The day starts early again. It's 5am when the alarm goes off. I am going on a three day trekking trip to Sa Pa in the very northwest of Vietnam, close to the border with China. I want to see as many places as possible during my stay and I read that the extreme north is truly spectacular. Last week, while on the boat around the islands in Ha Long Bay, I got to talk to the young german couple, who told me that they had been to Sa Pa on a tour and loved it. They also mentioned that I should get a guide, instead of walking alone in the sticks.
Yesterday, I went to a travel agency to ask about trips to Sa Pa and see how they are organised. The lady in the agency said that collection time (they pick you up at your accommodation) would be from 8pm onwards and departure time would be around 9pm. Arrival time would be at 4am, you sleep on the bus all way to Sa Pa and you stay on the coach and continue sleeping until 6am, then breakfast at the hotel starting from 6am and then hiking through the wilderness. It's a sleeper bus she said. Since I had no idea what a sleeper bus is, I asked her and she showed me some photos (see below).
Since this sounded a bit too much for me, I said thank you very much, left and tried my luck in a different agency. I passed by some shops until I saw a sign on the pavement advertising trips in the region. I stopped and looked into an open space. There was a desk at which a young man was sitting and directly next to him, still in the same space, was a restaurant. I hesitated a bit and tried to figure out whether I was at the right place. Then the young man asked me how he could help me, so I entered. When I told him about the three day trip to Sa Pa, a young woman approached and sent him away. I repeated what I wanted and as soon as she started giving me information, another woman appeared and took her place, so I had to repeat my wish again. There they gave me two options: either leave at 6:30am or at night. Trekking would start according to arrival time. So I chose early departure. I asked for a single room in a hotel preferably and she said OK. She showed me on the map where Sa Pa is, said that after arrival I would be driven to a hotel and from there I would be picked up by a guide and would walk to a nearby village. I'd spend the night there and hike the next day to a faraway village where I would spend the night. On Monday, the third day, I would go on a shorter tour and a coach would take me back to the hotel in Sa Pa, where I would leave my luggage on Saturday upon arrival and have a shower and lunch on Monday and then take the coach back to Hanoi in the early afternoon. She also said that the coach would come to my place on Saturday morning to pick me up and that I should stand on the street between 6:30am and 6:45am.
Well, here I am, standing on the street at 6:30am with my heavy luggage next to me. Business in Hanoi is about to start and some breakfast places start to open. At 6:43am I receive a call from the lady from the agency (not sure which of the two though) who asks if I am on the street. I confirm and she puts the phone down. A few seconds later she texts me that the coach is coming. 5 minutes later a young man on a scooter stops in front of me, asks me if I am going to Sa Pa, then shows me a list with names and tells me that the coach can't come here, but I have to walk for about 5 minutes to get to the bus stop. He also says that he would ride next to me. Which he doesn't. He disappears. I continue to walk straight as instructed and see him a few blocks down the road with his phone on his ear. He asks me to wait until he returns with some more travellers. A young asian couple appears a minute later and we walk to the end of the road where he asks us to wait. A minute later, a Korean family appears. The young Vietnamese on the scooter calls somebody, then disappears and appears again a few minutes later. The coach arrives, but stops on the other side of the road and we are asked to walk over there. A young man jumps out and gets our luggage and we are asked to take off the shoes before we enter the coach. Our shoes are put in plastic bags and then placed in a basket, which is placed next to the suitcases in the luggage compartment.
When I get on the bus, I see what the lady from the first agency meant by sleeper bus. There are already people on the coach and it is 7:15am when we leave.
While walking on a paved road for a little while, I get to talk to our guide. She says that she got married last winter and that most people in the area get married at a very young age. There are many children in the villages and the school buildings are big to accommodate them all. I ask her about life expectancy and she says that people reach the age of 80 easily. I ask this question, because I see that life up here must be rough and tiresome, as they use hardly any modern technology in the fields.
She also mentions that they don't consider themselves Vietnamese, since they belong to a minority.
Now it is dark and we use the flashlights of our mobile phones to light up the way. We pass through villages with many shops that sell local products and in one of the villages we see a group of Arab tourists from Dubai who have come for 5 days. I get to talk to them immediately and they tell me where they have been all day and even show me photos and videos. A few minutes later we have to say goodbye, as we take a different route.
I was expecting to sleep in a hotel tonight, but the guide said that it's a homestay. I had a weird feeling about the accommodation, because on the receipt I got from the agency, it says Homestay and not hotel.
As I will later find out, there are no hotels in the villages, there are homestays only. The hotels are all in Sa Pa. This is something nobody has mentioned. I figured that out by talking to the various guides and other travellers.
Our guide also mentions something that the people from the agency didn't say. The trekking trip is fully flexible. She says that when the Singaporean lady slips and falls down and has some difficulties climbing the mountains after that. The guide tells us that if we are feeling tired tomorrow, we can walk for half the day or not at all and return to Sa Pa and stay in the hotel to relax. This is something others will confirm later, too.
We pass a few really nice homestays on the way, many of them have nice lights, nice decor, large windows, balconies, etc. but we stop in front of something that looks unfinished and is not even n the village. It is in the middle of a field just outside the village. We also pass a massage place. A massage place in a village? How cool is that!?
Outside on the patio, there are a dozen of young people sitting, mainly from France and are drinking beer, smoking pot and one of them is holding a bong. There are very few Americans, a few Danes, Canadians, a Dutch and a Brit. Perhaps there are more nationalities.
I am shown my room and am kind of shocked. It is bloody cold and humid and there is only one toilet and one shower for all of us. I contact the lady from the agency and ask what this is all about, but she says that she can't help for tonight, but promises a hotel for tomorrow and I should try a blanket against the cold.
Yesterday, I went to a travel agency to ask about trips to Sa Pa and see how they are organised. The lady in the agency said that collection time (they pick you up at your accommodation) would be from 8pm onwards and departure time would be around 9pm. Arrival time would be at 4am, you sleep on the bus all way to Sa Pa and you stay on the coach and continue sleeping until 6am, then breakfast at the hotel starting from 6am and then hiking through the wilderness. It's a sleeper bus she said. Since I had no idea what a sleeper bus is, I asked her and she showed me some photos (see below).
Since this sounded a bit too much for me, I said thank you very much, left and tried my luck in a different agency. I passed by some shops until I saw a sign on the pavement advertising trips in the region. I stopped and looked into an open space. There was a desk at which a young man was sitting and directly next to him, still in the same space, was a restaurant. I hesitated a bit and tried to figure out whether I was at the right place. Then the young man asked me how he could help me, so I entered. When I told him about the three day trip to Sa Pa, a young woman approached and sent him away. I repeated what I wanted and as soon as she started giving me information, another woman appeared and took her place, so I had to repeat my wish again. There they gave me two options: either leave at 6:30am or at night. Trekking would start according to arrival time. So I chose early departure. I asked for a single room in a hotel preferably and she said OK. She showed me on the map where Sa Pa is, said that after arrival I would be driven to a hotel and from there I would be picked up by a guide and would walk to a nearby village. I'd spend the night there and hike the next day to a faraway village where I would spend the night. On Monday, the third day, I would go on a shorter tour and a coach would take me back to the hotel in Sa Pa, where I would leave my luggage on Saturday upon arrival and have a shower and lunch on Monday and then take the coach back to Hanoi in the early afternoon. She also said that the coach would come to my place on Saturday morning to pick me up and that I should stand on the street between 6:30am and 6:45am.
Well, here I am, standing on the street at 6:30am with my heavy luggage next to me. Business in Hanoi is about to start and some breakfast places start to open. At 6:43am I receive a call from the lady from the agency (not sure which of the two though) who asks if I am on the street. I confirm and she puts the phone down. A few seconds later she texts me that the coach is coming. 5 minutes later a young man on a scooter stops in front of me, asks me if I am going to Sa Pa, then shows me a list with names and tells me that the coach can't come here, but I have to walk for about 5 minutes to get to the bus stop. He also says that he would ride next to me. Which he doesn't. He disappears. I continue to walk straight as instructed and see him a few blocks down the road with his phone on his ear. He asks me to wait until he returns with some more travellers. A young asian couple appears a minute later and we walk to the end of the road where he asks us to wait. A minute later, a Korean family appears. The young Vietnamese on the scooter calls somebody, then disappears and appears again a few minutes later. The coach arrives, but stops on the other side of the road and we are asked to walk over there. A young man jumps out and gets our luggage and we are asked to take off the shoes before we enter the coach. Our shoes are put in plastic bags and then placed in a basket, which is placed next to the suitcases in the luggage compartment.
When I get on the bus, I see what the lady from the first agency meant by sleeper bus. There are already people on the coach and it is 7:15am when we leave.
I take these images while waiting for the bus
As you can see, it's got a wooden floor and no seats. It has beds, 20 sleeping compartments.
This is my space
There is also a loo in the back
The young man who took care of our luggage.
The bus at one of the two stops. There are more of them on the road. The first stop lasts roughly 15 minutes and then we continue. The entire journey lasts about 6 hours. During the stop, I get to talk to the Korean family. The father approaches me and starts a conversation. Then his son joins in.
Shops, restaurant, whatever you fancy.
places of relaxation
There are slippers in the yellow basket. We don't get our shoes back during the break, but have to wear slippers from the basket. The problem is, they are all too small for big western feet. Asian feet are small and shoes stop at a size of 42 or 43. It is very hard to find bigger sizes.
Sitting area
but look what the sign says
We continue our journey for another two hours and I do what most other passengers do. I draw the curtains and sleep. When I get off the coach, I bump into a young lady who looks Arab. She starts a conversation and she tells me that she is from Egypt and is travelling with her friend who is from Lebanon, but both ladies live in Dubai and came to Vietnam for five days, during a holiday they have in Dubai. We talk a little longer on the coach, but when it gets too bumpy, we go back to our compartments and enjoy the view.
The Lebanese lady says that her country was once a French colony and that they had their independence day recently. But every year they joke, that if they were still a French colony, they would have been part of the EU now.
Images from the second stop.
We arrive in Sa Pa at 1:15pm and get off the coach. Our shoes are brought back to us and the luggage is being unloaded. Then we wait to be picked up by different people. This is the last time I see the Koreans and the Arab ladies.
The Koreans and some other passengers disappear, while the Arabs and me are still waiting. I message the lady from the agency who tells me that a driver would pick me up. And indeed, in this very moment, a minibus stops in front of me. There are already people sitting in the minivan, but we have to wait for two more. Then we are driven to a hotel to have lunch and leave our heavy luggage.
The minibus stops in the middle of nowhere and the door opens, but nobody gets out. We all look at each other, but the two locals, the driver and his companion urge us to get off. Somebody asks them where the hotel is and they point up the hill. Oh boy! It's many stairs!
One of the two helps me lift my suitcase up the stairs and when we enter, we get the impression that we will be allocated rooms. Instead, our names are taken down, we are asked to leave the luggage next to the reception and go to the first floor for lunch. While there, lunch is served and some guides come with little papers with names on then and try to find their victims. Why? Read on. After 15 or so minutes, a young local lady approaches me and shows me a paper with my name on it. Then she goes to a singaporean lady and tells us to come find her downstairs when we are ready. She explains that we will leave our luggage here and should get only the things we need for the hike until the day of departure. I am a bit confused, because yesterday in the agency I had the impression that the first night would be in Sa Pa. Pity it's not. This place looks lovely and I saw some massage places on the way to the hotel.
I finish my lunch, go downstairs to my suitcase, take out the things I will need the next three days and go find the guide. The singaporean lady is ready and waiting. Then we start marching. The guide says we would walk for 3 - 4 hours today. Initially we walk on a road, but a few yards farther down, we turn into a dirt track and into the fields and woods. 10 minutes later an older looking lady and a young girl join us. They start a conversation with us and the older looking lady tells me she is 44 years old. I look at her in surprise.
This is outside the office of the bus company. The lady on the left is the Egyptian I met on the coach.
This fairly near the hotel. Most buildings up the hill are hotels.
Hey hey! Trying out my new acquired selfie stick.
The 9 year old who joined us.
Mein Führer
The 44 year old lady, the 9 year old girl, the 18 year old guide.
She also mentions that they don't consider themselves Vietnamese, since they belong to a minority.
A cafe
Sugar cane
We say goodbye to the girl and the lady at this bridge. But before they leave us, they will try to sell us local things, like bags, purses, etc. The kids you see on the bridge will try to sell us friendship bracelets or whatever they are called. And because we won't buy them, they will follow us and chant: please buy, it's 10.000 dong (30p or something). I don't buy, because I bought one on the way and I buy one from the 9 year old.
fireplace inside a house
oink, oink!
It starts to get dark, but we are still one and a half hours away.
a school
restaurant
As I will later find out, there are no hotels in the villages, there are homestays only. The hotels are all in Sa Pa. This is something nobody has mentioned. I figured that out by talking to the various guides and other travellers.
Our guide also mentions something that the people from the agency didn't say. The trekking trip is fully flexible. She says that when the Singaporean lady slips and falls down and has some difficulties climbing the mountains after that. The guide tells us that if we are feeling tired tomorrow, we can walk for half the day or not at all and return to Sa Pa and stay in the hotel to relax. This is something others will confirm later, too.
We pass a few really nice homestays on the way, many of them have nice lights, nice decor, large windows, balconies, etc. but we stop in front of something that looks unfinished and is not even n the village. It is in the middle of a field just outside the village. We also pass a massage place. A massage place in a village? How cool is that!?
Outside on the patio, there are a dozen of young people sitting, mainly from France and are drinking beer, smoking pot and one of them is holding a bong. There are very few Americans, a few Danes, Canadians, a Dutch and a Brit. Perhaps there are more nationalities.
I am shown my room and am kind of shocked. It is bloody cold and humid and there is only one toilet and one shower for all of us. I contact the lady from the agency and ask what this is all about, but she says that she can't help for tonight, but promises a hotel for tomorrow and I should try a blanket against the cold.
Dinner time
The family who runs this place have their space somewhere at rear and cook for us an Asian dinner, which consists of rice, vegetables and some meat. Not sure if the meal is delicious because the chef did a good job or I find it delicious because I am starving.
After dinner, I go inside in search for the loo to wash myself and see something blinking hanging on the wall. As it is dark in the room, I approach the blinking light and discover that it is a router. I hear someone behind me and turn around and ask: They have WiFi here? Yes, they do, he says. I am so happy to hear that! All the way from Sa Pa, I didn't have reception, but our guide did. Not sure if she had a signal all the way, but she placed and received some phone calls on the way. My phone was dead. I connect to the WiFi and see that I have a translation to do. So I take a chair and sit in my room, while the others are still outside chatting, drinking and smoking.
The British girl (the one with the braids in the photo above) is coughing all the time, so I take out a package of Strepsils and offer her some.
At 10pm sharp, they all leave the patio, go upstairs to their beds, switch off the lights and go to sleep. I am astound to see that. I expected them to be out there all night or at least until late. Now I am the only one awake.
I finish my translation around midnight and go to sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day. The guide mentioned on the way, that I'll be taken on an 11 mile long tour. That sounds very tiresome and like a sweaty business. Then I remembered the agent point with her finger at a village on the map, that looked far away from Sa Pa. If I am going to spend the second night in a hotel, but according to the tour guide and the various other people, there are no hotels in the villages, how is it going to work out?
We will see how that will work out.
Good night world!
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