Into the mountains

Sapa
June 2-9, 2014

Heading westward into the mountains, our next stop was the adorable mountain town of Sapa.  Finally, we were seeing the lush green that I'd always thought of when picturing Vietnam, and for the first time on our trip, hotels were advertising having fireplaces instead of air conditioners!  Established as a summer getaway for military officers during the French occupation, Sapa is now the place to go for beautiful hiking and treks through the surrounding minority villages.

Mt. Fansipan

We signed up with a local trekking company to do an overnight hike to the summit of Mt. Fansipan, the highest peak in Indochina at 10,312 feet.  We were expecting an English speaking guide and a porter and were told that everything was provided, and all we needed to bring was some clothes and some energy. Well, as it turned out, we were accompanied by a guide(?)/porter who did not speak a lick of english and pretty much just ran up the mountain as we did our best to keep up.  When we got to camp, it was cold, windy, and filthy.  Kevin helped set up the tent (since the "guide" apparently did not know how) in the garbage-filled bamboo shack provided.  It proceeded to pour down rain, gust wind and thunder and lightening right outside our shack all night.  In the morning, we were exhausted and nervous about not only the trail conditions after the storm, but about our "guide's" competence.  We made the tough decision to turn back, and missed out on the summit.  In retrospect, and after talking to others, we probably could/should have just gone for it in one day.  Despite the rough night and not completing the summit, we still got in a great day hike with some spectacular views... and an adventure!

Disgusting Camp

Home sweet home

Thanks for cleaning up for us...

Brrr... so cold!  It was at least 60 degrees!

Village Trekking

Following our disappointing Fansipan trip, we signed up with a different company to do a day trek through some of the local villages.  Despite the fact that it was a crazy rainy day, we had a great time, and saw some of the most beautiful landscape we've ever seen!  Our group was accompanied by several of the local Hmong  women who helped us out along the way where the trail had turned to slippery muddy clay.

Terraced rice paddies

Did I mention it was raining?

Locals depend on water buffalo to plow the rice paddies... This one doesn't like the rain.

When the sun came out after lunch, it was time for the water buffalo to cool off!

Kevin's local helper... she made sure he didn't fall!