Today I went on a date.
Sa Pa is the place where heaven and earth meet.
I could only be there with them in silence.
I’ve been waiting for this day
I’m in the mountains. The evenings are a bit cold. And it makes everyday life different because it’s been raining a lot the past few nights and days.
I planned to continue on from Sa Pa on Monday, but I really wanted to see “the” mountain first.
I woke up at 7:30 this morning. At first, I didn’t even realize that the sun was shining on seven branches. As soon as I realized that the long-awaited opportunity had come, I set off. Ten minutes later I was on my way. I bought my ticket to the mountain.
Fansipan.
I’ve been longing for this place. I wanted to breathe here.
Fansipan is the highest mountain in Vietnam and all of Indochina. 3,147 meters.
In Hungary, many of us are proud of Kékes. I’ve been to Rax and Schneeberg. Both were great experiences.
But today I suddenly realized that I am standing higher than I have ever been in my life. It’s as if we had put the Kékes on top of the Rax.
It’s unbelievable to even say it.
It’s even more incredible to experience.
On the way to the clouds
The train journey described in the post titled “Sa Pa” awaited me again.
The journey was beautiful again, but in a different way, because the sun was shining much more beautifully now. I was happy that the countryside could show another face.
The journey was also different in that a lot of people were traveling uphill today. It seemed that I was not the only one waiting for this opportunity.
I had to survive the train ride, which was switched to a somewhat herring mode. Even getting to the first stop required standing in line, but I didn’t mind that at all. In fact, I wouldn’t have minded anything, just to finally see the mountaintop.
Since I had gotten to know the first stop very well 5 days ago, I didn’t linger there this time. I went straight to the cable car station. I had to wait half an hour. I read until then.
And finally the train started.
It was amazing how we left the station and rose above a very deep valley. Higher, higher and higher. Below me were settlements and rice fields in all shades of green. In front of me was the majestic mountain. And above it were the gray clouds. To the right was a beautiful view, to the left a breathtaking view. Or vice versa, if you like.
There was something incredibly magical about the moment our car reached the clouds. I felt like I was traveling in a giant cotton candy. Nothing was visible anywhere except the cable in front of us, and only a small part of it.
Then suddenly the mountain emerged from the cotton candy.
I arrived among the clouds.
First the fog
The fog covered everything when I reached the top of the mountain. In other words, I didn’t actually reach the top of the mountain first, but a good eighty meters below the peak. The cable car only takes those who have purchased a ticket for this. There were a lot of stairs waiting for me today, because I wanted to go up on foot.
In the fog.
This fog today was very friendly. The distance was not visible, but it only moderately covered everything else. The buildings and statues – even if a little hidden – showed themselves.
Today was a day full of records and memories.
First of all, I reached the highest Starbucks in Asia. I’m not usually one to consider such information an experience. But, since I’ve spent a lot of time in this coffee shop chain in recent months, something just spoke to me. This brand created a small framework for my journey. When I saw the name of the Hanoi Café on the statue’s pedestal, I smiled. I’ve been there a few times. And it feels good!
Then my attraction to temples got a lot more today. Vietnamese temples are usually characterized by beautiful lights. I really like the special shades of the paints used. Here, they not only made the experience more special with a clever solution, but also brought back memories. The gold coloring was illuminated with green lamps in several places. This way, the gold got a pearl-like green glow that reminded me of the beautiful green of Thai statues.
I also noticed a while ago that I also really like incense burners that are almost always smoking. The buildings usually greet me with very pleasant smells.
I went into one of the temples. I don’t like going in with socks, so I looked around barefoot again. This experience reminded me of the ten days I spent in the Buddhist temple in February. I really enjoyed being barefoot there, but my feet were a bit cold there too. Just like here. In vain, the 3,000 meters don’t lie.
From here the road only led up. A special experience awaited as a reward for the many stairs.
A 22-meter-high, 1,000-cubic-meter Buddha statue stands majestically under the mountaintop. Apart from the above parameters, what makes it special is that it was pressed together from 5 mm copper sheets. I have never heard of anything like this before. I think it is when the wonders of technology and spiritualism shake hands.
And I had another new, never-before-seen experience here today. At the heart of the Buddha statue, a Jade Buddha relic is kept in a seven-story crystal tower. For some reason, I also felt the moment when I was close to it was solemn.
More stairs followed.
And at the end of the road, the Sun was waiting.
The sky is always blue above the clouds
I almost thought about closing this section by saying “let the pictures tell the story for me.”
On the one hand, I think I’m always in trouble when it comes to experiences that I had on this mountain for the first time. The first question that came to my mind now was how am I going to write my feelings so that every third word I say isn’t “beautiful”?
On the other hand, it turned out that I’m not a good photographer. Or at least, I still have room for improvement.
So, the lesson is learned!
The first one is always special! As I wrote in the introduction, this is the first three-kilometer mountain I’ve ever set foot on. I climbed the stairs a little intoxicated by this thought. I always take two steps at a time because I like to train my legs. But today I wanted to get up there as soon as possible. It felt so good to let this desire drive me upwards.
Accordingly, the experience that greeted me at the top was doubly suitable for disrupting my breathing. The intense climb to the top made me gasp for air, and the experience made me stop breathing.
I had seen clouds up close before. But sitting on an airplane, this sight is nowhere near as majestic as when I was standing among them. This is how I imagine the top of the world. I thought I was dreaming. Then I reminded myself that I wasn’t dreaming. I was simply living my dream.
I felt like a stranger among the many people. I wasn’t attracted at all by the selfie points created step by step, I didn’t want to wave a Vietnamese flag in a video. I’m not the main character in such a place.
The magnificent view is much more interesting than anything else. I leaned against one of the railings for about a quarter of an hour and just looked ahead. The clouds floated over the mountains, and I floated with them. People came and went around me, and I was just so interested in them that sometimes I understood to stand back so they could take better photos. There was no one with me, but I didn’t feel lonely at all.
My experiences were with me up there.
And they stay with me down there.
A guided tour
I feel like I’m really alive in my writing when I reach a conclusion that really shouldn’t be followed by anything else.
Then I realize that I had another beautiful experience in my day and I need to continue.
After coming down from the summit, I found myself back in the small village where I saw a wonderful folk performance the other day.
I thought I’d linger there for a while today too.
I started looking around. I discovered a small fire pit on the first corner. Some black juice was simmering on the embers of corncobs. As I was taking pictures of this, a young girl came up to me and asked if I knew what they were cooking there.
Then she gave me a 45-minute guided tour.
It turned out that the intern who works here is a student at a tourism university. But what’s even more interesting is that she knew a lot about Vietnamese culture.
She showed me every house. She told me everything we saw. In addition, she told me a lot of general things about everyday life in the past and present. About the beliefs they live by. About the customs that they keep alive to this day.
She often asked me questions about something or a custom. I knew the answer to some of them, and I could make up some. But she often said things to which I could only say that I had never heard of it before.
I was also able to tell her stories about Hungary, about the customs there, which she listened to with interest. We laughed a lot together.
And in these moments I did not feel like a stranger. That is why I am very grateful today.
Sge was a very good guide. I really loved the time we spent together. A special gift of my day today was this lovely young girl and her kindness.
I still had half a day to go
At two in the afternoon I was walking around Sa-Pa again.
It was now 0:30 on Saturday.
The rest of the day brought many very nice and beautiful moments.
But I think I’ve said enough about today.
Maybe I could just add:
it was a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful day.
Buy me a coffee?
If you enjoyed this story, you can buy me a coffee. You don’t have to – but it means a lot and I always turn it into a new adventure.
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Short introduction