Sapa Paradise of trekking

By Debbie

Sapa, in the northern mountains of Vietnam, a 9 hour train ride from Hanoi, is absolutely beautiful. I am surrounded by green mountains, farmland and low cloud – it really is breathtaking.

The stunning Sapa's view

The weather changes suddenly in Sapa. The days start quite chilly but temperatures rise to the mid 20s for midday, then the evenings cool down and it starts to get foggy and damp. Our hotel provides electric blankets for the beds and they really are necessary! It is the first time we have felt cold in 3 months.

Sapa itself is a lovely little mountain town. There are a few nice bars and restaurants, some on the hillside with beautiful views. There are also lots of Hmong tribes women in traditional dress keen to chat to you and sell you handmade bags and jewellery. There is pretty much a set conversation that happens every time you leave the hotel:

Hmong seller: “How long you been in Sapa?”

Tourist: “X days”

Hmong seller: “What’s your name?”

Tourist: “(Insert applicable name)”

Hmong seller: “What a beautiful name!” Even if your name is Gerald. Sorry Gerald.

Tourist: “Er, thanks”

Hmong seller: “How old are you?”

Tourist: “105″

Hmong seller: “Oh! So young!”

Tourist: “Uh huh”

Hmong seller: “You buy from me!” This is not really a question. You BUY from her! These ladies are amazing saleswomen. They scare me. I cannot say no to jewellery.

Fun and games

Most people come to Sapa to go trekking to Fansipan mountain and to visit nearby hill tribes. We booked a 2-day-1-night trek with a home stay in the village of Lao Chai. We were super lucky with the weather, both days were sunny and dry unlike the previous days with sudden thundery showers and low cloud that swallowed you up out of nowhere. We had a trekking guide who lived in a local Hmong village; she was absolutely fantastic, she spoke amazing English and knew the mountains and trekking routes like the back of her hand. We had another 4 people in our trekking group; a guy called Noel from Lewisham, Arnold from the Netherlands, Anna from Denmark and a lovely Spanish couple on their honeymoon.

Our group

Our trekking guide (right) and her cousin

The first day was spent trekking until mid-afternoon. We saw some pretty stunning scenery as we walked – rolling hills, rice paddies and all sorts of wildlife were everywhere we looked.

Nice view

Suckling piggies

We stopped off for lunch in a mountain village along with all of the other trekkers in Sapa (quite a lot of people, I expected it to be a little quieter if I’m honest!) and had some fried rice or noodles whilst resting our legs. After this we had a 2 hour walk to the village we were staying in overnight. Our home stay was basic but nice. The family had a huge wooden house, they lived in the downstairs area and all of the trekking guests slept upstairs on a mezzanine floor. Our beds were mattresses on the floor and we all had a mosquito net. The morning after we slept there, Noel, who was a few beds down from me, told me he had woken up to what he thought was a cat on his mattress. However, on closer inspection he realised it was a giant rat… It ran off and disappeared through a hole in the wall. I am very glad I didn’t know this during the night.

The mezzanine

The family made us an amazing dinner with all sorts of little tasting dishes of traditional food, from tofu and fish to chicken curry and beef, it was yummy. They also pretty much force fed us rice wine. Rice wine is really rather horrible. It’s very strong and almost makes you gag! They made it themselves and served it from a water bottle, nicknaming it ‘Happy Water’. I had a few before hiding my shot glass!

The second day’s trekking took around four hours. This was a little more challenging than the first day as our guide gave us the option of going off the beaten track a little, so we skirted around the borders of rice paddies and sat on the top of waterfalls as we made the descent back to the village road to head back to Sapa.

Walking on the edge

On top of a waterfall

A man and his buffalo

Kids killing time after school

We arrived back around 4pm. We had booked an overnight train to Hanoi so we quickly freshened up and got the bus to the train station. Our next stop was Halong Bay and Hanoi Backpackers Castaway Island.

ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA would like to recommend Sapa Trekking & Homestay tour.At an elevation of 1,600 meters, Sapa is a delightful former French hill station situated in the mountainous region of Vietnam's northwest, close to the Chinese border. The region is home to many ethnic minority groups, each wearing traditional and colorful attire. This trip includes a trek through the hills and valleys of the Sapa region, discovering several different minorities along the way. You will experience overnight accommodation in the hospitable villages of Giay and Tay ethnic minorities. The apparent hardships are worth it though as we walk through some of the most spectacular scenery that Vietnam has to offer and experience unique villages culture.

Highlights 

• Awesome scenery
• Rice terraces
• Colorful minority groups 
• Homestays in minority villages

Trekking in northern Vietnam

Written by Monica S. Labels

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it solely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." - Mark Twain

I'm starting this blog post with a quote I found in the "South East Asia Backpacker," a monthly magazine full of inspiring stories written by people who are either traveling through or have moved to South East Asia. I find it to be quite appropriate for the story I'm about to tell. Firstly, I knew absolutely nothing about the hill tribes living in the north of Vietnam before I came here. Secondly, had I not met them in person, I would not be inclined as passionately as I am to do something to help them. And lastly, it made me aware of how fortunate I am to be able to travel. So many people are "vegetating" in their own corner of the earth and could only dream of traveling, but are too poor to do so. I used to be one of these people up until not long ago. Coming from a developing country myself, I've experienced poverty and lack of mobility. But I kept dreaming. And I am now so grateful to have fulfilled some of those dreams. 

We really wanted to do a trek through northern Laos and stay with one of the hill tribes there, but we didn't have enough time. When we got to Vietnam, we were happy to find out that they have similar tribes living in the mountains in the northern part of the country. We were able to arrange going up there, hiking around and staying overnight with a local family. Despite the cold weather that took me unprepared and reminded me of San Francisco, I absolutely loved this trip and would've gladly stayed there longer, had we had more time. 

The Black Hmong villages in northern Vietnam are located very close to the border with China. Apparently, many of them migrated centuries ago from China and parts of Mongolia. To get there we took an overnight train from Hanoi to Lao Cao, a sad and grim, communist-looking town on the border with China. It reminded me a lot of childhood winters in Communist Romania. We arrived in Lao Cao at 6am and were shuttled in a packed minivan over a windy mountain road for about an hour until we reached the town of Sapa. Sapa is like a mountain resort, and the starting point for a lot of activities, such as hiking Fansipan, the highest mountain in Vietnam. It also boasts a full-on North Face fake store. Everything in the store is a copy and it costs about $20. I haven't been inside, but some people we met said the clothes looked the same quality as original North Face clothes. 

Our guide was waiting for us in Sapa and after we ate some breakfast we started the trek. During this time of the year, it is very cold and foggy, so you can't see much. The rice paddies are also not in full swing, so they don't boast the lush green you'd expect. Also, because of the heavy rains, the roads turn into a deep, slippery mud. Our hike was basically walking uphill or downhill through intense mud. Downhill was quite treacherous, at times it felt like hiking down a slip-and-slide. 

The girl on the right is our guide. The one on the left is one of the many women that followed us during the entire hike. Their strategy is to walk very closely behind you or right beside you. They try to become friends. They ask you a million questions: where you're from, how old are you, how many siblings you have, if you're married and have babies, if you have a boyfriend, etc. When you look like you're about to lose balance and fall, they're right there, holding your hand and showing you where to step next. Your heart melts and you think you just made a new friend. You are impressed at how friendly and helpful the people are. And four hours later, at the end of the hike, the shit show begins!

Daniel, flanked by two Red Dzao women. The tribes distinguish themselves mostly through the type of clothes and hats women wear. Red Dzao women wear red hats and embroidered pants, while Hmong women wear embroidered skirts and colorful head scarves. After harassing Daniel for the longest time possible, the two ladies called mission accomplished. 

The landscape, shrouded in fog the entire time, was magic. Tons of suspension bridges everywhere, but we didn't get to cross any. For every suspension bridge there was a new sturdier bridge built nearby. And some suspension bridges were really shabby, missing entire sections. 

Main street and grocery store in a Hmong village. I can't begin to describe how poor these people are. The only other place I've seen similar levels of poverty is Bolivia. Despite that, people seemed happy. It seemed normal. It felt like the simple kind of life that humans have led for centuries in these parts of the world. 

Hiking through mud along rice paddies. I felt really grateful for having my sturdy comfy hiking boots. This was yet another extreme test for how awesome they are. 

Our wonderful guide and her 10-month old baby. The cutest, smiliest, happiest baby in the world! Our guide was 19 years old and she had been married for 3 years already. Her husband, a year younger than her, takes care of the baby in the mornings while she's guiding tourists. At noon she gets back home and brings the tourists with her, to show them where she lives. She does this, so she can breast-feed the baby, strap him on her back and then continue the hike in the afternoon. At the end of the hike, she cooks for all of us and after dinner her husband comes to pick the two of them up with the motorbike. For the late night ride, the 10-month old baby gets strapped to the front of the mommy, so it can be sandwiched between its parents on the motorbike and protected from the cold. For guiding a group of tourists like this, she gets paid 5 USD/day. She works 4 days a week. Her husband is currently building their house, where she invited us. The house consists of a big room, walls made of bamboo leaves, no bathroom, no kitchen. Just a hole in the ground with a fire burning above it. A bed in a corner. A few clothes hanging on a rope. A few plastic stools. One piece of pork meat, almost black in color, hanging to smoke above the fire. 

The magic bridge - a photographer's dream. You probably can't even tell it's a bridge. It's suspended really high above rice fields, it's very narrow (a car can't fit), doesn't have railings and has zero visibility. We didn't see anyone walk on it, so we don't really know what its purpose was. 

Our guide's English was excellent, by far better than that of many people we've met in Hanoi or entire Vietnam for that matter. I asked her how she managed to speak so well and she said she started out following tourists and trying to sell them things. She would engage in conversations with them and pick up words really fast. Some tourists really liked her and wanted her to be their guide. The word got out that she's a likable girl with good command of English, so the trekking company hired her. The frequency of her gigs is solely based on feedback and reviews from tourists. 

The kitchen of the homestay where we slept. It was so cold inside the house that you could see your own breath. A few of our group of 9 gathered around the fire. The pot in the middle is boiling food for the pigs: a mix of cornmeal and leftover scraps.

Dinner in the homestay. Food in northern Vietnam is plain and some of the dishes remind me of Chinese food, maybe because they are so close to the border with China. All the food is stir-fried in a wok. We got stir-fried cabbage, chicken with bok choi and vegetables, steamed rice, spring rolls and fried tofu. The family also served us rice wine, which tastes more like vodka than sake. 

The next day the visibility was a bit better, so we could see the beautiful landscapes hiding behind the thick fog on the previous day.  

There was no bridge for this river, so we crossed the water on two metal beams, suspended across two rocks. We didn't want to do it at first, but it was actually easier than we thought. I love the ingenuity of the people here. There's always a solution for everything, even if it's not the most elegant, safe or logical solution. Things seem to always work out, somehow. 

ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA would like to recommend Sapa Trekking & Homestay tour.At an elevation of 1,600 meters, Sapa is a delightful former French hill station situated in the mountainous region of Vietnam's northwest, close to the Chinese border. The region is home to many ethnic minority groups, each wearing traditional and colorful attire. This trip includes a trek through the hills and valleys of the Sapa region, discovering several different minorities along the way. You will experience overnight accommodation in the hospitable villages of Giay and Tay ethnic minorities. The apparent hardships are worth it though as we walk through some of the most spectacular scenery that Vietnam has to offer and experience unique villages culture.

Highlights: 

• Awesome scenery
• Rice terraces
• Colorful minority groups 
• Homestays in minority villages

“A memorable first visit to Viet Nam”

As their name suggests, ATA is at their best doing active travel; take advantage of it to get away from the crowds and experience Vietnam in a more direct and authentic way.

We arranged a private, two week, multi-tour package in Vietnam with ActiveTravel Asia (ATA) in October 2011. ATA staff, especially Sunny, worked with us to put together a customized itinerary that met our needs and interests. The result was a remarkable and challenging vacation of dramatic landscapes, intense cultural exposure, physical activity, great food, and beautiful people. Our trip had three major components: a 5D/4N sea kayaking tour of Ha Long Bay (including Cat Ba Island), a 3D/2N trek with homestays in the Sa Pa area, and a 2D/1N bicycling tour with homestay in the Mekong Delta

Ready for Active Travel Indochina – Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia

What could be a great option for someone have retired like you, who'd like to try something different, something more fun and exciting maybe? How about going for an active travel experience?

"Boy, when I retire, all I'm going to do is lie around in a hammock all day" – this is probably what you have said and thought about all these years while working your way through life, but now that you have retired or planning to retire, do you really find the concept that satisfying? The answer could be no.

So what could be a great option for someone like you, who'd like to try something different, something more fun and exciting maybe? How about going for an active travel experience?

Traveling in Twilight

Whoever said you need to be an on-the-go person to sign up for an active vacation after retirement could not have been more mistaken. From adventurous kayaking in Halong Bay or historical trips on Ho Chi Minh Trail and Angkor Wat explorer- there is something for everyone out there

Just that you may need to hit your nearby gym at least twice a week, or ask your yoga teacher for classes immediately.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Here are some more options to help you plan a perfect active travel vacation:

- Fitness boot camps in Luang prabang, Lao or Ha Giang, Vietnam

- Golf vacations in Vietnam & Cambodia

- Kayaking in World Heritage sites such as Halong and Nha Trang bay, Vietnam

- Cycling trips through the countryside in Mekong Delta or Hoi An of Vietnam, Luang Prabang of Laos or Angkor Wat of Cambodia

- Hiking vacations on the top of Fanispan Mountain, Vietnam

- Walking tours of various World Heritage or historic sites of the world like Angkor Wat of Cambodia

- Museum trips in Hanoi, Capital of Vietnamand especially in Phnom Penh of Cambodia

Trek Fansipan Mt, Vietnam

Travel Agencies

Travel experts prefer classifying adventure tourism in two categories- "soft" or "hard" (also called "gentle" or "demanding"); but don't get caught up in these jargons. Make up your mind as to whether you would like to go kayaking, mountain climbing, biking, motorcycling or would you prefer enjoying the blue ocean in an obscure island in Phu Quoc, Vietnam.

Once you've made your choice, you can begin your research by browsing through websites and on-line travel agencies that will help you pick the right tour package.

Here are some of the names you might find handy

ActiveTravel Asia

Walking the World

50plus Expeditions

SeniorsSearch

Seniors Go Travel

Forty Plus Adventure

ActiveTravel Asia is one of names that has been organized more adventure trips for American Veterans travel to Vietnam war in the past from 2006. From motorcycling tours on Ho Chi Minh Trail to trekking trips in some ethnic villages of Sapa, Vietnam, they offer tour packages in Indochina.

Ready to Leave?

Here are some tips to help you organize your trip:

Confirm the legitimacy of your travel agency with associations like-American Society Of Travel Agents (ASTA) and United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA)

Check if they can customize your tour per your requirements

Find out whether your budget covers all the expenses

Remember to carry your travel and health insurance papers with the other entire document

A Few Words on Outdoor Safety

Find out as much as you can about the place you are traveling to Carry things like waterproof reflective survival blanket, Global Positioning System (GPS) units and mobile phones Check if your medical kit is well stocked with all the necessary drugs and first-aid supplies

For more tips on how to stay fit on the move, you can browse through the TravMed website

Be a Fit and Healthy Globe Trotter

There is nothing like traveling with an agile body and mind. To ensure this:

Eat healthy and drink plenty of water

Carry ginger pills to abate motion sickness

Stop and stretch every alternative hour while driving for long hours

Dambri in Da Lat, Vietnam, the girl longing for love

Once upon a time, in a village near a big river in Dalat, there was a young couple who were deeply in love.

Dambri waterfall in Dalat, Vietnam

They wanted to spend their life together but the girl’s father was a rich village chief who wouldn’t allow his daughter to marry the young man from a poor family. The chief then forced the boy to leave the village causing his daughter great sorrow.

She came to the river to cry every day, longing for her lover to return but he never did. The girl died in desperation, turning into green leaves on the hill and her tears flowed into the river forming a beautiful waterfall that was named Dambri or "Longing for love".

This is the legend of Dambri waterfall, about 20 minutes ride from Bao Loc Town. Many like to retreat to the more comfortable pace of Bao Loc to getaway from the city for a few days. The cooler weather is another draw card.

From the center of the town, the road winds around the hills to the fabled waterfall. Riding a motorbike is the best way to get there - the cool air on your face, French colonial houses and the great smelling tea plantations along the road. The waterfall is down in a green valley and the stairs can be a little slippery. From half way down you can hear the roar of the roaring water like thousands of elephants running, as if the grief of the girl is pushed to the limit.

The seasonal heavy rains at this time of the year, have made the force of the falls unstoppable. Water from the upper streams thunders down from the 60 meter falls, smashing into white foam and mist on the water-worn stones below.

The majestic power of the waterfall is bordered all around by nature. After the soaking at the waterfall’s misty base, you can go to the top to Chau Ma minority village, where you can learn how to playing traditional musical instruments, and make brocatelle fabric products under instructions of Chau Ma villagers.

The tea and coffee processor, Tam Chau of Bao Loc, that manages Dambri has opened restaurants, souvenir stores, remade the paths and erected statues. There is a gentle roller coaster and for tourists who are too lazy to climb the stairs there is a lift right next the falls. Some people have criticized the developer for interfering with the pristine beauty of the place.

With or without human interference Dambri is a natural wonder. The water from the falls also supplies the local tea and coffee plantations.

Source: VietNamNet

Recommendations in Dalat, Vietnam:
Dalat City Guide
Jungle Fever - Trekking Dalat