Travel Photologue: Sapa #2
Sapa #2 will be all about my trek up Fansipan!
A photo with a little glass statue of Fansipan and my brave companion at the souvenir shop (I'll explain later). Reihana agreed to go on this 2d1n trek with me despite minimal training, and after the trek, she said she was done with exercise for the year LOL (in my defense, NO, I did not force her to climb with me + she claimed she did climb Mount Rinjani many many years ago! I thought she would be fine and so did she....... I'll explain what happened to her later.)
Just a quick introduction: What is Fansipan?
According to Wiki: Fansipan is a mountain in Vietnam, the highest in Indochina, at 3,143 metres. It is located in the Lào Cai Province of the Northwest region of Vietnam, 9 km southwest of Sa Pa Township in the Hoang Lien Son mountain range.
There you go, Fansipan is the highest mountain in Indochina. As intimidating as that may sound, it only takes about 10-12 hours of trekking to reach the top. Doesn't sound all that bad right? I was inspired to trek Fansipan after a friend of mine did it - and a 2d1n trek seems pretty manageable. I'm all for mountain top views and being above the clouds. Bring it on!
So after our lovely morning stroll along the lakeside of Sapa (refer to previous blog post!), we returned to our trek agency headquarters to take a mini van to the foot of Fansipan.
Where it all began
We were clustered with a group of 5 people, where all the other 3 were Vietnamese. Luckily, one girl spoke decent English so she acted as the translator and we all got along! This guy brought a parang with him, and he used it to cut bamboo shoots walking poles for Reihana. Legit. Don't waste money buy hiking poles when you can get natural ones!
Reihana still going strong - this is within the first hour of the trek.
I can't really remember the sequence of the trek anymore, or how long it took for us to get out of the forest to finally have some "mountainous" views, or what time lunch was and which part of the trek was it... but I remembered Reihana starting to get REALLY tired two hours into the trek and we were lagging behind compared to the rest of the group. I remembered that because I ended up carrying her backpack for her (she was suffering lol and then I suffered) for the next two hours before we reached our pit stop for lunch (and hired a porter!)
There were lots of locals doing the trek too, even little kids! Needless to say, they were full of energy and easily overtook us.
Starting to get some views
I thought Reihana was merely unfit and I was hoping she would be better after some rest and food (lunch was catered by our guide; I didn't take a photo of it cause I was busy snoozing but it was nothing fancy). We resumed the trek after an hour of lunch, "bag-less", as we hired a porter to carry our bags for us. Unfortunately, she didn't get better. She was starting to feel even more giddy, nauseous and breathless as we trekked higher.
With my limited signals (of data), I googled her symptoms and they pointed to Mild Altitude Sickness. At that point in time, we had already trekked for about 5 hours, and it was nearly impossible to turn back. Another two hours, and we would reach our base camp for the night. It didn't help though, that the trek was very steep.
Nonetheless, she didn't give up! (Okay lah, I guess she didn't have much of a choice. Hahaha. Plus, she felt bad for holding everyone back.) Eventually, the others went ahead, leaving us with our guide who patiently waited for us and tried to keep the atmosphere cheery by offering us a sweet or two every now and then.
A little moment of accomplishment!
Our one and only group photo with our trek guide, fellow trekkers, and porter.
The winding path ahead
Above the clouds!
(Can you spot the trail and the trekker in red? That's how small we were, and how much higher we had to go!)
We trudged our way though the mountains, going up ladders, down muddy steps, up and down, up down. Contrary to what trekking seems, I've learnt that 1) you never walk in a straight line and 2) you go up only to come down again. The trek was definitely not a stroll in the park. We eventually reached our accommodation for the night at 5pm (about 7 hours of trekking).
Nothing much exciting to talk about here. It was a basic accommodation that didn't even have lights - we used our torches - and we squeezed in sleeping bags on wooden platforms in the rooms. Kind of like a constructed wooden tent that came with toilet facilities.
Dinner! Just rice, some veggies, tofu and chicken.
The initial plan was to catch sunrise at the peak of Fansipan, which meant we had to leave the hut at 4am. But as it was raining and Reihana needed more rest, we slept in till 7am instead.
Breakfast was warm soupy instant noodles with a fried egg. So welcoming when temperatures are low at single digit!
We left promptly after breakfast when the rain subsided. It was wet, muddy, cold and windy trek. We went slow as Reihana was still not in her best condition. Let's just fast forward 3 hours to...
How happy Reihana was to see a cable car because it would mean we were reaching the top!!! And yes, for the unadventurous, this cable car was built last year and you can take a 30mins train up to Fansipan.... instead of trekking for 10-12 hours.
FANSIPAN 3,143M.
Unfortunately for us, it was a foggy morning and this was the view at the top. Reaching at 11am also meant that cable cars were already up and running, and we had to squeeze with all the tourists who were wearing fancy shoes and high heels - I was very tempted to step on a few of the rude ones with my dirty muddy boots.
Mandatory photo of victory!
Apparently before the cable car was built, there weren't any platforms or fences around the area :( Would have loved a photo right beside the iconic pyramid!
Made do with another pyramid instead.
It was kind of sad that we couldn't stay to enjoy the "view" and take in our sense of accomplishment peacefully, with the ten thousands of tourists swarming around. But the construction of the cable car still had its benefits - we took the cable car down. It saved us 8 hours (of torture, I hate trekking down), and all that time would go into exploring Sapa and its villages instead!
Magnets that summed up our Fansipan adventure (from bottom to top)
As much as it was not as satisfying at the peak as I would have liked, it was an experience nonetheless! Luckily Reihana turned out fine (although she did have slight decompression illness too, on top of her altitude sickness, because we descended too quickly in the cable car), and we were still able to enjoy the rest of our trip. #remindertoself: always get altitude pills no matter how "easy" or "short" the trek may be. Just in case!
I'll share the gorgeous cable car views in the next post. Stay tuned x
A photo with a little glass statue of Fansipan and my brave companion at the souvenir shop (I'll explain later). Reihana agreed to go on this 2d1n trek with me despite minimal training, and after the trek, she said she was done with exercise for the year LOL (in my defense, NO, I did not force her to climb with me + she claimed she did climb Mount Rinjani many many years ago! I thought she would be fine and so did she....... I'll explain what happened to her later.)
Just a quick introduction: What is Fansipan?
According to Wiki: Fansipan is a mountain in Vietnam, the highest in Indochina, at 3,143 metres. It is located in the Lào Cai Province of the Northwest region of Vietnam, 9 km southwest of Sa Pa Township in the Hoang Lien Son mountain range.
There you go, Fansipan is the highest mountain in Indochina. As intimidating as that may sound, it only takes about 10-12 hours of trekking to reach the top. Doesn't sound all that bad right? I was inspired to trek Fansipan after a friend of mine did it - and a 2d1n trek seems pretty manageable. I'm all for mountain top views and being above the clouds. Bring it on!
So after our lovely morning stroll along the lakeside of Sapa (refer to previous blog post!), we returned to our trek agency headquarters to take a mini van to the foot of Fansipan.
Where it all began
We were clustered with a group of 5 people, where all the other 3 were Vietnamese. Luckily, one girl spoke decent English so she acted as the translator and we all got along! This guy brought a parang with him, and he used it to cut bamboo shoots walking poles for Reihana. Legit. Don't waste money buy hiking poles when you can get natural ones!
Reihana still going strong - this is within the first hour of the trek.
I can't really remember the sequence of the trek anymore, or how long it took for us to get out of the forest to finally have some "mountainous" views, or what time lunch was and which part of the trek was it... but I remembered Reihana starting to get REALLY tired two hours into the trek and we were lagging behind compared to the rest of the group. I remembered that because I ended up carrying her backpack for her (she was suffering lol and then I suffered) for the next two hours before we reached our pit stop for lunch (and hired a porter!)
There were lots of locals doing the trek too, even little kids! Needless to say, they were full of energy and easily overtook us.
Starting to get some views
I thought Reihana was merely unfit and I was hoping she would be better after some rest and food (lunch was catered by our guide; I didn't take a photo of it cause I was busy snoozing but it was nothing fancy). We resumed the trek after an hour of lunch, "bag-less", as we hired a porter to carry our bags for us. Unfortunately, she didn't get better. She was starting to feel even more giddy, nauseous and breathless as we trekked higher.
With my limited signals (of data), I googled her symptoms and they pointed to Mild Altitude Sickness. At that point in time, we had already trekked for about 5 hours, and it was nearly impossible to turn back. Another two hours, and we would reach our base camp for the night. It didn't help though, that the trek was very steep.
Nonetheless, she didn't give up! (Okay lah, I guess she didn't have much of a choice. Hahaha. Plus, she felt bad for holding everyone back.) Eventually, the others went ahead, leaving us with our guide who patiently waited for us and tried to keep the atmosphere cheery by offering us a sweet or two every now and then.
A little moment of accomplishment!
Our one and only group photo with our trek guide, fellow trekkers, and porter.
The winding path ahead
Above the clouds!
(Can you spot the trail and the trekker in red? That's how small we were, and how much higher we had to go!)
We trudged our way though the mountains, going up ladders, down muddy steps, up and down, up down. Contrary to what trekking seems, I've learnt that 1) you never walk in a straight line and 2) you go up only to come down again. The trek was definitely not a stroll in the park. We eventually reached our accommodation for the night at 5pm (about 7 hours of trekking).
Nothing much exciting to talk about here. It was a basic accommodation that didn't even have lights - we used our torches - and we squeezed in sleeping bags on wooden platforms in the rooms. Kind of like a constructed wooden tent that came with toilet facilities.
Dinner! Just rice, some veggies, tofu and chicken.
The initial plan was to catch sunrise at the peak of Fansipan, which meant we had to leave the hut at 4am. But as it was raining and Reihana needed more rest, we slept in till 7am instead.
Breakfast was warm soupy instant noodles with a fried egg. So welcoming when temperatures are low at single digit!
We left promptly after breakfast when the rain subsided. It was wet, muddy, cold and windy trek. We went slow as Reihana was still not in her best condition. Let's just fast forward 3 hours to...
How happy Reihana was to see a cable car because it would mean we were reaching the top!!! And yes, for the unadventurous, this cable car was built last year and you can take a 30mins train up to Fansipan.... instead of trekking for 10-12 hours.
FANSIPAN 3,143M.
Unfortunately for us, it was a foggy morning and this was the view at the top. Reaching at 11am also meant that cable cars were already up and running, and we had to squeeze with all the tourists who were wearing fancy shoes and high heels - I was very tempted to step on a few of the rude ones with my dirty muddy boots.
Mandatory photo of victory!
Apparently before the cable car was built, there weren't any platforms or fences around the area :( Would have loved a photo right beside the iconic pyramid!
Made do with another pyramid instead.
It was kind of sad that we couldn't stay to enjoy the "view" and take in our sense of accomplishment peacefully, with the ten thousands of tourists swarming around. But the construction of the cable car still had its benefits - we took the cable car down. It saved us 8 hours (of torture, I hate trekking down), and all that time would go into exploring Sapa and its villages instead!
Magnets that summed up our Fansipan adventure (from bottom to top)
As much as it was not as satisfying at the peak as I would have liked, it was an experience nonetheless! Luckily Reihana turned out fine (although she did have slight decompression illness too, on top of her altitude sickness, because we descended too quickly in the cable car), and we were still able to enjoy the rest of our trip. #remindertoself: always get altitude pills no matter how "easy" or "short" the trek may be. Just in case!
I'll share the gorgeous cable car views in the next post. Stay tuned x
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