Eco Trekking in Northern Vietnam

Our only guide, Báo, lives just in the foothills of the same mountain we set out to climb. We stayed at his place with his family before and after the hike, eating delicious dinners, getting to know each other, and playing with all of his animals. In addition to being a trekking guide, Báo and his family grow rice and corn in terraces, and cardamom in the jungle.

After grabbing some pork, veggies, and other goodies from a local highland market, we set out to climb. We started off walking through local villages, farms, and rivers. Eventually we started the steep seemingly endless climb up the mountain.

We spent the night at a quaint trekker’s shelter run by two friendly Dao women, who built the shelter two years ago to help trekkers brace the elements such as heavy rain and landslides.

We decided to summit the same day, instead of waiting until tomorrow. Hiking through foggy bamboo forests was surreal and the steep incline was challenging enough, but the view at the top was little more than staring at a white canvas. After getting some warmth next to a small fire at the summit, we headed back to the shelter.

Our dinner that night consisted of our supplies from the market as well as some cardamom picked from the jungle along the way. Everyone got to know each other around the fire through Vietnamese, Dao, and a little English. We were so tired that we went to bed at 19:30.

After breakfast the next morning, we saw a small patch of blue sky. This gave me enough motivation to summit again alone. This time I ran to the top to be greeted with a view above the clouds themselves.

A video showing our experience is below :)