A Sapa experience

17^th January – 19^th January (Sapa)

Our next adventure took us on another overnight bus, this time from Hanoi to Sapa. We had signed up for three days of trekking with Mama Mao, which was organised through Lily’s travel agency (Website: http://lilystravelagency.com/project/sapa-trekking-with-mao/). We arrived in Sapa at 4 am, feeling quite tired but after a big breakfast we perked up and were surprised by the size of the town as we explored the bustling local market.

We were then met by Mao and we trekked up from Sapa through forests and over mountains, seeing cows, horses and buffalo along the way. As it is winter in the region, it was not as green as Phong Nha (the rice season starts from March which brings the wonderful colour in July and August) but the countryside was still beautiful and we often found ourselves hiking above the clouds. The best thing about the day was leaning about the beautiful H’mong people. Classically they are a farming community, but now some of the ladies from the villages are doing guided treks, whilst their husbands mostly still do farming. They grow a variety of vegetables, including carrots, broccoli, squash, rice and potatoes, whilst also keeping chickens, pigs and buffalo to support themselves. We also learnt how buffalo are used for farming and also killed for important funeral celebrations.

Throughout the day we also learnt about other aspects of life and were given beautiful handwoven gifts, witnessed cloth dyeing, and how bamboo is grown and used for houses and water canals for crops (you can do it too, with bamboo…) The community used to be completely Buddhist, but is now a fairly even split between Buddhist and Catholic Christian. By far the most interesting aspect was chatting to Mao, and she discussed how much life had changed in recent years. Until 6-7 years ago, they didn’t have electricity and plastic has only been recently introduced. Sadly this has led to more littering as the area doesn’t have good infrastructure for removing rubbish that isn’t biodegradable. Mao’s wooden homestay was beautiful and we relaxed with our hiking team, which featured new friends from New York and Malaysia. We learnt more about life in Malaysia over a dinner of rice, fresh vegetables and spring rolls. We are well into rural Vietnam and living in the clouds. I guess you could say that Sapa has been mist-erious.

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On our second day in Sapa we trekked again through the rice paddies and bamboo forests. We woke feeling (for the first time in a LONG time) rather chilly, and were warmed by delicious noodle soup. Mid-morning the sun also came up and we were treated to amazing valley views, with distinctive tiered rice paddies. The trekking was not particularly strenuous but it was great to chat with our new friends. In the evening, I went with Mao to her garden to collect some vegetables for our dinner, which was spectacular, tofu and tomato (our new favourite), broccoli, spinach, potato (yay!!) and rice. The evening was spent chatting by the fire in the homestay, reflecting on another great day in Sapa. We also got to meet the most amazing baby, Don Bin (Mao’s grandson)!!

Mao has been an incredible host, she is around 40 years old, but is an absolutely bundle of energy, never stopping and bounding up and down the hills like a nimble mountain goat. Her English was also excellent and she made us laugh all the time, branding me ‘chicken boy’ (I was too scared to dye my hands blue like Helen) and Helen ‘buffalo girl’ (not sure why…). After living with the family for a few days, I can honestly say I could slip into life in the mountains. Their days are spent hiking and looking after crops and animals and their evenings are spent sitting around the fire, laughing and drinking ‘happy water’ (STRONG rice wine) seemingly with no worries. They also get up early and go to bed at about 8 pm. Remind you of anyone?

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Vietnam travel tip #7: Go and stay with Mao. Just do it.

20^th January – 23^rd January (Cat Ba Island)

On the 20^th we took a bus and ferry combination from Hanoi to Cat Ba Island. Unfortunately the weather was misty and cloudy so the island views weren’t as spectacular as they might have been, as we made the ferry crossing. However, we had a nice afternoon exploring the coastline and then doing a few jobs, like laundry and planning. Rob enjoyed a coastal run and Helen did some writing, before a top-notch coffee (one of the best so far!!) and dinner in bed.  We decided to make more time for low-key days like this because it has been brilliant to just unwind.

On our first full day on Cat Ba, we took an early bus from town to the national park for a modest fee of 30 k per person. We then had a tree-rrific morning hiking through the jungle in Kim Giao Forest. The trees get there name from a legend, whereby after the death of her prince (poisoned by an enemy) a princess died soon after in mourning. Upon finding the roots of a tree on their graves the King combined their names to christen the tree Kim Giao. The tree is used to make chopsticks, which remain popular today as these were supposedly also used by ancient kings, due to their ability to detect poison. After lunch we trekked to Ngu Lam Peak, to witness an array of stunning karsts, that seemed to stretch on forever. The view was effectively a land version of the islands of Ha Long and Lan Ha Bays (see below…), which are some of the most iconic examples of karsts in the world. It was spectacular and well worth the steep steps to get to the top!! Then came the rain! We took refuge in Trung Trang Grotto, a limestone cave which is the result of water seeping into cracks and eroding the rock. There are ~150 caves on Cat Ba, with Trung Trang the most visited. The cave was unexpectedly good, and we stooped through narrow passages, marvelling at the weird rock formations. Finally we trekked back to the town before enjoying an ice coffee and a delicious dinner in bed (gluten free pad thai and coconut vegetable curry, washed down with chocolate milk…yum).

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Well that was simply un-bay-lievable. Our last day in the area was spent doing a tour of Lan Ha and Ha Long Bays, which were spectacular. Our first stop was Monkey Island (yep they called it Monkey Island because there are monkeys on it) and we were treated to amazing panoramic views. We even did a spot of rock climbing to get to a small summit. The best bit of all? The sun had come out, so the stunning karsts (>1,600 limestone islands and islets) were set against a backdrop of cloudless skies, golden beaches and crystal blue seas. Imagine Pirates of the Caribbean crossed with Jurassic Park and you’re on the right lines.

We then headed back to the boat and cruised through the bays learning about their history. Legend has it that the bays were formed with the aid of dragons. Indeed, in Vietnamese, Ha Long means ‘descending dragon.’ Dragons play such an important role in Vietnamese culture, and the legend of Ha Long states that a mother dragon and her children descended from heaven to defend the people of Vietnam from invaders, spraying fire and emeralds. The jewels formed the towering limestone karsts and a nearby bay (Bai Tu Long) refers to the children of the mother dragon. Much more interesting than that plate tectonics/soft limestone being eroded nonsense… After a short boat ride, we took to the water, swimming in the (really salty) sea (in Lan Ha bay) before scrambling across rocks and crawling through caves. At every turn I expected to find a treasure trove!! Lunch on the boat preceded a kayak adventure, we (well actually only me as Helen relaxed again like a lady of leisure) navigated through bright cave (it was bright) and dark cave (it was dark) before exploring a lagoon in Ha Long bay. The bays really weren’t as busy or polluted as we had heard, although we were glad to be visiting in the off-season. This will certainly go down as another memorable day on our tour. Our last morning on Cat Ba has been set aside for low key exploring before Ninh Binh.

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Vietnam travel tip #8: Travel with Rob as he will (for free) row you around stunning bays. It’s fun.