🇻🇳 Sapa - Hiking and Chilling
Remembering what relaxing feels like
After Ha Giang, I went to Sapa - an area renowned for its luscious green mountains, deep valleys, and terraced rice fields. I got there on a 6-hour sleeper bus full of 19-year-old Brits doing impressions of Vietnamese accents. Perhaps this was atonement for my sins.
I booked a tour to Sapa through my hostel back in Hanoi, as they offered various discounts then and sorted logistics for me (it’s really nice having a native have your back when bus schedules inevitably get changed and nobody on the helpline speaks English). I later learned that this, too, has its downsides. I had to constantly liaise with the hostel I booked the tour through on WhatsApp, as they didn’t tell me things ahead of time. Another learning experience.
On the first day, I was brought to the village of Ta Van by bike. There, I met with a local woman who seasonally works as a trekking guide, and joined a group of people who also booked onto the tour that day - a British girl, Becca, and two Russian guys. The Russian guys weren’t very talkative, even with each other. Luckily, Becca was really sound, and we ended up spending a good bit of time in Sapa together.
The guide’s name was Yeng. She’s part of the Black Hmong ethnic group in this part of Vietnam. Getting a local guide like this is part of the experience, and it supports the community when it’s not the season to plant rice. Yeng had a lot to share about life here and knew the trails well. Pretty much all other hikers had their own guides, and Yeng would interact with them as we hiked, which was very wholesome.
The hike started through a thick bamboo forest.
Later, the land flattened out, showcasing amazing vistas of the valley. Sadly, the pollution in this part of Vietnam is quite bad, which impacts the views. That’s partially due to burning rubbish, and partially due to it being slash-and-burn season in North Thailand and Laos at the time. Some people I talked here decided to cut their stays short because of this.
The whole time during the hike, we were entertained by Yeng’s stories and expertise. Her English wasn’t great, but she was trying hard. She also barely pronounced the last syllable of English words, so understanding her felt additionally rewarding.
We also had to get used to Yeng’s way of saying things. For example, she told us that in the evening we can shower together (I guess she meant that that’s collectively the time to take showers, not that we should shower together), and that breakfast is at 9 PM (meaning AM). The Russian guys really didn’t like that comment on showering together.
Yeng also giggled menacingly every time we asked for a photo with her.
The hikes in Sapa all seemed short when you look them up online, and now I can see why. It’s super hot, humid, and hilly here, so you build up a sweat and get tired quickly. I’ve not hiked in these conditions, and it’s very rewarding, but you need to be careful not to overcommit yourself. It also felt amazing to move around after the sedentary nature of the Ha Giang loop.
After the hike, we got back to the homestay and just chilled. Many other travellers were staying there, and the surroundings felt incredibly cosy. It was really easy to chat to people, and the homestay itself had a homely atmosphere.
In the evening, we went to a nearby bar, which was decorated in a very rustic manner. In a way, I felt comforted by how much like East London it felt, with the bar also serving craft ales on tap. Definitely one for the tourists, but many items on the menu were locally priced.
For my first round, I opted for a Vietnamese beer and an opium-infused shot. I was expecting something crazy from the shot, but it just tasted herbal.
The view from the bar in the evening was incredible. It probably had the best ambience I’ve experienced while travelling so far.
After a family-style dinner at the homestay (which served really good food) and chatting with more of the travellers, everyone went to bed. The homestays feel a bit like a treehouse, with most people sleeping communally on the same floor. It was almost like a sleepover.
On the second day, we did more hiking, taking a route higher up the valley. The hike was similar to the day before, with a little more elevation gain. We also encountered lots of kids on the way, as it was the weekend and they weren’t in school, who were all very keen to high-five us and regurgitate all the English they knew at us.
Since we were higher in the valley, we couldn’t see much because of the pollution. When it’s not burning season, it would be great to climb a higher peak here, perhaps Fansipan - the highest peak in Vietnam.
During the hike, I met up with some people I had met in Ha Giang, and we finished the hike together, with our guides chatting amongst themselves. Same old in the evening - chilling, eating, and drinking.