Rare Adventures

Tag: sapa

  • Sapa – a soaking tour of the rice fields

    Sapa – a soaking tour of the rice fields

    Having completed the tour of the man made attractions, it was time for a bit of nature. Sapa originally found tourist popularity from trekking. The ultimate trek is to the top of the Fanispan peak, although 99% of visitors to the peak probably use the cable car. Consequently, no trip to Sapa can be complete without a trek so we did our research.

    A scenic view of terraced rice paddies with waterlogged fields in the foreground, alongside traditional wooden houses and lush green hills in the background.

    Most of the advertised trips are 1 to 3 days, and depending on the time of year the routes will change. Most of the spectacular photographs of rice fields are taken in August or September, late into the rainy season.

    We had limited time so booked the one day trek to have a look at the rice fields. The weather was chilly when we arrived and that turned to torrential rain by the morning, we set off. We booked the Hidden Treasures one day tour which looked like it would cover most bases.

    Person wearing a conical hat and rain gear, standing in a wet area with a patterned background of houses and landscapes.

    Our guide turned up in torrential rain and explained there was no point in going up the hgher due to the fog, so we would head into the valley to walk through the rice fields, having never seen rice fields close up I was quite happy with the plan.

    The staff in the Lacassa Hotel were very helpful and found Wooksie a traditional straw hat which did a great job of keeping her hair dry. Next problem was our footwear, as we had only one trek planned, we gambled on wearing light trainers which simply weren’t going to cut the mustard in the waterfall called Sapa main street.

    Black rubber boots with a logo, positioned side by side on a wooden floor.

    Our guide said we would need Wellington Boots for the walk, which was a bit alarming, so next stop was a rental shop where we rented boots for Wooksie, unfortunately, they didn’t have my size so I ended up buying a pair of Wellies in another shop.

    A rustic archway welcoming visitors to Lao Chai village, with a wet road leading toward the entrance, surrounded by lush greenery and mountainous landscape under a cloudy sky.

    We then set off, splashing our way down the side streets in our Wellies as the rain continued to pour and started to penetrate our wet weather gear. To make matters worse, Wooksie started to get cold, the walk down the road to the valley was particularly depressing as the town disappeared behind us and the paths got rougher. At this point Wooksie stopped walking, looked around and declared she was cold and wet and had had enough and this wasn’t fun.

    So, after some haggling, our guide organised a cab to collect us. It took us down into the valley where we could see something interesting rather than walking along a busy tracke/road to get there. The taxi then took Wooksie back to our hotel to dry out and warm up, whilst I continued the walk with our guide.

    A smiling woman in a red jacket and rubber boots holds a green bag while walking along a path beside a river and terraced fields in a mountainous area.

    I really enjoyed the walk through the valley, I got to see the rice fields, learned about subsistence lifestyles of the farmers in Vietnam, basically they dependant on what they grow, they trade what is spare and tourists make a good target for tips to help their lifestyle.

    A scenic view of a rural landscape featuring a flowing river, lush greenery, and traditional wooden houses, set against a backdrop of mountains under a cloudy sky.

    In the absence of Wooksie, I had a huge lunch and was only just capable of walking the remainder of the route in the afternoon. Over lunch I met a group of Australians who were even less well prepared than we were and were equally wet, but gave us a few things to laugh about, and they expressed their admiration for Wooksie’s courage in bailing out.

    A dining table set with various plates of food, including fried rice, vegetables, a sizzling platter with meat, and a plate of seafood. Condiments like chili sauce and soy sauce are on the table, along with cutlery and cups.

    This one day trek is basically the second day of the 2 day trek package; we just started halfway through the route. After the tour of the farms and through the fields we ended up in a small town, this is where all the hostels for the trekkers are based. This was a very different atmosphere to Sapa down, with a much more rural feel and bars designed to keep Western tourists occupied at night, namely beer, darts, pool and karaoke!

    At the end a car picked us up and took us back to the hotel in Sapa, where I found Wooksie, still suffering as she still hadn’t warmed up as there are no heaters in the hotel. The only solution I could come up with a full body massage, which starts with a hot water foot soak, after which she cheered up a lot. Though I hadn’t realised that I had confirmed  “firm” massage at some point, meant we would spend the next hour being battered by frighteningly powerful little women but at least Wooksie was warm again.

    A man and a woman sitting on couches in a decorated room, smiling and posing for the camera. The woman is giving a thumbs-up. In the background, a female staff member is walking by with a tray. The room features colorful floral decorations and wall art.

    Next job was to offload the  Wellies, I gave mine to the shop that did rentals, I was pretty sure I would not be using them again, or at least, it was what I hoped. It was also time to top up with those very cheap Patagonia t shirts !

    Finally, I went for a stroll and bumped into our pals from the Fansipan trip who were also chilly, so I came up with a great idea to have a nice warm drink or beer, and before I knew it we were drinking their deadly happy water and a fun night began right there and ended up with them losing their credit card.

    Next stop would be Ha Gaing, for the 3 day tour, but first we had to get there.

    A group of four people smiling together at a table in a cozy restaurant, with decorative lanterns and a colorful tablecloth, showcasing bottles and dishes.
  • SaPa – spectacular attractions from Cat Cat to the Fansipan Cable Car

    SaPa – spectacular attractions from Cat Cat to the Fansipan Cable Car

    Nobody comes to Sapa by accident, it isn’t on the way to somewhere else so there is a purpose, and is mostly to see some of those iconic photogenic places that make their way into Vietnamese marketing materials, or you are here for the trekking, which was established by the French in the last century, presumably they were bored of the Alps and the Pyrenees.

    old stone church Sapa

    Top of the list for most people are Cat Cat village, Moen Park and a trip to the top of the highest peak in Indo China, Fansipan mountain. After a bit of hunting around we found this tour that meant we could tick all the boxes in one day.

    We started at the old stone church in the centre of Sapa where we met our guide and our fellow travellers for the day, boarded the bus and headed to Cat Cat village, important to note that there are no cats in Cat Cat village, in fact, I don’t recall seeing any in Vietnam generally.

    cat Cat Village sapa

    Cat Cat village is conveniently located in the valley below Sapa, and lot of people simply followed the footpath down the hill. On the way we noticed lots of shops selling or renting traditional outfits, mostly for women. They were all in a very oriental theme, and they could have make up, hair and all sorts of other beauty treatments in these stores, it seemed a very odd thing to do on holiday.

    cat Cat Village Sapa, roller coaster

    At the start of the tour of Cat Cat, you get the chance to do a huge slide on an inflatable ring, which seemed a bit of an odd tradition too, but we had a go as it was more fun that walking down the steps.

    Cat Cat village is entirely made for tourists, It is very quaint, with a river running through the middle of it, with manmade weirs to cause waterfalls and along both banks are examples of traditional buildings and cafes, but nobody lives here anymore, I suspect them might have been moved on to make way for the tourists.

    cat Cat Village Sapa

    It was a very pleasant hour, drinking coffee, watching the traditional dancing, avoiding shops, listening to bands and generally just chilling out. There was also the strange spectacle of the Koreans getting dressed up in traditional costumes and having their photos taken, they were everywhere and we couldn’t really work out why, it seemed like some sort of wedding ritual, but nobody was getting married. These people were everywhere you went, posing on bridges, posing on horseback, posing in the river – it was all very weird.

    Cat Cat village Sapa

    The guide then ushered us back to the bus, and on to the Moana Park, which the guide introduced as the Instagram park. We were looking forward to seeing some of these iconic and mystical structures from the brochures.

    This was a truly fake place with lots more Koreans queuing up for their Instagram photo with each of the structures. Basically, this was a park, with a beautiful view of a valley, which makes for some great photos, unless it’s foggy, which it often is at this altitude.

    Fansipan funicular railway

    So, we took a few photos and headed for the Fansipan cable car. This was an incredible journey that starts with the Mường Hoa Funicular railway from the centre of Sapa, a line that runs across valleys and through tunnels in the hillside to arrive at a mid-station, with an amazing terraced area that would have offered fabulous views, if it were not for the fog, yet again.

    We stopped here for lunch, before heading for stage 2, the cable car. Having spent many years in the mountains of the Alps a cable car journey is hardly a novelty, but this journey was. It is the longest ride in the world at over 8kms, the cars flow between gigantic pylons that are mounted on rocky peaks. They carry you across valleys and up to the top of highest mountain in the region.

    Fansipan Cable Car

    I have to admit to being gobsmacked by the human ambition and achievement to build such a structure in such an inhospitable environment. There seemed to be no access roads to any of the structures, which meant men had to walk there, carry the materials and live there while it was being built, it is truly incredible and the sort of thing no Western country would ever consider building, but this is Vietnam and their cousins to the north (China) seem will to help.

    Fansipan Buddha with Rod Sowden

    Arrival was also spectacular but inevitably spoiled by thick fog. We climbed to the platform with the enormous buddha, which we could hardly see, but not to the top, is the fog just gets thicker. Luckily, they had thoughtfully built a Starbucks at the top of the mountain so we huddled in there and warmed up.

    As I was having my photo taken with my Plymouth Argyle shirt to prove we are most travelled supporters, a bloke came over and said “I hope you lose on Saturday”, unbelievably he was a fan of Luton Town, and we were in a head to head with them at the weekend for promotion, talk about a small world. I tried to work out why they had built a shrine to Buddha, when they aren’t really Buddhists, or in fact why they had built the cable car all the way to the top of this distant mountain, and it was the same reason as for Cat Cat and Moen. Nearly all these attractions have been built for tourists and without doubt, they have invested billions in this up and coming industry.

    Fansipan Mountain archway

  • Exploring Sapa and unexpected victory celebrations

    Exploring Sapa and unexpected victory celebrations

    With Hanoi completed it was time to head off on our adventures around the north. First stop was Sapa for the trek and the trip up to the Fansipan peak on the longest cable car in the world, but first we had to get to Sapa.

    A street view in Sapa town, Vietnam, featuring shops including an outlet store and massage services, with Vietnamese flags displayed along the street.

    We considered the train, as it would have meant going through Train Street, but when we mentioned it, the locals thought we were mad. It takes much longer than the bus and involved a taxi from the station up to Sapa, and apart from that it is booked weeks in advance to it wasn’t an option.

    The coach to Sapa was our first experience of their travel system and it is unbelievably good. Half the route is by motorway, after which you end up back on their slow old roads and the long windy route up to Sapa.

    The coach was amazing, generally referred to as VIP, it was like being on a business class flight, the seats were huge reclining seats and loads of leg room. As a person of 6 foot with long legs, I notice such things and these buses are fabulous.

    Nighttime street view featuring brightly lit storefronts and restaurants in a lively urban area, with people walking and sitting on benches.

    After sea level and claustrophobic heat in Hanoi, Sapa is in the northern mountains at about 1500m above sea level and the change is immediately noticeable, it was raining and noticeably cooler,

    The other thing that you immediately notice is that is steep, in every direction, when you leave your accommodation, it is steep. You will also quickly discover that it is really and lively at night.

    There has been a huge investment in Sapa to build it as a tourist centre. Much off the tourist infrastructure has been built in the last 15 years, so you are not visiting a historic centre in any way. The investment to exploit Fansipan mountain infrastructure has been incredible, to the extent that the train runs right into the centre of the town is built into a shopping mall and apartment block for the privileged.

    The other unexpected factor was that how busy it was, there were crowds everywhere. The entire town was gridlocked, our bus dumped us outside of the town and told us to get a taxi. We then discovered that we had arrived in the middle of huge event to celebrate the Vietnamese victory over the US 50 years ago. A huge stage was built in the central park area, with a huge celebration that dominated the days we were there.

    We watched the celebrations involving singers and dancers with video screens behind them, it then dawned on us that the videos were images of bombing during the war and glorifying the power of their military. In such a fun loving country, with lots of people celebrating and having a good time, it was a real culture shock to have the full force of the Communist Party machine in our faces. It’s their country and we enjoyed the celebrations but it was a wake up call about the reality.

    Sapa itself is a real mountain town that is busy establishing itself as the trekking centre of the north, and the commercial development reflects this. There is a steep, busy main street that is full of shops selling trekking gear. This was very handy as I had come equipped with no suitable clothing for heavy rain or cold temperatures, so I had an excuse to stock up with new T shirts, fleece and a puffer jacket, none of which I wore after the 3 days in Sapa.

    There is more to Sapa than the big park and one shopping street. There is a lovely lake around at the top of the town around which there are bars and restaurants and I suspect that if the war victory celebrations, then the area around this lake would have been much busier.

    Scenic view of a calm lake surrounded by mountains and buildings under a cloudy sky.

    Lots of people we met were staying in homestays outside of the town and used Grab taxis to get in, there was cheaper accommodation was either further up the hill or further down it. it wasn’t expensive, so we stayed at the grand looking Lacassa Hotel 500m from the centre, it seemed to be the legacy of the French occupation period, or rather a relic. Its grand appearance wasn’t matched by the internal décor, but to be fair it was being redecorated and presumably it will be a lot nicer when it has finished. There was an amazing mural on the walls on the walls of the staircase.

    We did a couple of trips, firstly we did the tour of Cat Cat village, Moan Park and Fansipan mountain. A major reason for the trip was to trek through the rice fields, which was a bit of a disaster. We will cover both in later blogs.

    A brightly lit outdoor stage setup for an event at night, featuring large decorative elements and a crowd gathered in front, with a statue partially visible in the foreground.