Trekking in the far North: Sa Pa

The night on the train was short, sometimes warm, sometimes cold, sometimes loud, sometimes quiet, comfortable for Carsten, restless for Tina... so we arrived somewhat exhausted at 5:30 am in Lao Cai, the final station in the North. There were several minibuses waiting that would take us further into the mountains to Sa Pa. The drive there was already characterized by stunning views of the famous terraced rice fields. Unfortunately, Tina was heartbroken because it wasn't rice planting season and the rice terraces were brown from the mud and somewhat green from the grass.

As soon as we got off the bus, we were immediately approached by many women from the hill tribes in their traditional clothing, trying to sell us things or offer us a hiking tour. We declined for now and went to our beautiful homestay, which was cozy and rustic. Unfortunately, we couldn't check in yet, but the friendly owner explained the map, hiking options, and the weather forecast for the next few days in the meantime. The four Austrians, Patrick, Sophie, Julia, and Lukas, also arrived with us. Since today was supposed to be the only sunny day, we all decided to book a tour for today, even though we were tired... after a good breakfast, we met back at the homestay at 10:30 am, where a woman belonging to the "Black H'mong" hill tribe greeted us. She was our guide for today. We started directly on a 17km tour off the beaten path, through bamboo forests and rice terraces. Mint and sorrel were grown alongside the trail, which we could simply pick and eat. We took a short break at a clear mountain stream, where the water wonderfully cooled our feet. The weather was in our favor the whole time: the sun was shining and there was a light breeze, even though the view over the valleys was a bit hazy. Nevertheless, the scenery was breathtaking! We had to make an effort not to lose the small group, to which more and more local women with baskets and babies on their backs joined. Our guide, Lan, had a good pace as she walked this route almost every day (in her traditional clothing with skirt and thin shoes). We stopped for lunch at her brother's small restaurant and were served generously. We continued through muddy rice fields, passing water buffalos, pigs, and geese, crossing streams and shaky bridges, and passing by some small villages of the Black H'mong and Red Dao, who make up the largest part of the ethnic minorities here. Lan told us that rice can only be planted once a year in the North. So if you want to see green rice terraces, you should come between July and August (i.e. we absolutely have to come back). Lan also answered all the questions that came to our minds, so we could learn more about the hill tribes of the North. Our path also led us to a typical house of the Black H'mong, where we could watch the women at work. They produce various textiles, such as linen and hemp, whose threads they roll countless times with their full body strength to dry. Then they dye, paint, embroider, sew, etc. them by hand using natural indigo. The people here also make their own tofu, grinding the grains by hand. When we reached the village of Lao Chai (everything is really similar here), a small bus was already waiting to take us six back to Sa Pa.

We explored the city a bit more and had a delicious dinner before catching up on a lot of sleep...

The following day was rather gray and foggy, so our host mother suggested that we only go on a small scooter tour to the nearby waterfalls and enjoy the view there. Once again, we went out with the Austrians. The roads were full of potholes, but apparently it was still the best road that Sa Pa had to offer.

We only stopped briefly at the approximately 100-meter-high "Silver Waterfall" because it was a rather touristy place and then continued to the "Love Waterfall". It was hidden and required a short hike to get there. Many pistachios fell victim to the path, but once you start... Past the "Golden Stream" river, we continued into the forest, where the beautiful waterfall was waiting. Patrick even dared to jump into it for a moment, and the water was really... cold! On the way back, we took a short break and chatted in the sun, which had finally come out.

Then we discovered a steep vantage point from where you can have a great view of Vietnam's highest mountain, Fansipan (about 3100m). Unfortunately, it was quite cloudy today, but the little climb was still worthwhile.

We wanted to continue a bit further and the route became more and more beautiful and curvy, but suddenly one of the three scooters' fuel gauge dropped rapidly, so we decided to turn back since there was no gas station around here... Back in Sa Pa, we were all freezing and warmed up with coffee, tea, and alcohol. Then we went to a delicious barbecue, where you could choose skewers from a wide selection and have them freshly grilled. We could have eaten like this forever!

We were accompanied by a sweet local boy of about 1.5 years old, who played curiously with our folded paper fortune teller game. The people here are usually content with very little and live a simple life, but they seem happy! However, we do not support the fact that even young children end up as street vendors. Therefore, the government has put up signs and notices everywhere warning against buying anything from children or other locals, as these practices destroy their culture and encourage children not to go to school.

After that, we had to say goodbye to the Austrians, who already set off for their next destination in the evening. But they also left us a new task for Emil... ;)

We had to spend the following night in another hotel because ours was fully booked. We wrote some postcards while enjoying a delicious Sapa tea on the terrace of our hotel.

It had rained a lot during the night and the rain didn't let up in the morning either. So we reluctantly made ourselves comfortable in front of the fireplace with many cups of tea and only started a small hike to the nearby Cat Cat village in the early afternoon. It remained dry and the rain had washed away some of the mist, so we had a clear view of the village surrounded by rice terraces. We strolled around the rather touristy village, crossing bamboo bridges and waterfalls, passing many small souvenir shops, and enjoying the fact that there weren't so many people out and about in this weather. Most of the others were Chinese, who actually only bought a whole traditional outfit for a few photos... We thought this looked extremely ridiculous on tourists, but to each their own.

Back in Sa Pa, we had some time left to explore the local market with its many handicrafts, where women were sewing at every corner. Then it was slowly time to pack our things and take the minivan back to the train station in Lao Cai, where the night train would take us back to Hanoi.

In Lao Cai, we fortified ourselves for the long journey and happily boarded the train, as this time we had a compartment to ourselves. This made the journey more comfortable. Good night!