Trek Fansipan Sapa

Climbing Fansipan is great fun and a nice accomplishment. While you should not take it lightly, if you are prepared it can be very satisfying.

We paid $40 per person and did the climb in one day – a minibus picked us up from our Sapa hotel at 0600 or so, we started climbing at 0700, and we were done the climb by 1630 on a day with rather poor weather (nearly continuous rain and, closer to the top, hail). Our relatively fast trip is probably not typical – most people do it in 2 or 3 days, which has the advantage of allowing you to take a different route down than up, but the disadvantage of that you get to sleep in the mountain huts there, which, while if the weather is nice might be ok, when it’s cold and raining as it was on our day, is pretty unappealing – our group basically didn’t want to stop (we had to only because the guide was tired) in order to preserve warmth.

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I still can’t believe I did it (because everyone said the weather was too bad) but I did, I climbed Mt Fansipan… and when I say climbed, I seriously do mean CLIMBED because it certainly wasn’t like any other walk I have ever done!

It’s supposed to be the highest peak in Indochina at a height of 3143m and to get to the top usually takes 3 days, unless you are in incredibly good shape, lacking time and want to put yourself through hell and do it all in 2 days. So I thought I’d do it in 3 – on the first day this involved hiking to a base camp at 2000m, the second day was the ascent to the summit – going straight up 1000m – and the third day was easier, just involving hiking out of the jungle.

So from my first day in Sapa I was looking out for people to do the trip with me, which was harder than I expected. Sapa is a really beautiful town which feels just like the Alps, it is really relaxing, and I guess most travellers aren’t on holiday, especially during the rainy season, wanting to do a really tough climb! But I met an Israeli guy (Raz) who had just spent 4.5 years in the army who was interested in the climb, and then the next day we met Selyf (from Wales), who had climbed many mountains in the UK, so we booked the trek together. We did meet a few people who had come back, some having been turned back due to the bad weather, and no one was recommending the trip, everyone was saying it was too tough!!

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Through the unsettling cloudy haze, I saw an alignment of charred trees and was grateful for the greener more vibrant vegetation near our base camp.  My leg was wounded but not seriously, so I could still walk, despite the throbbing pain emanating from both of my callused feet. 

The four of us all sat quietly resting after hours of a non-stop hiking up the side of Fansipan mountain.  It was too late to turn back now – and we had already come halfway and were determined to finish what we had started.

Eoin, Brennan, Suzanna and I gazed curiously at the black scalded war-torn trees in front of us. After the guys dealed another round of cards, Suzanna finally had the courage to speak up and directed a question toward our Vietnamese guides, “Are the trees from… the war?”

We expecting a somewhat sorrowful response from them, but instead, the guides all looked at one another; said something in Vietnamese, and then started to chuckle at her remark.

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Sunday 10th December 1995

I’d spent seven days in Sapa and each had been cold, wet and foggy. This morning brought thick fog again and my spirits dropped. I’d been told that today the weather would change and we’d set off for the summit of Fansipan. Two days ago a party had tried to make the trip and failed as a result of the poor weather and I knew that without the sun we’d never make it to the top.

The small town of Sapa, built by the French at 3,000 feet and perched on the side of the valley facing Vietnam’s highest mountain ridge, gets pretty cold and damp at the end of the rainy season. Then, in December the winds change and the skies clear for about a month before they veer round again and bring bitterly cold weather and snow from the north. Just my luck that the rainy season finished late this year.

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