We wake to a beautifully sunny day and as we sit on the veranda waiting for our breakfast of pancakes and fruit, we watch steam rising from our shoes drying in the sun. Three buffalo wander into the garden in front of the veranda and are soon shoo-ed off into the adjacent rice paddies by the one of the family. Andy is still feeling very unwell and has decided not to continue with the trek, so he is getting an xe om (motorbike taxi) back to the hotel in Sapa. As soon as the rest of us start out we are joined by two Black H’Mong women who will accompany us to the end of the trek – I can see another purchase looming!. The trek is tougher today – not sure whether that is because we are still tired from our efforts yesterday or it’s actually more difficult. But there’s certainly more climbing and the trail is more challenging under foot. Negotiating the narrow and extremely slippery edges of the rice paddies is tricky – slip one way and you could be knee deep in mud, the other and there’s a fall of 4 or 5 feet into the paddy below. The Black H’Mong women save me several times from a muddy fall so there’s definitely a puchase on the horizon. Buffalo graze untethered in the rice paddies which seem surprisingly undamaged by their lumbering presence. We also spot the occasional black pig. Our trek takes us through several tribal villages where young children play half-naked and covered in mud.
We end our trek at Giang Ta Chai, a village of the Red Dzao people where I buy a small hand-embroidered bag made of flax from my Black H’Mong companion. A car is waiting to take us back to Sapa and lunch. We have to traverse a number of fords along the mountain road where steams caused by the heavy rains are running across the road. A bus driver has parked up in one and is taking the opportunity to wash his bus! I’ve arranged with Nem to accompany Andy and I to the local hospital to translate – I think it’s time to get Andy some medical advice. But when I get back to the hotel he says he feels much better and doesn’t think a hospital visit is necessary. Even so his calves are very painful and his finding it difficult to walk.
Our trail shoes are definitely the worse for wear after two days trekking – wet and covered in mud. The hotel offers a shoe cleaning service and within an couple of hours our shoes are returned looking as good as new and, importantly, dry – all for £1.50 a pair!
We spend an hour or so looking around Sapa, but Andy is hobbling painfully, is tired and feeling cold (despite sitting immediately in front of a large log fire in a local bar), so we head back to the hotel. He really should see a doctor but he’s still insisting that all that’s required is a change of anti-malarials. A ‘right stubborn bastard that one’ as described by the man himself.