The strange beauty of Sa Pa, Vietnam

How exactly do you end a huge trip that lasted almost an entire year? There are two ways you can go about it:

1. Wind down, take it easy, and prepare to go back to the (yecch!) real world.
2. Keep up the adventures until the last possible moment – i.e., go out with a bang.

On Day 333 of our massive Southeast Asia excursion, Masayo and I chose the second option: our flight back to Japan from Hanoi, Vietnam was only a few days away, but we wanted to venture up into the mountains of northern Vietnam near the Chinese border. We settled on the small mountain village of Sa Pa (a.k.a Sapa), near Vietnam’s highest mountain, Mt. Fansipan (or “Mt. Fancypants”, as I called it).

We hoped it would be worth the trouble of getting there.

Sa Pa turned out to be pretty great. We toured the stunning scenery by motorbike, shopped in the local market, talked to the people from the local hill tribes selling things in the street, and tried in vain to stay warm in our heater-less room.

The old Cat Ba→Ha Nôi→Lào Cai→Sa Pa route

The long day of travel from Cat Ba Island began with a fast tourist boat to the mainland, then a train to Hanoi (written Ha Nôi in real Vietnamese, which looks much cooler). We spent our few hours in Hanoi eating and hanging around the train station area.

Hanoi seemed really cool (in both senses of the word) and laid-back than, say, chaotic and boiling Ho Chi Minh City had. The station area is busy, of course, but there’s an appealing and beckoning spirit to Hanoi. I was sad we couldn’t hang around more.

Masayo liked Hanoi too, except the bathroom at the train station: there were no dividers, the first time she’d encountered that on this trip.

An overnight train took us to Lào Cai from where a bus took us (and several other Western tourists) to Sa Pa. We arrived in the early morning, walked up to a guesthouse and got a room.

The guesthouses in Sa Pa, in our price range, have no heating. And it was freezing in town, especially at night. We cowered under the covers at the first place we stayed, but when we moved to a new guesthouse, we had a fireplace. It didn’t keep us completely warm, but at least it was cozy.

A new backpack!

At a small local shop I bought a big used backpack for about $10, and abandoned my old orange one in our room when we checked out. The new bag proved a poor investment: the zipper broke almost immediately.

Oh well, the trip is almost over anyway. For the next journey I’ll have to find a new bag.

That was becoming a theme here in Sa Pa: little hints and nudges that more traveling should happen once this trip is done. The travel gods were trying to say something to us. Always listen to the travel gods!

Motorbike rental

For the second time this week – and the second time in my life – I rented a motorbike and Masayo sat on the back. This time, we rode off to see Mt. Fansipan and the beautiful mountain views even higher than Sa Pa.

Actually, the trip began poorly as I lost control of the bike on a super-steep hill. It shot out from under me; I stumbled off and Masayo and fell on her butt. The bike skidded to a stop, laying on its side with the hand-brake snapped off. An old woman walking by laughed.

I didn’t think it was so funny. I’m gonna have to pay for this.

But we carefully set off again and managed to keep it together. The road that leads up from Sa Pa was occasionally paved and occasionally not. The views of the misty mountains and the occasional waterfall were amazing; it was such a feeling of thrilling freedom, zipping around a road high in the northern Vietnamese mountains.

This trip was indeed ending on a high note.

At the top of a pass, from where we could see Mt. Fansipan, there was a blue tarp on the side of the road, inside which a couple of women were brewing hot tea and roasting potatoes and eggs. We peeked in and they invited us to sit down. The tea was excellent in the bracingly chilly mountain air.

The women didn’t speak much English but we all smiled and gestured and had a grand old time together. Masayo bought a Zip-loc bag of their locally harvested tea to send back to Japan.

Back in Sa Pa, we continued through town to a road that went down, to lower elevations. On one side was the mountain and on the other, valleys full of the famous rice terraces. It was warmer and greener, and more people were on the roads. Kids were sitting in skateboards, flying down the road with bundles of sticks sitting behind them.

Motorbike repair

Then we had to face the music about the piece of motorbike I’d snapped off. The owner was decidedly unamused, and he and I went together to a repair shop.

“They’re going to rip me off,” I fretted to myself. But what would I be able to do about it?

While the mechanics worked on the bike, I sat with its owner and drank tea from tiny ceramic cups he rinsed out with water and his thumb. He spoke no English so we didn’t talk much, but at least he didn’t seem angry.

The guys finished and gave me the bill: it was more than reasonable. I happily paid it, and everyone was all smiles again.

In a way, I was kind of glad I’d smashed the bike up: otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten this little unexpected view of mundane local life. These little rural moments always seem more interesting in retrospect than the big famous tourist sites. That’s why I say head for the provinces.

Sa Pa as a trip’s end

Laid-back but on the tourist trail, Sa Pa proved to be an excellent end to our trip. Having been hot and tropical for most of the last year, we wound up with a little cold mountain air as balance.

It was a nice contrast, and kind of felt like a psychological bridge between this trip and whatever the next one will be. Something new to point the way in the future.

That’s my kind of destination: one that rewards with its own people and scenery, but also inspires you to keep traveling and surprising yourself with something new!

Have you visited a place like Sa Pa, a place that not only made you feel fresh and alive but that also inspired you to keep traveling?

Thanks for reading. Suggested:

• Share:
• Read next: Day 228: As Khmer kids in canoes do circles around my motorboat
• News: Newsletter (posted for free on Patreon every week)
• Support: Patreon (watch extended, ad-free videos and get other perks)