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April 20, 2005
Vietnam | Sapa – Day 3 | 8-11 March 2005
This day would have to be the most disappointing of the trip – Mr Dien was replaced by another guide, which was not so bad, but the entire ‘walk’ was just to the surrounding touristed villages (Sin Chai and Cat-Cat), taking an entire hour to complete – and that was dawdling! I could have done that part on the previous day and left with the other guys on the night train!! I’m not sure how that’s supposed to be ‘a day’ trekking, even being marked as a 4 hour day!
At least I got to see where Fanxipan Mountain is (The tallest mountain in Indochina), which might a cool 3-day ‘hard slog’ trek option for next time. I saw some Fanxipan’d Travellers – they looked absolutely beat. Perhaps there IS some adventurous hiking to be done :)
Oh yeah, I saw a mountain goat as well. That was cool.
The rest of the day was ‘well used’ at the internet again, finishing my book (Lord of the Rings Book 1) and just waiting for the bus to take me to the train in Lao Cai.
Overall, it was a worthwhile trip that I don’t regret, even if the way I did it wasn’t worth the money, planning or time that was taken, nor was it as satisfying as it could have been – at least I learned something… Not to book treks like that again. It’s worth visiting Sapa and the surrounding villages, the scenery can be awe-inspiring. If you are fit and eager, perhaps organise a Fanxipan Mountain trek once you get to Sapa (don’t book anything from Hanoi, except maybe the train – which is cheapest from the station itself), otherwise the local villages are accessible enough for ANYONE who wants to check it out. The hill-tribe villages are pretty similar to most in Indochina, so don’t expect radical differences if you’ve been hill-tribe-hopping before :)
Posted by Dan at April 20, 2005 06:21 AM