Sapa

An end to our vacation within a vacation. Out of Hanoi and back on the bikes, while only managing to get ripped off one more time as we left town. Apparently to get our bikes on the train, our only option was to buy out an entire deluxe sleeper cabin, at the low cost of $96, plus an additional $5 at the station to allow our unseemly bikes into the passenger section of the train. We were even told to bribe the conductor, but at that point she had taken so much of our money that she magnanimously denied our disrespectful offering. At least in the end, all of the money we spent did result in our arrival at Lao Cai with our bikes, about 38k from our final destination in Sapa.

The ride to Sapa...unrelenting. 27k at a 10% grade with a fully loaded bike, and minimal exercise over the previous two weeks, resulted in three hours of panting and pain. From Lao Cai we shot straight up into the mist and the mountains one painful pedal stroke at a time. But as soon as the pedals started churning I felt the freedom of the bike, welcoming the curious glances and cheerful waves as we passed by on our overladen steeds. Their were two kids that were so excited to see me they ran behind my bike and helped push me up the hill at least for a little while. As they started to tire, I began pedaling for all of us since they were no longer pushing, but rather hanging onto my rack as I continued up the hill. Entertaining...yes... but also really tiring when you're not in the greatest shape. After a massive push on the pedals I did finally break away and continue to huff and puff my way up to Sapa. As we neared our destination the clouds began to break and the surrounding mountains began to materialize out of the mist. Jagged ridgelines with densely vegetated peaks thrust up into the sky. Hmong women traversing the streets in brightly patterned headwraps, dresses, and traditional leggings, absently wrapping thread around their hands or selling their goods to the nearby tourist.

Our first day in Sapa we climbed another 15 k, despite the protests from my tired legs, to Silver falls, a beautiful torrent of water cascading down a series of steps as it journeyed toward the valley below. Higher still was Golden stream love waterfall, a single drop spraying water into a deep black pool rimmed in golden shallows that wind down into the forest below. The day finished with a long downhill ride slicing through sheets of rain, our endless days of biking under cloudless sunny skies are long gone.

Following consecutive days of riding, mostly uphill, we switched it up and went for a hike down to a local village about 2k out of town, nestled on the slopes beneath Sapa. Due to its proximity to Sapa and its hordes of tourists, it was hard to tell what part of the village maintained a traditional lifestyle, because as far as I could see it was set up to accomodate foreigners.

Another 2k down the road we came upon Sin Chai village which is probably what Cat Cat looked like before it converted to a tourist economy. Small children and livestock wandered the streets, men and women were at work on the terraced hillsides tilling the land, with some women carrying the newest family member strapped snugly to their back. The villagers who were not in the fields occupied the front porches of their homes, weaving on a loom, or maintaining the ever present activity of stringing out long pieces of thread and wrapping them around their hand. Women would cluster around a doorstep in the morning before the market opened, children strapped to their backs in a sea of pinks and greens, chatting away with one another, but always absently pulling out and straightening lengths of thread and wrapping them around the layer steadily growing on their hands.

We wandered past the village and further along into the rice paddies cut into the hillsides. Young and old, tools in hand, working the soil beneath their feet. Water buffaloes ankle deep in a muddy step dragging the till through the saturated earth. All around us the hills were alive with activity, people hard at work maintaining their crops and their livelihood.

The last few days in Sapa passed with a few nice rides and hikes into the surrounding hills. Although there was one day that was mostly shot due to a cloud that rolled into Sapa early in the morning and sat there the whole day, reducing the visibility to about 50 meters. In a place as beautiful as Sapa losing a day to the clouds was definitely a bit of a bummer, and to add to the overall dreariness of the day the power was out for the better part of it.

Losing a day to the clouds hurt, but the next few days riding and hiking under sunny skies helped ease the pain. Our last big excursion took us to the top of Mt. Hamong which rose up from the ridgeline behind Sapa. From the summit the views were spectacular. The terraced paddies cut into the floor and walls of the valley looked as if somebody was trying create a topographic map of the landscape, with continuous even steps up the mountains 1 meter at a time. A beautiful hike to bring our time in Sapa to an end.