..32.. mount fansipan

this morning we woke up at 5:30 in preparation for climbing mount fansipan. our tour operator then informed us that we'd depart a little late, and just less than 2 hours later, we departed for the base of the mountain. well, the service isn't great here, but the kind guides and the scenery made up for it.
we hiked a few hours up to the base camp and ate lunch. then we set ut for the top of the mountain on what was easily the most rugged trail i've ever seen. to say the trail was steep was to say i'm fond of chris. the trail was an infinitely long V1 climb, except we were wearing tennis shoes and carrying backpacks. oh, and it was muddy. we used our whole bodies to climb up the side of the mountain, averting our eyes as we climbed along dropoff ridges lined with thick mist - we really may have been at the end of the earth! we'd pull ourselves up using good rock holds or tree roots. luckily the whole group (amy, me, israeli guy, guide, 2 cooks) agreed on a fair pace, and we ascended quickly. halfway up, we were told that it wasn't physically possible to do this hike unless you started at 5:30am. grrr. so we had to turn back to ensure we didn't get stuck on this trail after dark. the descent was equally gruelling, especially after our fatigue with the past 6 hours of climbing straight up! finally, the puppy at the basecamp was on the trail greeting us at last, and we got to sit down and stretch and watch while our fabulous guides chopped up vegetables to prepare dinner. it felt great to be outdoors and active.

last nght we slept in a wooden platform inside 2 thin sleeping bags which barely kept us warm in the high mountain climate. after an enormous dinner, we crawled into our sleeping bags and amy and i layed around chatting until we fell asleep. we awoke at 5am, just before sunrise , to the calls of monkeys - a veritable symphony of screetches echoing through the mountains - really magical.

sitting at the campfire after a king's breakfast of pancakes, bananas, and chocolate sauce. the puppy keeps me company and i try, unsucessfully, to forget what i saw last night. an ethnic minority boy lives at this base camp to protect it. and this is his puppy. this 15yr old boy plays gameboy all day and listens to a radio with poor batteries, which slide the tune up and down, making even a good song sund disonant. apparently to entertain us yesterday after our return from the hike, he bezt this poor little dog. in between the kicks and branch-swipes, the dog wimpered and limped away while the boy left and chased after the puppy to beat him more. he thought our loud protests were a joke. i'm afraid to know the terrible things this boy will do in his life if he is capable of beating a helpless cute puppy and laughing about it.

the second day was a wonderful ridgeline walk, followed by a steep descent into a valley where our jeep was waiting to return us to sapa. our bodies ache, and we can't stop smiling. that was a fantastic excursion.

..31.. sapa

after being absolutely blown away by the most delicious bowl of pho that could possibly exist, we boarded the night train to sapa. our arrival the next morning was greeted by a shroud of mist and the best temperatures we've felt in months! we had breakfast on the deck as we watched the mist burn off slightly and listened to kenny g :) the ethnic minorities that live here (similar to those in longshen, china) wear funky outfits of jacket/skirts with legwarmers, and smile curiously. the atmosphere here is so relaxed i don't know what to do - like when you touch a surface so soft that you're compelled to keep petting it. mount fansipan stands tall over sapa, staring in our bedroom window and calling us to climb it. what it is about human nature that demands to get to the top of anything high?

we went motorbiking today! the bike was hard to drive, with foot shifters, foot brakes, and hand brakes. it took a lot of getting used to, and i can't say i ever got fully comfortable with it, but it was a thrilling way to see the countryside and a fun thing to learn with amy. we saw piglets and puppies everywhere, mixed in together, with the occassional water buffalo. the misty landscape is nothing less than magnificent, so big and all-encompassing, that my photos are bound to turn out wimpy. i'll definitely dream of motorcycling tonight - splashing through 6-in ponds creeping across the road, dodging pigs and kids that aren't paying attention, and keeping the handlebars steady as we barge through off-road conditions on our street bike. what a wild fun day.