Hmong Us

Bamboo forest

This weekend I took a five hour bus ride into the misty heights of the Vietnamese mountains, and embarked on a trekking expeditions that covered 26 km in two days (despite being advertised as 18 km). We met our tour guide at a local restaurant and had lunch before beginning the hike with 30 minutes of straight uphill hiking, during which I realized I had left my inhaler in Hanoi.

After we made it to the top we walked mostly on roads for the next two hours, passing small villages with schools. Churches, and lots of animals and children running around. After that we were offered the option of continuing along the road or taking the “natural” trail which was described as “very difficult and slippery”. Knowing my propensity for clumsiness I voted for the easy way, but since I was the only one, we all took the hard trek.

I impressed myself by only falling on my ass four times and thankfully not bursting the camelback bladder I was carrying until the last fall, so I was only soaked for the last 15 minutes of the hike.

I swear it's mud, okay?

Overall I'm glad we took the harder trail because it went through a bamboo forest and some very picturesque spots, but my legs feel like lava now and I am covered in scratches and bruises that range from '“healing” to “somewhat infected”. Fortunately I packed first aid supplies but unfortunately I couldn't use them until we got to the homestay.

The hike, which was supposed to take 3 hours ended up taking almost six, and it was dark when we reached the homestay. Which explained why I fell twice in 10 minutes. Did I mention my last fall also shattered the bamboo stick that had been the only thing keeping me somewhat upright, scratching my arm in the process?

Yeah, it got pretty hard to see the trail

Once we got to our guides homestay we enjoyed a dinner of rice, tofu, pork, and spring rolls, after which I promptly crashed. I was awakened at 4am but the dulcet tones of a rooster, which continued until 7am. Since I couldn't sleep, I made a good dent in the book I was reading.

After feasting on rice flour pancakes with honey and fresh watermelon, we hit the trail again. After about a mile of pretty much straight downhill (so great for my shitty knees) we leveled out and walked through villages and rice paddies for the rest of the trip. We took a break midmorning on a platform overlooking the valley and enjoyed the views.

We saw many artisan stalls showcasing intricately designs and vividly colorful clothes created by the Hmong people. We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant and enjoyed, rice, spring rolls, fluffy eggs, chicken with onion and peppers, and fried tofu with some sort of red sauce on it.

Spring rolls

Chicken with vegetables

After lunch a shuttle took us back to SaPa, the city we arrived in, and then we transferred to the bus to Hanoi.

Despite barely being able to walk today and being worried about my wounds, I'm so glad I went because it was such an intimate view into the lives of the friendly and generous people who call the foggy mountains home, as well as a breath of fresh air (literally) away from the pollution that plagues Hanoi.

Substack only lets me upload one photo at a time and I’d be here all day if I tried to upload all the photos I took, so here's a link to my pictures from the SaPa trekking tour!