Vietnamese Highlands at Sapa

The overnight train from Hanoi arrives in Lao Cai in the early morning, and although we are not on the designated “tourist” train(no available tickets), we’re none the worse for wear.  Our hard berths were actually relatively comfortable, although our Vietnamese cabin mates were not particularly communicative.  A couple with a young boy settles in playing endless games on their I Pad, and when we wake up in the morning, there are definitely more than the designated six in the cabin!  Andres walks through part of the train, where he says people are lying all over, and in the cars with hard benches, people are crammed in like sardines, sleeping sprawled over each other and the bags of goods they carry with them.  All hell breaks loose when the long train pulls into the station as people clamber off the train.  From Lao Cai it’s another hour into the mountains to get to Sapa.   The clouds hang low in the valley obscuring the mountains, and the humid and penetrating cold is a bit of a shock to the system after endless weeks of tropical heat.  Our hotel has done a rather masterful job in deceptive advertising, so we move elsewhere, and then set off to look around the town.

Sapa is built against the steep mountain slopes, above terraced valleys, and was established by the French as a hill station in the early 1920’s.  During the various wars in Vietnam the town’s French colonial homes fell into serious disrepair, but its  location among many hill tribe settlements has brought it back as a tourist attraction.  The town has a central market square which is where many of the hill tribe(mostly Hmong and Dzao) women bring their wares.  The sizeable remainder wander the streets of town, engaging tourists with their remarkably good English to buy from them, or to spend the day “trekking” in the surroundings.  There are legions of restaurants, massage salons(for taking care of those aching hikers’ feet and legs), and the rest is hotels and still more hotels.  Construction is rampant, often shoddy, and  completely unregulated.  The layout of the town is such as to make the most of the stunning views, thus from the market, various arms of development spread along the various hilltop spines.  On a good day one looks across the valley at Vietnam’s highest peak, Fansipan, which rises 3140m.

The first few days visibility is negligible and the clouds  provide a misty drizzle throughout the day.  There are thunderstorms and torrential rains, but also periods of sun.  We take advantage of the fair weather hours and wander into one of the valleys called Cat-Cat, where there is a Hmong village, but due to its proximity to Sapa(about 3 km), it has been overrun with shops and “tourist” haunts.  The walk goes deep into the valley via hundreds of steps, but then follows a quieter and more remote path back up the steep hillsides back into town.  We also try to wander along some back streets out of town, but each time the weather gets the better of us and we have to find shelter from the wet.

One day we rent a motorbike and head  south along a winding road past Hau Thao and Su Pan villages until the road reaches a small Tay village called Ban Den.  Here the already dicey road becomes a rutted dirt track, and we turn back.  Back in town we chatter with the Hmong women who walk with us through town, and after days of back and forth we agree to spend the day with a woman called Zu.  (Check upcoming post for that day’s description.)
Below some views in and around Sapa.

		Sapa and surroundings VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL