Trekking in Sa Pa |
Getting there
Day 1 - Sa Pa to Ta Van (8 km - 60 m ascent - 580 m descent) |
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H'Mong women waiting for unsuspecting trekkers |
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Heading off into the mists of Sapa |
Surrounded by bamboo pole sales kids |
Descending into the dense fog |
My personal "guardian angel" |
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Wending our way across the paddies |
The entourage takes a break |
Stony bed of the Muong Hoa River |
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Crossing the river on a bamboo bridge, we followed it downstream to a large shelter / restaurant, the designated lunch stop for all trekking parties. We were at Lao Chai, the village of our H'Mong guardian angels, and it was payment time for the debts that they had been carefully accumulating on the walk down. The baskets on their backs were full of handicrafts and jewellery - "I walk with you all morning - maybe you buy something from me now". The word "maybe" in the H'Mong language is actually an imperative - we succumbed and tried to minimise our losses with feeble attempts at bargaining. Meanwhile a group of Red Dzao women, in their bright red headware, were watching and waiting their turn! |
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School's in in the Ta Van Village |
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A splash of colour on a dull day |
Rice paddies at Ta Van |
Dinner is underway in the kitchen |
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Rice wine around the brazier - happy new year! |
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Day 2 - Ta Van to Ban Ho (10 km - 150 m ascent - 690 m descent)
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The group poses for the traditional trekking photo ... |
... as the H'Mong hardsell squad assembles outside |
Crossing the terraced paddies |
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One slip and its knee-deep in paddy mud (M. Bykerk) |
The fair Nello's boots meet the mud of Sapa |
Help is at hand - whether you want it or not! |
Such were the first couple of kilometres as we worked our way downstream across the paddy fields and bamboo forests of the valley. And of course, payment time came at the bottom of the last hill "I help you down, now maybe you buy something from me". No escape - as we handed over the money for a few unwanted handicrafts, I could see the mynah bird in Hoi An almost falling off his perch "rip-off, rip-off, rip-off!!!!". Still, this is the culture and part of the Sa Pa experience - the only way is to take it all with a smile ..... just like the H'Mong women. |
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Another steep slick red clay descent |
Th paddies of Sapa (R. Bykerk) |
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Eroded landscape of the lower valley |
View over Ban Ho village |
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Our home for the night in Ban Ho |
Sleeping quarters for passing trekkers |
The mountainous terrain lining the valley |
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Ban Ho village |
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The river downstream from the village |
No escape - "why you not buy from me?" |
Another filling dinner on the way |
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Day 3 - Ban Ho Circuit (7 km - 280 m ascent - 280 m descent) The morning was clear and mild, though it did not take long for a light haze to creep down from Sa Pa. Today the irrepressible Lala planned a short tour in the hills around Ban Ho, first climbing up to Nam Toong, a Red Dzao hamlet of frail-looking houses perched on a steep hillside. As we wandered through, village life rolled on; flute music floated out of one house, a circle of red-hatted women and girls embroidered handicrafts for sale, a man passed carrying a stack of bamboo poles, and three young boys carved wheels for their bamboo scooters with a machete. To be honest, it all seemed a bit voyeuristic ... I wonder how we would feel if some foreigners came to watch us in our homes, cameras clicking. |
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Local women carrying a heavy load of wood |
Three-pipe powered rice mill |
Sapa rainforest |
On the road back to Ban Ho |
Climbing up to Nam Toong Village |
The misty landscape revealed briefly |
Terraced paddies - the stereotypic landscape of Sapa |
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Looking up a sidestream, where at last ... |
... there is a touch of native vegetation |
Sidestream emerging from a rocky chasm |
At the mini-waterfall |
The lovely Lala and fellow guide |
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(R. Bykerk) |
After three days the fog still enveloped Sapa |
Sapa night streetscape |
Day 4 - Short walk to Cat Cat (5 km) |
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Chookscape at the market |
Head-dress of a married Red Dzao woman |
Turret rising from a misty forest |
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Yet another walk in the fog - this time to Cat Cat |
Cat Cat village |
We were beneath the cloud layer by the time we reached the beautiful Cat Cat Falls, a broad set of cascades flowing obliquely into a rocky chasm. Here we stopped for a while to watch a display of the music and dance of the H'Mong and Red Dzao people, before wandering up the valley of the Cat River into the native forest of the region. A few kilometres away, hidden by the mists lay Phang xi pang (aka Fansipan), at 3142m, Vietnam's highest mountain. It was good to be in amongst this natural landscape of clear rushing streams and steep-walled, bamboo and tree covered slopes - we would have liked to have headed deeper into the forest, but time was running out. We returned via a different route to cross the river on a high suspension bridge and take one more motor bike ride up the hill to town. |
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