After an average buffet breakfast at the hotel of chicken fried noodles, rice, HARD boiled eggs and watermelon, we packed up our gear ready to head out for trekking. At the last possible minute, Kyle realised his shoes were missing. With some quick photo research we determined that they had been left in the van the day before. With no time to go to the bus office to check if they’d turned up, Kyle was left with no choice but to walk in jandals. Feeling a bit guttered, we waited in the lobby to be picked up for trekking.
The trekking guides arrived and it was all a bit confusing because we weren’t on the list. After a quick phone call to the tour agency it was all sorted and we were added to a group. However, it did leave is wondering what the hell was going on after the bus debacle the day before.
Our trekking group of 9, led by ‘Mama Sue’, was diverse with people from Germany, Denmark, USA, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and of course NZ!
We set off from the hotel and headed straight across the town to the mountains. As we started to climb, we were informed that we would continue to climb for the next 1.5 hours. As we climbed Mama Sue stopped to show us different plants that they use in the villages. This included different types of small berries, some sweet some sour, a small fruit that grows in the roots of the plant that has high water content but little flavour, and leafy plants such as the leaf they use to dye their clothes indigo. We picked some of these leaves and rubbed them between our palms until they were stained green. Over time this green turned blue as we were promised.
At the top of the mountain we were 1900 m high (the hotel was at 1600m), so of course we were treated to a stunning view of Sapa. Over the other side, we could see many villages and rice terraces. Other than the view, a highlight up here was watching people pose for photos. A couple of dudes from another group provided the best entertainment, striking all the classic travel poses.
On the way up we had an “additional guide” tag on to the back of our tour group. While we were all taking photos up the top, she crafted is hearts and dogs out of plants, one for each of us.
After taking far too many photos it was time to head down the other side of the hill to head to the lunch spot. This was a restaurant in a village and we were given the choice of chicken, pork or vegetable noodle soup, fried noodle or fried rice. I had the pork fried rice which was really tasty while Kyle had the chicken noodles. Both washed down with a bottle of beer of course!
Our walking after lunch was the highlight of the trip. The view almost the entire afternoon was epic, with clear skies allowing is to see for miles up and down the valley. Both sides of the valley were covered in rice terraces while the river at the bottom flowed to a dam.
At some stage we reached a junction where we could choose the easy (flat) way or to go up. The majority of the group wanted to go up, so up we went! A couple of people wanted to go the flat way so the ‘additional guide’ took them separately to keep everyone happy.
It was a great decision to go up! Not only did the views get better, but we walked through a village that was sitting on a marble jackpot. There was marble being mined everywhere, with piles of it lining the tracks. The path through the village was made of marble and was quite a site to behold. They were still in progress building the path but Mama Sue informed us that once completed the village will charge for access to the path.
After walking through many villages and admiring the locals in the tradition clothing, awing at the baby dogs, chickens and pigs, and taking far to many photos of the never ending rice terraces, we eventually made it back to the main path and rejoined the others. Not long after we were presented with another choice to make it to the homestay, the easy way (walk down the road) or the fun way (walk through the rice terraces and down a steep bush track). Of course we all chose the fun way!
To get through the rice terraces we we’re walking along the narrow ledges at the end of terrace, being careful not to step off the side onto the rice or slip into the muddy areas. Kyle and I managed to make it through clean, however, a couple of people ended up with muddy sneakers. Kyle was still going strong in his jandals, the rest of the trekking group were pretty impressed.
Walking through the rice terraces was not only great fun, but we found ourselves surrounded by stunning scenery. It also gave us a chance to see the villages working in the rice fields and the water buffalo trudging through the mud.
From the rice terraces we had a very slow decent down a steep and slippery hill through some bush. There were a lot of bottle necks as people assessed their footing options and a few trips and crashes. Everyone was feeling at least a bit tired by this point which contributed to the snail pace. Once out of the bush we could see the homestay, hooray! It was approaching 5 pm so it was comforting to know we would make it with a couple of hours light left.
Upon arrival at the homestay we were given a welcoming green tea. It was so nice to sit down! We were then shown to our rooms and the Malaysian couple departed as they were staying in a hotel back in Sapa town. The homestay was packed with tourists as the other tour group from the hotel was staying here also. That group consisted of all Spanish.
The homestay was nothing like what we experienced in Myanmar. It had been built for tourists and had many rooms furnished with ACTUAL BEDS! There was also flushing toilets and normal showers which was a huge surprise. It was nice to be comfortable but wasn’t the village experience we had expected.
After dumping our bags we went straight to the kitchen to get a beer each. Sooooo damn good and well earned! We sat and relaxed as we waited for the showers to free up, this time getting our entertainment from the many stray puppies that roamed around the homestay. One of the puppies was play fighting with it’s mum which was super cute to watch. That will be Milly soon! It was at this point that we were harassed by the “additional guide” to buy some of her goods. Turns out she had joined the walk in the hopes that it would encourage us to buy her stuff on arrival at the homestay. She had been really helpful so it was a relief when some of the others from the trek brought some things!
Dinner was served buffet style and consisted of mushrooms, green beans, spring rolls, chicken, pork, mung beans and rice of course. Mama Sue made sure to do the rounds and keep filling up our bowls with rice as they emptied. It was a simple yet tasty dinner and left us very full. Over dinner it was interesting to hear everyone’s travel plans, which also gave us some ideas for where we could venture next in Vietnam. Popular spots mentioned were Nin Bin, Phrong Caves, and of course Hue and Hoi An
After dinner it was time for the treat Mama Sue had been talking about all day, happy water (rice wine). Everyone was given a small cup that was filled and to be taken as a shot following a mass cheers. It was BAD! It did not taste good at all. From the first drink, Mama Sue and the other guide, her sister Mama Mao, continuously scouted the table refilling people’s cups. It was impossible to not drink, when I tried to stop they started pouring it on my pants so I had no choice but to use my cup to stop it. The peer pressure was intense but they sure knew how to get a party started….
As the rice wine was flowing we were asked to take a seat outside to listen to traditional music. A musician was waiting, who proceeded to play a few different types of flute like instruments made from bamboo. The music was pretty simple but I felt bad for the guy as people were talking a lot as he was playing. As per tradition, when he had finished
everyone had to drink a cup of rice wine with him. This was too much for Kyle who was tipping it onto the ground behind my seat.
Then the speaker came out, blasting Spanish music before moving onto more widely recognised bangers from the likes of Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. Everyone was getting pretty steamed and were going hard on the dance floor, so eventually Kyle and I got dragged out of our seats to awkwardly bop on the side.
After a good stint of dancing, it was time for round two of the traditional performances. Firstly two girls performed a local dance, before the musician came back out to perform two more numbers. The instruments he used were really interesting, still bamboo wind instruments but the shape of one reminded me of a sail boat. The distraction this time differed drastically, as two stray dogs battled across the stage only to start banging in between the musician and the audience. The dogs were quickly shooed by Mama Mao but everyone was well and truly in fits of laughter by that point.
Following the performance the rice wine kept flowing and the dance floor stayed full. Eventually people started dropping, we were one of the first to retreat as we were not on the same levels of drunk as everybody else. Ot was at this point when Mama Mao was scouting out everyone’s rooms and taking photos of their bags, as when the Malaysian couple arrived at their hotel, their bags had gone missing. Why they waited until so late in the evening to sort it out nobody knows, but we did our bit to help. Of course the bags turned up eventually – the hotel staff has put them in the wrong room…
The morning was really slow with the majority of people hungover. Kyle and I were up at 7.45am but breakfast wasn’t served until 8.45am. Breakfast was buffet style also and consisted of pancakes with honey and / or chocolate sauce, omelette style egg, bananas and watermelon, accompanied by green tea or coffee.
At around 10.30 am we finally hit the road to start the days walking. It was already super hot by this point so after only 10 minutes walking we were all drenched in sweat.
After passing through some rice patty’s we started climbing. We walked through a bamboo forest which not only looked really cool, but provided some much needed shade. As we walked out of the bamboo forest and into the open, we caught up with the other trekking group who had left before us. It was at this point that Kyle and I joined that group, as for us it was our final day trekking, whereas everyone else in our first group still had one more day.
We switched groups and started our decent to the river. It was steep, rocky ground. Eventually Kyle’s luck ran out and his jandal got bent over beneath itself and he kicked a rock and sliced the top off of his toe. We stopped to mop up the blood and one girl in our trekking group gave him an face wipe to clean it up. The guide then squashed up some leaves to put on it and wrapped it with a makeshift bandage.
Once down near the river we followed the road to the dam and crossed to the other side. We walked back along the river the same way we had come, stopping to look at a waterfall, which was also a swimming hole for the locals, on the way. From there we had a bit more of a climb to reach the lunch spot. By the time we arrived we were drenched in sweat again, it was so hot!
We parked up on the balcony for lunch to enjoy the view over the village and lake. We had the pork noodle soup and pork fried rice, which were ok but lacking in flavour, and washed them down with a Sprite. From lunch we caught a ride back to Sapa to the bus station to catch the sleeping bus back to Hanoi. Mama Mao came with us to the bus station and was really helpful trying to find Kyle’s shoes. Unfortunately the bus company Sao Viet couldn’t have cared less and were no help at all, so that was goodbye to the All Birds.
Mama Mao was also helpful in sorting out our ballsed up booking situation. Because we were messed around and delayed on the way to Sapa, we were concerned the same would happen on the way home. Kyle had messaged the travel agency to check times, whether we get dropped off at our hotel etc. But hadn’t received a reply. Mama Mao got on the blower to ole Lily and got some answers for us. It was down to lack of communication and miscommunication from their side, but at least we knew what was happening now!
At 4.30pm we boarded the bus and we were stoked that it was a bus not a van!
We arrived back in Hanoi at around 11pm. We picked up our bags and pulled up a chair at a street food stallf for dinner. After ordering, Kyle had a look at the reviews and they were not great. Apparently it was a notorious spot for food poisoning. Kyle considered skipping the meal but it was late, and we were hungry, so in the end we just went for it. I had the vegetable rice noodles and Kyle had the pork noodles. They were both tasty but probably not worth the dread of potential food poisoning.
On the way to the hostel we picked up 15 L of water and 10 cans of beer to take on the cruise. We had read that water and beer on the boat was expensive so we stocked up beforehand.
At around 1.30am we finally made it to bed. Phew.
Kyley on Tour 