Fansipan (before Y2010)

BASIC INFORMATION

Trek: -

Date: (before 2011)

Location: Fansipan, Sapa Town, Northern Vietnam

Elevation: 3,143m

Duration: 3D2N

BRIEF ITINERARY

Day 0

Flight from SG to Vietnam

Day 1

Train from Hanoi to Lao Cai

Transport to trail head of Fansipan

Trek to first campsite

Day 2

Trek to the Summit

Returned to higher camp

Day 3

Trek back to the trail head

Transport back to hotel

Fansipan is situated near Sapa Town, Northern Vietnam. Standing at 3143m, it towers over Vietnam and Indochina. Thus, it is fittingly known as the ‘Roof of Indochina’.

Day 1

The Team arrived at Lao Cai station at about 6am after an overnight train from Hanoi. Following which the Team took a van to Sapa town. We had breakfast and deposited our stuff at Royal Sapa Hotel. Then we took a van to Tran Ton – the trail head for Fansipan. We reached the trail head at about 9am. The temperature at the trail head is about 12 degrees Celsius.

The trails are rather wide but challenging thing about Fansipan is that is very slippery. We had to make our way up using slippery rocks, hence, good shoes are a must. Also, on the first trekking day, be prepared to do some river crossing. The depth of the river varies according to the season as well as the rainfall. We stopped beside one of the open spaces beside a river for lunch.

After lunch, we continued trekking towards the lower camp, which we reached at about 2pm. We then continued making our way to the higher camp which will be our campsite for the night. The terrain of Fansipan is such that it is undulating meaning that it is not simply upwards and upwards. We often find ourselves having to trek downwards even when we are trekking towards the summit.

There are no waterpoints along the way but there are water sold at the lower camp and your guide will carry some water up which they will sell you at exorbitant prices. I would recommend that each person carries close about 5litres of water which should last you comfortably through the 3 trekking days.

Some parts of the trails after the lower camp actually allows you a great view of the surrounding ridges. Unfortunately, it was really foggy during our trek and we didn’t get to see much. A good windproof jacket is also a must as you will be trekking along open ridgelines with cold merciless wind blowing across.

As it is winter in northern Vietnam in December, the hours of daylight are really short. By 5pm the sky would be turning dark, you will need you torches and headlamps by 5.30pm and it would be completely dark by 6pm. Due to the fog, the visibility is really low and one has to be very careful during the night trek. The last person reached the higher camp at about 8pm. Trekkers get to sleep in a simple wooden hut for the night. The hut can accommodate about 20 people, so you have to be prepared to squeeze a little if your group is large or there are other trekking groups scaling the mountains at the same time. The temperature at night is about 10 degrees and, if you happen to step outside of the hut, you will find that the winds are really strong

Day 2

We started the day towards the summit at about 8am. As we will be returning to the higher camp after the summit, we were able to leave some of our things behind at the hut. The terrain and gradient remains similar – undulating, steep at some parts and rather slippery. In particular, there are some parts which require trekkers to trekking with extra caution on the very slippery rock.

You will reach a very open ridgeline full of mud and with very strong winds blowing across and this is when you know that you are almost at the summit. The area around the summit is very open which means that the view should be really awesome. However, due to the heavy fog, we were able to see much.

The summit is made up of huge boulders and marked by a metal tetrahedral. The temperature on the summit is about 8 degrees Celsius.

We then made our way down using the same route back to the higher hut for lunch. We finished lunch and began making our way to the lower hut (our campsite for the night) at about 2pm. By then, it was raining quite heavily.

Once again, by 5pm, we found ourselves trekking in the dark. It was extremely foggy so we can’t see very far ahead and had to be very careful going up and down. The group should try to keep as close as possible, there were quite a few cases of people who wandered off the trails due to the low visibility. Some also fell during this night trek. The last person reached the lower camp at about 9pm.

Day 3

This is probably the easiest trekking day. We started the trek at about 8am and we went back the same route which we covered on the first day. The sky finally cleared up on the third day and we were able to catch glimpse of the majestic ridges around Fansipan. We reached the trail head at about 12pm and took a van back to Sapa Royal Hotel