Smogless and Scenic - A Mountain Escape

An overnight train trip is never really all the fun it should be.  In Vietnam they have all sorts of different tickets, we took the cheapest; 'Hard sleeper, top level'.  For some strange reason sleeping on the top is least expensive, followed by the middle with the bottom being a fair bit more.  I'm not sure which is the best.  On top you bang your head and get suffocated with clouds of stale cigarette smoke and hot air, but their is a big handy space above the door for your bag.  Sleeping in the middle means you get tickled by the smelly feet of those climbing the ladder above you and whacked by those scrambling in underneath you.  And the bottom?  Well you pay a whole lot more and get the same crappy 'bed' and stuffy compartment.  It really wasn't a bad night considering the 2cm mattress, the two people piled below and the rattly old train.

I awoke as the train pulled into Lao Cai station early Tuesday morning.  We left amongst the usual heard of backpackers, being ushered like giant waddling turtles into a fleet of waiting minibuses.  Lao Cai, a bustling northern town snuggled against the border with China, is a spectacular forty minutes from Sapa.  The road wound up and up into the hills and out the windows we grinned happily at our first views of lush Vietnamese landscape.

Arriving and only being greeted by two polite touts was a welcome surprise, Sapa seemed a little chilled out.  One of the touts had the right price and we followed him to our cosy $6 US room and promptly fell asleep.  Waking several hours later (OK, so perhaps I needed a little bit more snooze after the full night I got on the train) we were greeted by the most spectacular view out our window.  Were once was cloud, now their was mountain.

The havoc, smog and rain of Hanoi had been replaced with grand vistas, vast mountains and sparkling sunny weather.  Snuggled in a high mountain valley, Sapa is a former French colonial 'hill station' and apart from the views the surrounding hills is home to some of Vietnam's most charasmatic minority people. Dressed in colorful handmade costumes these 'hilltribe' people wander the streets of Sapa keen to share their culture for "only three dollars, OK for you special price, two dollars".  While at times their is a bit of hard sell, it's nothing compared to the constant hassle of Hanoi or Bangkok and these lovely people add to Sapa's exotic, remote feel.  Maybe it was the mountain air, but after a stroll around town and an early dinner it was again time for bed.

On waking we were greeted with the same spectacular view, mountains, big mountains, big mountains everywhere.  The Hoang Lien Mountains that surround Sapa include Fansipan, Vietnam's highest peak at 3143m. These towering peaks stretch above Sapa in every direction.  But today was not a day for climbing, it was a day for a stroll.  We were going on a little walk to the local village of Cat Cat home to the H'Mong people.

Leaving Sapa we strolled into the valley below.  Heading out of town the land fell away and below us rice paddies trickled away in terraces, big clumps of bamboo offered shade to squawking chickens and boys lazily herded buffalo.  The serenity was briefly shaded by a barricaded road and the accompanying toll booth.  Entry to the village cost 5,000 VD.  There is always somebody very keen to take your money, but who finds it difficult to explain why you have to pay to walk along a road, who ends up with the money and how much of it actually goes to local people or infrastructure.

Resuming our walk we continued downwards and turned off the road onto a thin track.  Cat Cat village was a crouched amongst the paddies and local people seemed busily employed either as farmers or in the souvenir business.  The H'Mong are a large ethnic group of northern Vietnam and are known for their distinct costume.  Their hand made clothes use local indigo dye and the women mix skirts, aprons and chunky silver jewelry with very cool old school leggings.  As well as the local apparel, embroidery and jewelry was also for sale as we strolled through Cat Cat.  Naomi and me chose and a pair of embroidered cushion covers to carry around for the next five months and continued through the village to the valley floor.

The walk to Cat Cat was a lovely.  Despite the ethical concerns about turning a village into a tourist attract, it was fantastic to experience this awesome landscape closeup and the people within it going about the rhythm of their daily routine.  After such an energetic morning the afternoon was spent strolling town and finished with tasty pastries and hot chocolate in the Sapa branch of our old favorite Baguette & Chocolat.

Today was the day.  Today we were not only going to awoke to view of awesome mountains we were going to get out there and get amongst them.  One of the great joys of traveling in Asia is hiring a motorbike and cruising amongst peaceful traffic, with nothing to disturb you but the occasional horn blast and ensuring you understand the road rules as much as everyone else.  Today was day to get back on the bike.

Walking through Sapa's streets you are interrupted by numerious kind locals with the offer to sell you stuff at inflated prices, quite a number of these jovial fellas have motorbikes to rent.  We decided to ignore this convenience and rent a bike from the guy with the actual rental shop.  Not only did he have helmets, but he also gave me a lesson on riding a manual and us a detailed map of a truly awesome 100km trip.

After a few shakes, wobbles and swear words we were off.  Heading northwest of Sapa we climbed to Thac Bac, the silver waterfall.  At Thac Bac not only did we encounter lots of water flowing down a very steep hill, we also encountered our 'hotel guy'.  This bloke was everywhere.  He met us off the bus, he was in the lobby hotel, yet some how two minutes later he was on the other side of town; and now here he was 8km out of Sapa sitting having lunch under a waterfall.  He was definitely following us.

Back on the bike and on we climbed.  Up and up to the spectacular Tram Ton Pass.  At over 1900m Tram Ton is the highest pass in Vietnam and home to some truly spectacular views.  To one side rises Fansipan and the Hoang Lien Mountains, jagged and sharp from this new angle.  One the other the road begins to descend, to twist and turn and spin to the horizon.  After the mandatory photo stop it was onwards and downwards.  It seemed to go forever; edging the bike along slowly, trying to look at the amazing views and ignore the step drop to one side.

After about twenty kilometers of descending the road finally flattened out and we began our cruise through the valley.  We passed through small villages inhabited by H'Mong, Dzao and Thai people.  Their is some funky dental work in Vietnam - think old ladies chewing betel nuts their whole lives who, who because of a lack of teeth and the bright red stains, look like they've just be smacked in the gob, but the Thai women really take the cake.  They have the spectacular habit of permanently painting their teeth black and gold, seriously bling bling teeth.  As we cruised little traveled dirt roads we followed a massive river and got glorious views of life amongst the rise paddies.  The people we passed waved and shouted, and stopped to chat because they wanted to chat, rather than the usual "you buy from me".  Lunch was even superb at a little roadside joint that required much pointing and little English.

Despite a seriously sore bum, it was an amasingly rewarding day.  The huge mountainous landscape was awe inspiring.  It's grandeur reminded me of Nepal and the it's people conveyed an open warmth and friendliness that I'm sure lingers everywhere in vietnam behind the hawkers and touts.

We were leaving Sapa, but Sapa had disappeared.  The usual sparkling peaks to which we awoke had vanished, instead there was white.  The sort of thick, rich, chunky fog that lingers all day, disorientates you and gives you the distinct impression of having returned to  Alexandra.  Our train was leaving in the evening and a day strolling town and hiking to the local lookout was planed.  Instead we ate, read, ate, and finally visited Baguette & Chocolat to eat and read some more.  We strolled down to town square with the intention of watching the local evening football game and taking some snaps of the local 'hilltribe' hawkers.  We couldn't see the square, football was canceled because of the fog and the only way we could get close enough to photograph the locals was to buy stuff.  As we boarded our minibus for the drive down to Lao Cai we glanced around feeling lucky to have had our smogless, scenic and sunny mountain escape.