Vietnam 2007
MENCAP TREK VIETNAM (March 2007)
RAISED THIS TRIP £2,776
CUMULATIVE TOTAL £12,813
In March 2007 I spent a week trekking in North Vietnam. This sponsored challenge was to raise funds for the charity Mencap once again. I’ve made a few notes below about the trip and you can click on each picture to see the full-size version.
See links on the right for a fundraising report for this and other trips. Also you can earn more about the valuable work of Mencap for and with people with learning disabilities.
Thank you to all of the individuals, groups, and organisations that supported me with sponsorship, training, and practical help.
The trip started with long haul flights to Singapore and then Hanoi. We then had a couple of hours in Hanoi to freshen up at a city hotel before catching the overnight train to Lao Cai in the far north of the country. I’d like to tell you what an adventure the train journey was, but I have to confess I was out like a light from the moment the train jolted out of Hanoi until it jolted into Lao Cai!
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The group on the airport bus.
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Hanoi street outside the hotel.
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Train arrival at Lao Cai about 6am.
(Click on images to enlarge)
From the station at Lao Cai we were bussed out to the start of the trek, to a village called Ben Den. From here we trekked South to Sin Chai. For much of this time we trekked in areas off the usual routes, and in many cases we were the first Westerners the people had come across. This was a tough day – very hot, humid, and continually uphill for a good 8 hour stretch. We were all very relieved to reach our camp site on the mountain peak above the village of Sin Chai. In the evening and the following morning we had visitors from the village….
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Me on the bus from Lao Cai to Ben Den.
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Starting out and feeling keen.
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Views back down the valley.
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Me with amazing scenery near Sin Chai.
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Campsite on the mountain.
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Red Dao people from Sin Chai.
(Click on images to enlarge)
The following day was another tough one, temperatures were high again and humidity too. Once again, a very long day and mainly uphill. Some fascinating scenery and sights as we climbed higher and started to head eastwards towards our ultimate destination of Sapa. Today we walked from Sin Chai to Ban Ho, where we stayed in a ‘homestay’, a local house with space made available for trekkers to eat and sleep. It was definitely an improvement on the camping, facilities were a better quality of hole in the ground! On our way we passed through several villages of the Red Dao, Xafo, and Tay tribes. As the day went on, and we approached Ban Ho, the people were obviously more used to European faces, though we were still the subject of intense scrutiny….
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Our porters climbing ahead of us.
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Red Dao people.
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Me at a village school.
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A view of the trail!
(Click on images to enlarge)
The next few days saw the weather cool considerably as we climbed, and the walking became significantly easier, though days were still long. On our walking took us through Ta Trung Ho, Seomity, Y Linh Ho, and several smaller settlements, on the way to Sapa. On the final day much of the afternoon was spent above the cloud base and unfortunately we lost the views to thick fog. Ta Trung Ho is a Black H’mong village, the tribe from which most of our porters came.
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Approaching suspension bridge.
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Vietnamese civil engineering.
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Me posing with the scenery again.
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Ta Trung Ho has a new road.
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Traditional houses and great scenery.
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This buffalo had lost a horn.
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Our Black H’mong porters.
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The trail along a mountainside.
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To the left, a long drop!
(Click on images to enlarge)
Arriving at the end of the final day in the town of Sapa we were enveloped by the fog. Sapa is a good-sized town and facilities for trekkers and tourists have evolved, though the traditional market remains and it bustles with local people and those from the surrounding villages. Sapa is known as the city in the clouds.
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Misty arrival at Sapa.
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Sapa market the following morning.
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Start of a long journey home.
(Click on images to enlarge)
From Sapa we took the bus back to Lao Cai, and then the overnight train again to Hanoi and so on the the flights home. Overall impressions of North Vietnam are of a country of contrasts. Tribal traditions mix with western influence. Tourism is obviously a key to the country’s economic future and I hope this can be exploited without impacting adversely on the beautiful environment and interesting cultures.
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David Head, March 2007
