Sapa Trekking
March 11, 2019
It’s only been a little over a week since we left Korea and I can’t believe how much we’ve already done. And to think we still have 5 weeks left! 🤯
We left Hanoi on my first overnight train so I was legitimately psyched to see what was in store. We got our room assignment and when we entered the room, we met our 2 newest friends, Emma (from Germany) and Gabriela (from Brazil). We quickly discovered we were all going on the same Sapa Trek and got to know each other a bit before passing out.
Sapa Day 1
The train ride was rough, with it’s turning, stopping, and horn blowing that trains typically do… it was anything but ideal when you’re trying to get a good night’s sleep. Thankfully I had earplugs and an eye mask (two essentials for traveling), so it was manageable. What felt like 15 minutes later, at 5:45am, I was startled awake with a bang on the door and a 10 minute warning of the train coming to it’s final destination. We were scrambling to pack our bags, and make sure we were awake and ready to go when they asked if we wanted coffee—yes, pleeeease!
We were led to a van where about 15 people crammed inside to be taken to breakfast. Roughly 10 minutes into this car ride, I gasped. Literally. I gasped. And Luke hesitantly responded, “Oh no…what is it?”
I LEFT MY SHOES ON THE TRAIN. *Idiot*
I was semi-freaking out since we were about to embark on a 2 day hike and I now had no shoes that would suffice. Fortunately, when we arrived at breakfast, I let our guides know and they pulled out a box of about 15 pairs of random shoes. So for the next 2 days, I wore purple gumboots while trekking through hills and mud. I was fully prepared for blistered feet but it wasn’t nearly as bad as expected!
We broke out into a few different groups and started our 16km (10 mile) hike at 8:45am, our guide, Mama Susu (who was absolutely incredible by the way) would stop us every so often to ask if we wanted to go the more difficult route or the easier one. It was literally a choose your own adventure. We chose the more difficult option each time, but it was stunningly gorgeous the whole way. We were within inches of chickens, cows, puppies, you name it—and got to see some real Vietnamese culture up on the hills of Sapa. We saw young kids running around barefoot, having a rock-throwing competition, mothers with infants strapped to their front or back while working on the land, and folks ready to serve up some delicious food at lunchtime—noodle soup and Fanta.
We finished our trek for the day around 5:30 when each group met back at the first house, a log cabin. You could tell this was exclusively for tourists as all other houses nearby were very small, almost resembling shacks. As my fellow trekkers and I seated ourselves at 1 of about 6 round tables, the guides cooked up loads of rice, veggies and meat, and introduced us to “happy water”, an alcoholic rice wine. Mama Susu kept insisting we eat more rice and more happy water. And more rice, and more happy water. Throughout the evening she was randomly talking about “the monster” that stays out in the village at night and we all had no clue what she was talking about.
About 6 shots later, we’re all out looking at the stars and chatting. At one point it’s just her and I, and she tells me that at around 5am, “they” take “people like me” out on motorbikes into the fields to see the monster and they see it go “wooo-wooo” [insert swaying motion here]. I died laughing and then attempted to tell it to the rest of our group but couldn’t because I was crying from laughing so hard. Guess it was one of those had to be there moments, and I’m so glad I was! Needless to say, we made many friends that day and had a great night.
Sapa Day 2
On Day Two, we woke to a big breakfast of banana pancakes and scrambled eggs to prepare us for another day of trekking through the rolling hills of Sapa, Vietnam. We broke out into different groups this time since we were staying another night, while others were going home later that evening.
As we got walking, there were a few minor injuries in the group so we chose the easier routes where we could, but that didn’t take away from a single view. We met a couple from England—Ellie and Ben. We learned we all had a similar travel plan for the next 2 weeks so made sure to stay in touch. We got to the second homestay around 4pm, but had a much more intimate dinner with just the 8 of us, Mama SuSu and a couple other locals. It was similar to night one—Mama SuSu and her friend insisted on feeding us more rice, and more happy water. And more rice. And more happy water. But this time around, we were all much more acquainted with one another. After a while, songs were sung, stories shared, and we even taught Mama SuSu the chicken dance!
Sapa Day 3
On our final day of the Sapa Trekking Tour, we enjoyed pancakes and bananas for breakfast, and enjoyed a leisurely morning hike. We came back to our homestay for lunch, packed up, and had 2 rides back to the adorable little town of Sapa. There, we walked around with some friends, and found some coffee and apple pie while we waited for our next ride. We learned we all had the same upcoming travel plans so enjoyed each other’s company for the rest of the evening.
Our next van ride took us to Lao Cai train station, where we bought our tickets back to Hanoi and grabbed some pizza, sandwiches and beer while we waited. This time on the train though, I was hyperaware of all my belongings to make sure I didn’t leave anything behind. 🙃 We arrived back in Hanoi at 5am, and took the next train to Cat Ba Island, where we arrived bright and early at 7am!
