Digital Wanderer

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Vietnam — 7, trekking to Mount Fansipan

2011-05-25

One of the things we planned to do, and which we eventually managed with great pleasure, was a hike up Mount Fansipan (Phan Xi Păng), the highest peak in Vietnam, and indeed the "roof of Indochina". It is, admittedly, only 3,143 meters high, but for me even that is quite a lot — I hadn't been to the mountains before. This hike was intended as a trekking route, meaning it requires no special mountaineering gear, except maybe trekking poles. Fansipan doesn't have an alpine difficulty rating, so it was just right for my first time.

We walked 20 km according to the GPS, with an elevation gain of 1,843 meters. My GPS measures altitude inaccurately, but it's safe to say we started from about 1,943 meters and made it to 3,143, meaning the difference is 1,200 meters. At the same time, the trail had plenty of alternating ascents and descents. And don't forget the way back!

Vietnam - trekking to Fansipan in one day


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A few facts. Fansipan is located 9 km southwest of Sapa, and is an ecotourism hotspot because there are many different plants around: as many as two thousand.

 

A wooden information sign with white text in Vietnamese and English, detailing national park rules. In the top left corner is the Vietnam Airlines logo, and the sign itself is enclosed in a rough stone or concrete frame.

Code of conduct in the national park

They demand a ticket, sticking to the paths, obeying officials, not bringing animals or explosives, not starting fires, and protecting the environment.

 A man in cycling sportswear, a black beanie, and with a backpack on his back stands in profile on a paved stone path at dusk. Wooded hills and the silhouette of a building are visible in the background.

The beginning of the journey

You can only climb Fansipan accompanied by a guide, and the prices are far from pleasing: at least 70 bucks per person, and with an overnight stay and food it goes all the way up to 140. Usually, tours last two, or even three days, but my comrades decided that one would be enough. I sort of asked back in Latvia to make sure we could get decent sleep (8.5 hours) and warned them I had never been to the mountains before. Nevertheless, they decided to do it in a day. I didn't argue because I felt strong enough and was confident I'd make it. And that's how it turned out. Except that on the way back I lost the communal pot (an expensive one), Anya's mug, and her spoon. Let that be a lesson to me: no more carrying other people's stuff, and if it's expensive, no communal gear either.

IMG_5017

The minibus driver with the puppy Fansipan

On the way there, we hit a dog, even though the minibus driver slowed down when he saw it. He didn't bother getting anxious when it still crawled under the wheels, and when the "thump" sound was heard, he calmly kept driving, which resulted in us running over it a second time. The overly sensitive among you will probably be horrified here, but you have to understand that in Vietnam, only the dogs that don't crawl under wheels are going to survive anyway — there is painfully little space here. On the other hand, when we arrived, he made sure the puppy wouldn't get hurt before we left — he gave it a kick, and it ran away.

 Two people in hiking clothes with backpacks are standing on a forest trail, leaning on long bamboo sticks. The woman in the green jacket and orange bandana is looking forward, and the man in the black beanie and jacket is standing next to her.

Trekking poles in the form of cut bamboo can be grabbed at the start

I must say that the negotiations to get the tour price down were very heated, and when we also ended up not going on the first day, Nha from the hotel, and especially the guide, who had gotten up at 4 AM because of us, were not exactly thrilled. On the other hand, we paid a hefty sum (70*3=210 bucks) and had the right to good service. It's hard to find a balance between being obnoxious and standing up for your rights, but it has to be done.

 

Muddy, damp earth strewn with fallen leaves and branches, with several puddles. In the middle of the mud, a bright orange, irregularly shaped growth stands out.

The Lord sent us a phallic trail marker

Sent it for nothing, we had a GPS, and a guide.

A young man in rubber boots and with a backpack is standing in a shallow forest stream, holding a long stick and looking down, against a backdrop of lush green vegetation.

A guide named Chinh

By the looks of it, our tour was organized by the company https://www.vietnamnomadtrails.com/. But it probably makes little difference. Our tour didn't have an overnight stay or a food porter, just a guide, a young (18 years old) guy named Chinh, practically still a school kid. He spoke English with a heavy accent and didn't understand complex sentence structures, so I quickly adapted and started speaking in pidgin, that is, simplified, grammar-less English. Later on, out of habit, I even overdid it in places, seeing as people in the cities do actually know some English here and there.

Considering, however, that Chinh is a simple village boy, his knowledge of English commands a fair amount of respect. When I was 18, I knew the bourgeois language just as well, if not worse. Chinh and I became friends and talked about life in Vietnam. He said he doesn't like waking up very early (which is required to hike Fansipan in one day). He also said that the money he earns as a guide comes hard ("this is no easy money"). Given that he probably makes very little, and climbing Mount Fansipan, especially in one day, is not for the faint of heart or body, I completely agree with him. I wanted to leave him a tip at the end, but I realized I'd be up to my ears in debt anyway when I got back. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened.

Chinh also asked if I was married and if I had kids. I told him my girlfriend was still too young for kids, just 21, and in response, he told me he was married, and got married at 16 (though whether he has a child himself I forget, I think he does).

A man in a black-and-red sports ja

Intars and the dog Fansipan

I should mention that up until the first camp we were accompanied by a puppy, which I, not knowing its real name, dubbed Fansipan. We hiked, by the way, at a 20/5 pace, meaning 20 minutes of walking, 5 of resting. Intars suggested it. I liked it, it keeps you from slacking off and dragging your feet. If only I could use something like this for cycling, it would be just grand. The puppy, by the way, made it all the way to the first camp with us. Chinh said that a day earlier the mutt had done the exact opposite, hiking from the base camp down to the start. I helped the little dog out, because sometimes the tree trunks were so huge that the short-legged Fansik couldn't climb over them. Even though he would find a way around after a while, I still helped him, and on top of that I managed to snap photos, which isn't easy given that we were moving briskly and the trail was tough.

IMG_5047

Chinh and Fansik taking a rest

This is Chinh still holding a stick; he carries it more for show, because he doesn't need it. Notice that he's also wearing rubber boots and is hardly carrying any water or food.

A person with a backpack walks along a muddy path past a large makeshift structure made of blue tarp, looking like a small roadside stall with drinks and snacks on display, against a dense green forest background.

At the first camp (which isn't far away) you can buy some water, just like everywhere else in Vietnam

A dark gray Asian water buffalo with curved horns stands against a backdrop of dense green vegetation cloaked in heavy fog. 

An authentic mountain cow

Two hikers, a woman with trekking poles and a man behind her, walk along a muddy trail through a dense green forest.

This is what the ascent looks like

A mountain landscape shrouded in thick fog, with the barely visible dark silhouette of a peak. Silhouettes of bare tree branches are visible in the foreground. 

I decided to edit the photos after all, but moderately

A rear view of a person with a backpack walking up a narrow, winding trail on an overgrown mountainside. In the background, peaks are shrouded in fog, with dry trees visible amidst the greenery.

I was told this is called traversing

Mountain peaks wrapped in dense white fog rise in the background. In the foreground, tree crowns with green foliage and dry, twisted branches are visible.

The eternal Vietnamese fog

 A rocky mountain trail with a bamboo railing runs along a slope covered in green scrub and grass. The background is completely obscured by thick white fog.

Bamboo handrails

In reality, of course, the handrails aren't bamboo, they're concrete. It's just that bamboo was used for formwork, which is why they have such an interesting shape, with little rings. The handrails are sturdy, there's rebar inside, and I very rarely saw broken ones.

A lone hiker with a backpack and trekking poles walks along a narrow trail in thick fog. To the left of the trail runs an old wooden fence surrounded by wild vegetation.

There are handrails in many places, but in plenty of others there are none

 Sepia-toned image: a narrow dirt trail, surrounded by tall dense thickets, leads toward bright light. A low pole fence runs along the right side of the trail.

Ascents alternate with descents

A dense green mountainside occupies the left side of the frame. Distant forest-covered peaks fade into the thick white fog enveloping everything. 

The views are breathtaking, even in the fog

The dark silhouette of a mountain peak, partially hidden by thick fog and low clouds on an overcast day.

Beauty

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In some spots there are also steel ladders, which are very slippery in the rain

A dirty white door with a metal handle is located in an abandoned room between a gray concrete wall with a painted white flower on the left and a bright yellow door on the right.

This looks incredible

 Several hikers with backpacks walk up a narrow, muddy trail on a steep, densely vegetated hillside. The path is partially fenced with a wooden handrail, and the summit is hidden in fog.

A view through the dense greenery of trees and bamboo into a misty forest with blooming white and red rhododendrons. A curved, moss-covered tree branch stands out in the foreground.

There are quite a few flowers too, even though the blooming season has passed

 A top-down view of a narrow forest trail leading downwards, amidst dense green vegetation, mossy rocks, and bamboo. The rocky, damp ground is littered with tree roots.

 

 IMG_5114

Closer to the summit of Fansipan, only dwarf bamboo grows

Two hikers with backpacks and poles walk across a muddy area strewn with fallen plant stalks, shrouded in thick fog, with a barely visible blue tarp hut in the background.

The base camp where people spend the night. It's not far from the summit, about two hours at a brisk pace

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There's food in the tent

Five men relax in a simple hut with corrugated metal walls and roof, the floor of which is damp in places. Two on the right are playing cards on wooden bunks, one in the middle is eating, and the others are watching.

And dirt

 A cluster of pale purple flowers with yellow centers, covered in water drops, growing on a bed of dry bamboo leaves.

Flowers everywhere

 A narrow dirt trail passing through a dense bamboo forest shrouded in thick fog. Bamboo stalks lean toward each other, forming a tunnel-like arch over the trail.

And bamboo

Two mud-splattered trekking boots stand in wet, sticky soil with plant debris. The image has a light misty haze.

RaN Cedar trekking boots, Chinese as far as I could tell

I bought the boots the night before, after tasting some local wine. They literally saved me — with no climbing experience and without decent boots, I would have definitely broken my legs. I'll write more about clothes and shoes in Vietnam in a separate post.

Bright pink rhododendron flowers covered in water drops, surrounded by green leaves and dry grass.

More flowers

 IMG_5135

Tourists, of whom there are plenty on the trails of Fansipan

All the tourists we met were quite amazed by our speed run up Fansipan in a single day. I'll tell you a secret, it's something to marvel at. Hardly any of my friends and acquaintances, except those clearly involved in hiking clubs, could have pulled off such a stunt.  Chinh said there are only about 20 such enthusiasts a year. It's something to be proud of, and it's a good thing I trained every day. Lately, to be honest, I've slacked off for various reasons, but I'll still try to keep it up.

A person in a red jacket climbs a muddy trail in a misty bamboo forest leading toward bright light.

In places, instead of handrails and ladders, there are specially broken bamboo stalks — very handy

A man and a woman with backpacks and bamboo canes climb a steep rocky trail through dense bamboo thickets in the fog. Both hikers are turning to look back at the camera.

Pretty steep

When we were already close to the summit, it started to rain, and after we began our descent it turned into almost a downpour. The ground under our feet turned to mush, the ladders got slippery, and wearing glasses, I couldn't see a damn thing anyway. The difficulty and danger of the descent doubled.

 A hiker with a backpack navigates a steep rocky slope amid dense wet bamboo thickets in heavy fog. In the foreground, part of a metal ladder is visible, aiding the difficult climb.

A small bird skewered on a wooden stick, roasting over smoldering coals.

That's me wandering into a locals' tent, and they were roasting a little bird in there

The tent dwellers at the base camp poured me some boiling water free of charge, plus I warmed up by the fire and discussed pressing issues (as much as Chinh's skills as a translator allowed). I told them about Latvia, our life — I always tried to do that so as not to be just another dumb European tourist who does nothing but gawk at the natives. The trekking poles, by the way, couldn't handle the torture: one of them gracefully cracked and fell apart a little later. Luckily, we were already on our way down. Towards the end, we were walking at dusk; another hour, and we would have had to slog through the dark, which is no fun.

 A close-up of hands cooking food on a camping stove. One hand is stirring pale porridge in a pot, the other is holding a pouch of Travelunch camping food.

A hiking lunch pack from a Latvian sports shop

Two hikers in raincoats make their way up a steep muddy trail through dense bamboo thickets during fog or rain. One of them is holding onto a stretched rope for support.

Roots, slush, and mud — a lovely combination

IMG_5174 

A fairy-tale panorama, and mysterious because of the fog

Green-covered mountain slopes shrouded in thick white clouds and fog. A damp haze rises from the gorges, partially hiding the peaks and the terrain.

 IMG_5177

The locals prance around the mountains in sandals, but even they prefer not to hike all the way to the top in a single day

 Four hikers in bright raincoats descend a steep, muddy trail through a dense bamboo forest shrouded in fog. The slippery ground is covered with fallen leaves and branches.

The descent

A hiker in a pink raincoat climbs a wet, steep rocky slope in thick fog. A heavy metal chain runs along the trail to assist with the ascent.

I wouldn't say this can be called a ladder — the steps are all skewed, and it's slippery

Two hikers in bright raincoats climb a muddy, bamboo-overgrown trail with a metal ladder, visibility is limited by fog.

This one is a bit better, but still slippery

 A triangular blue tarp hut is barely visible in very thick fog, through which tree silhouettes emerge. In the foreground is muddy ground and a few discarded plastic bottles.

 

 A smiling man in a bright sports jacket stands in the fog at the summit of Mount Fansipan next to a metal pyramidal sign and holds the flag of Vietnam.

Conquering the summit

For Chinh, it's terribly cold at the top of Fansipan — but for us, it's just like a cool spring day, probably not even below 10 degrees. I shouldn't have believed it and lugged my fleece with me the whole way. We didn't stick around at the top for long, especially since you couldn't see a thing and it was raining. In any case, I really liked it, and I will one hundred percent go many more times, as long as there are mountains and comrades. Though you can go alone too, it's just more dangerous. At the same time, mountaineering with gear doesn't appeal to me at all, I just like walking.

If anyone is heading anywhere, drop me a line, I'm always up for it.

A metal sign at the summit of Mount Fansipan in the shape of a triangular pyramid with the engraved inscription 'FANSIPAN 3.143m' and a five-pointed star in a circle, set against a backdrop of thick fog.

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