ragout, chicken stir fried with cabbage, morning glory, spring rolls along with the fresh herbs and salad leaves pete helped prepare earlier, and heaps of rice.

With a full belly we headed off for day 2 of the trek. Pen asked if we wanted the easier way down or hard. I immediately said easier!!!! I can tell you now, I hate to know what the harder one was like!!! That was no easy trek!! Poor Pen had to hold my hand so often as I tried to get my feet into Iittle grip holes and gingerly stepping on the muddy paths trying desperately to avoid the “green areas” (moss is very slippery I can tell you!!) even pete lost his footing once! (A few more times for me tho!)
By mid morning we had rejoined the path and the other trekkers. This day was much easier than the first but the scenery just as breathtaking and… the sun was shining. What a change, such lovely weather. We stopped at Pen’s parents house for lunch and another great feast, steamed rice and various plates of deliciousness.

Our bed was in the same room as the rest of the family, a large room with several double beds separated with a light curtain. I'm sure the bed was a slab of wood with a yoga mat to sleep on!!! It was a tough sleep, didn't help that the roosters felt that 3am was sunrise!!! We heard the kids leave for their 1.5hr trek for school at 6:30am Before rising to another feast for breakfast. Steamed rice, omelette, cooked greens and fried preserved pork (fat)

A short walk the next morning, then a mini van back to Sapa ended our trek. I was grateful of a short day. We had a great trip, some great testing walks, incredible scenery but a hot shower and soft bed I was ready for!

Other than the descent from pens house, the level of difficulty of day to was pretty low, That was until Pete elected to take the short cut to he homestay, a short testing section at the end just to make you feel you had really trekked! While the homestay had hostel style dorm rooms it did have hot showers and BEER. There were a few groups staying the night here including a lovely group from Halifax, Nova Scotia . Hopefully one day we will get there to say hi again.

During the trek you meet other trekkers, walk and chat a little then go off in your own direction. On one occasion nice couple from Australia.. he was from from falls creek. We said “oh we know the CEO of falls creek!” The guy said “oh I'll tell Stuart you said hi!” …. Small world when you are travelling

After a month on the road, staying in cheap hotels or hostels and a 3 day muddy trek, we waved the “luxury” card for the second time and booked into a the Aira boutique hotel for the night.
The hot shower never felt so good! We went out and bought some gin, some tonics and some snacks and came back to sit on our balcony and look at the wonderful views of the white out where the majestic fansipan mountain should have been. Fortunately the internet was working, so we could watch the footy, unfortunately for the Demons there structures weren't and they went down to Essendon.

The restaurant hotel had been received several good reviews so we thought we might try another attempt at my ‘birthday dinner’ The reviews were right, what a lovely restaurant. Great food.

After a good night sleep in a soft bed, and finally in bright sunshine we walked up to the Catholic Church and caught the 9.00 am bus back to Lau Cai. As we crossed the bridge and turned into Lau Cai the bus stopped and the conductor pointed animatedly up the road behind us yelling China China…. So we hopped off grabbed our packs and headed in that direction.