Fansipan

Let me first start by saying that I've been wanting to complete the hike to Fansipan for awhile now. A couple years ago, a good friend had talked to me about his precarious adventure with some friends without a tour guide, and I remember thinking, "Goodness, I would never want to do that." However, as I became more adventurous and once I found out that I would be in Vietnam for Fulbright, I had this hike in mind. Since I had to transition from Ha Noi to Hue toward the end of August and had a full week break, I thought to myself that that was the best time to do it, and fortunately, I had three great friends from the Fulbright program who are just as crazy as I am who wanted to complete the hike as well.

Day 0: After completing two day tour about Sapa with other folks from the Fulbright program, we got down to preparing for our adventure. We had a big dinner, and our tour guide offered to take us to try dog meat. Heck, I figured since we were adventurous enough to climb the tallest mountain in Southeast Asia, why not try something crazy while we're at it?

Looks like beef, right?

While I was mentally fearing the moment of trying it, it wasn't too bad... once you wrap the piece of meat in lettuce and drowned it in shrimp paste and chewed on lemongrass right after. I was able to down two pieces along with some dog sausage/intestine... which I had to immediately follow with another piece of dog meat. My friends, however, had more trouble stomaching the thought of consuming what Americans would consider their best friend. Just to clarify, not ALL Vietnamese people enjoy dog meat. It's an option that is worth trying, but like us, there are plenty of folks who would never want to consume dog; a lot of my relatives and my family would never touch dog meat. Yet, our tour guide was able to finish the rest of the plate no problem. I think it's safe to say that I wouldn't eat it by choice again, but if it was the only thing left to eat, and if you didn't show me the picture of the dog before it became dinner, I'd eat it again.

Day 1: We woke up around 7:30PM to pack, eat breakfast, and head out. We took a van over to the site, which was about 15-20 minute away. After a couple pictures, we were ready to go!

Posing in front of the map of Fansipan.
(left to right): Me, Quan, Kate, Koua

 For us, the hike was split into two days: two 3-4 hours for the first day where we would camp out at the second base, then a round trip to the summit on and the return to Sapa on the second day. We were so pumped during the first leg, as one can tell with how much singing was going on. (Our tour guide loved to sing, "Hello" by Lionel Richie (totally missed you, Kenny and Robert)). However, since we weren't warmed up, we were so tired after 20 minutes of hiking -- and that was supposed to be the easy part! We faced some challenging terrain, and fought with our mental, physical and emotional barriers as we encountered them. There were times I would look at my two 1.75 liter water bottles and wonder if I would be able to make it to the summit and back with just that.

To the right of Kate is a steep downhill slope. One of my favorite challenges -- bring it on, Fansipan!!!

 Yet, at the same time, there was so much beauty to enjoy around us. As soon as we stood tall after taking a moment to catch our breath, it was hard to keep it in with all the beautiful scenery around us.

The view from the top of the first ladder we climbed.

 About nine hours later, we arrived to the second base camp, where we met a German family of 10 and our wonderful camp cooks. After enjoying a traditional Vietnamese dinner and a couple laughs over our toils during the hike, we tried to get cozy in our sleeping situation. We were basically housed in a tent made of sheet metal and slept on top of thin wooden platforms. We also all shared the same side of the family of 10.

Sure, this is our pleasant disposition right before we got to bed. However, I must've woken up at least 5 times due to the uncomfortability of the situation. Whatever. We weren't there for comfort.

Day 2: One restless night later and a bowl of ramen with egg later, we were ready to continue our journey. Although this hike was shorter, it was much more challenging given the steep start and the steepness altogether. I ditched the walking stick I had found the day before and used all limbs to make sure I gripped tightly onto rocks and the terrain around me. But my oh my, the end of the journey was SO worth it... One of the more satisfying things in life: Completing a challenging hike with good friends, and getting to enjoy a spectacular view.

Us and our tour guide, Anh Hung, to the left. 

The view from the top of Fansipan, the tallest mountain peak in Southeast Asia.

Enjoying my view

3,143 meters high. What would the conversion be to miles? (Previous Cassell students, I'm looking for you to answer!)

At the top of the peak, I looked at the greenery below and around me. I had wished I was able to sprout wings to fly down and dance across the treetops. Clouds began to roll over the top of other mountain peaks like ocean waves. Life had never been as beautiful as it was in that moment.

However, all good things come to an end. The fruitful journey was meant to be a roundtrip, and we had a 4:30PM deadline to make it to the bottom of the mountain, and we were running behind. Although going down a mountain expends less energy, your knee-joints take a lot of damage. I realized the more tired I got, the more careless I was able travelling downward. I jumped from rock to rock, traversed quickly across what I believed was flat ground, and at one point, I thought I rolled my ankle. I paused and held back cries of pain, with strong hopes that I didn't hurt myself to the point that the rest of the trip down would be a burden for others as well. However, I was okay, and I was a lot more careful. I used bamboo to support my trip down whenever I could, and made sure to squat down and slowly bring my body down from high points.

Here, Koua is rappelling using a bamboo shoot. Never doubt the strength of bamboo and its roots!

Another thing that made the trip down easier was the conversation we had the energy to make on the way down. I've gathered that completing a challenge with people allows you to understand them better given the way they approach it and the people involved, but having the energy to talk about something that you honestly care about it another good way to understand people, too. =) I'm very lucky to have been able to share this experience with three amazing individuals.

Once we got to the bottom, everything was a blur: the rush to our hotel to grab our luggage, the 5-minute shower, the dinner, and the sleeper train back to Ha Noi. Possibly what stood out most at that point was when we wrapped up with our nightly S.U.D.S., which is a way to close up the day by giving one shout-out, an up, a down, and something you're thinking about. (Hence the acronym.) Kate told us that her experience with us reminded her of a Yiddish word: mishpukhe -- which means non-blood family. Not only was I able to conquer so many mental and physical challenges by climbing Fansipan, but I also came away with a new family. =)