Trip to Mt. Fansipan

This past weekend, I (and my friend Josh, a fellow ETA who is stationed in Tuyen Quang, a province just southeast of Lao Cai) decided to hike Mt. Fansipan, which at over 10,000 feet is the tallest mountain in Southeast Asia.

Now, I come from Virginia. Most mountains I've been to aren't terribly difficult. Mount Mitchell (tallest mountain east of the Appalachian mountain chain) can be driven up. So, when Josh and I decided to hike Mt. Fansipan, it seemed like something that two reasonably in-shape people could do. This was a mistake. I found out that just because I look in shape (aka have the shape of a normal person) doesn't mean I'm actually in good shape. (It turns out I'm horribly, horribly out of shape and as soon as my legs start working again, I'm planning on an immense amount of cardio to rectify the problem).

Here is the story of how we successfully climbed Mt. Fansipan.

Day 1: Saturday, November 7th

Josh arrived in Lao Cai on Friday, after an 8 hour bus trip from Tuyen Quang. I showed him around Lao Cai city, and he met some of my students. We retired early, and vowed to leave at 7:30 the next day.

We packed- I packed 3 liters of water, 8 granola bars, a change of clothes, a sweater, a rain jacket, a hat, and my Kindle for the night. I did not pack: mosquito repellent, a helmet torch, hiking boots, long pants, or gloves. For future hikers, I recommend all or most of those items, depending on when you go. I assumed that this would be a light (but long stroll), maybe a rock scramble or two if I got lucky. This was a woefully wrong assumption.

We arrived in Sapa (about 35 km away from Lao Cai) around 9. We spent about an hour trying to find a tour operator to take us up the mountain. We started at the official tourist office. They quoted a price of $120 per person, and then said that the quota of 20 people per night was reached (because there is a shelter at the top and thats how many it can fit). We were bummed. Josh suggested that we do a homestay at an ethnic village instead. I had been to an ethnic village and didn't like being harassed to buy stuff 24/7 so I suggested we try go see if we could get a private tour (you need a tour operator to get the permit to hike, plus people have died on Fansipan).

Our porter, Mai, carried dinner to summit camp!

Thats actually a false summit. Fansipan is BEHIND that. (Why didn't we start closer?)

Still in good spirits, one hour in.

We found someone to take us for only $95 per person. Not bad! Then they asked us if we wanted to join up with a solo hiker for a $10 reduction. We said, sure, why not? The trip organizers took us to another hotel, where we met up with...3 more people. Two expats (an American and a Brit) who had been living in Da Nang for the past 3 years and their friend, an American tourist. Slightly confused but OK! Also, we learned that Vietnam had issued 200 permits for 20 spots at the camp. I was apprehensive but I went with it. I wanted to hike!

By 11, we had headed off! The first two hours were difficult but fun.We hiked through deciduous forest. Lots of trees, roots, branches, flowers, and streams. Pretty similar to a difficult hike in Appalachia. We hiked for about a half an hour and then took a break. Then repeat. Strenuous, but doable.

Base camp- about 2 hours in, where we had lunch

Left to right- Josh, me, Hemeish, Mika, Amy

After lunch, we started hiking pretty aggressively. Our guide, Tieng, kept pushing us. We had about 3 hours of hard hiking to complete in 3.5 hours before dark. We left the forest behind and started going up rock scrambles. I was frequently on all-fours looking for foot and handholds. This is where hiking shoes and gloves would have come in handy! My hands and knees got destroyed by the wet but sharp rocks. There were ladders, sharp cliffs, and some pretty spectacular views. About an hour in to this second part of the first day, I started to regret coming. You know, at some point, you get the idea. There are trees, rocks, bushes, and clouds. I got it.

Views weren't bad, eh?

Mai (rightfully) thinks I'm a wussie

I guess proper footwear isn't essential (look at Mai's) but it would sure help

This stuff isn't difficult, unless you do it for hour after hour haha

Finally. Finally. We made it to summit camp shortly before dark on Day 1. We had hiked for about 4.5-5 hours and we were exhausted! We were at 2,800 meters and it started to get cold. In Lao Cai, it was 70 degrees. In Sapa, it was 60. At summit camp, it was 50 and getting colder. Everyone (except me) had to foresight to bring long pants.

Summit Camp

The kitchen (no wonder Amy and I both got sick)

Home sweet home

Summit camp was great- it had food and we could sit down! However, with the toilet facilities for 20 and 200 guests, the toilets were essentially unusable. Actually, scratch that. They were unusable, period. We slept in a longhouse style thing. The 5 of us, plus our guide (Tieng) and porter (Mai) and a random Hmong man who just joined us mid-way through the night.

The night was...bad. It was freezing (sub 40) with no insulation. The ground was rocky and hard. I sleep on my stomach, so I couldn't sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time. I think I was fortunate- Amy and Hemesich didn't sleep at all. Cold, hungry, tired, uncomfortable, and apprehensive. Not a good way to spend that night. It was so cold, we ended up huddling together with each other (complete strangers). Seriously- future readers. Do not attempt Fansipan between November and March without thermal stuff. I had two jackets on and was still freezing. Amy got sick and was throwing up throughout the night (I got sick the next morning- I blame the eggs).

Day 2: Sunday, November 8th

We got an early start the next morning. We woke and had breakfast and were attacking the summit by 6 a.m. Some groups left at 2 or 3 a.m. to try to make the summit by 5:30 sunrise. The trail was really difficult, so I can imagine it was really dangerous in the dark.

We left the summit camp and went to a false summit at 2,900 meters. We then descended down a long slope (pictured 3rd below), then across a cliff face and then were finally on Fansipan. Why we didn't start on Fansipan, I don't know. 

Cool view

The trail was pretty muddy for a lot of the way

We had to go down this, then up a comparable slope, then back down, then back up this. All in one morning!
If you can see, there are some people for scale in the bottom left corner. This took about 25 hard minutes to scale.

Fansipan was a cruel mountain. We kept thinking we were on the summit, only to have another twist and turn reveal how far away we were. It took about 2.5 hours from summit camp to make it to the summit.

Finally there!

Boom. Mountain climbed

Fansipan is also called "The Roof of Indochina"

Once there, we only had to make it back down! It took about 5 hours to climb Fansipan and then go back down. Once back at summit camp (at about 11 am), we only had to do everything we had done on Day 1!

This ladder was so easy it was a joke. Most of them were at 80 degree +

Handholds!

We got down...somehow

At 4 pm, after about 14 hours of hiking (5 on Day 1 and 9 on Day 2), we finally made it back!

Josh still somehow had energy

Overall

If you like trekking, or hiking, and are actually in good shape (could do a 5k right now with no sweat), Fansipan could be for you. For myself, I learned a valuable lesson about myself. I'm definitely an indoor cat. While I'm glad I did Fansipan, no way will I ever do it again (or anything like it). It was just physical torture for hours and hours. The views were spectacular of course, and I met many interesting Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, and other tourists, but it just wasn't worth it. 

I know many people talk about how amazing travel is, and how every experience was amazing. This one...just wasn't. Of course- it was cool to see Josh and talk to him. Of course-I'm glad to say I climbed the mountain. Of course- thats all good stuff. However, I won't be doing it again, thats for darn sure. 

Future readers- don't be like me. Don't be hubristic enough to think that lifting and playing basketball daily is enough. I did it, of course (so it was enough), but in order to enjoy it, you'll need pretty good cardiovascular endurance (Amy, a fellow hiker, compared it in difficulty to a marathon she ran a couple years ago). Obviously, I couldn't do a marathon (and I did do this), but I just want to emphasize- this was tough.

My next trip (Da Nang) should hopefully involve much more sitting around and taking pictures. :)

Onwards. Always onwards.

Daniel