When I went trekking in Sa Pa I booked it through the Topas Ecolodge. It was a two day trek with just the guide and myself. The first day was a bit more relaxed pace and lasted about 2 or 3 hours in the afternoon after we’d arrived at the lodge. We went through some fields. We ran into a group of boys and their dog swimming in a river. They were cute. They helped me across the water. I had to take my shoes and socks off and just go for it while they carried my things to the other side. Then we walked through a little village and saw a school and lots of Black H’Mong women hanging their laundry.
The second day was a lot more challenging. When we’d walk uphill it never ended. We’d go around a corner and I’d expect the path to flatten out but it just kept going up. The guide seemed to be used to it. I definitely wasn’t.
The part that scared me the most was snakes. The whole time I was worried about spiders. I asked the guide before our trek about spiders but he said they weren’t an issue and that snakes are the bigger problem. I asked the guide if he ever sees any during a trek and he responded with “sometimes”. This is the exact response the lady at the lodge gave me when I asked her the same question - “sometimes”. Not even “nah don’t worry about it, they’re pretty rare.” Or a “yeah but don’t don’t worry you’ll be fine they don’t like people”. Just “sometimes”. I was very concerned. Anyway, on our second day we did have one cross our path while down in the rice fields. Nothing happened he just slithered across the path a few feet in front of us and into the bushes and we never heard from him again.
Another thing we had to be on the lookout for was mountain leeches. Something I never thought I’d be worrying about. We’d be walking through tall, wet grass and every time the path opened up we had to check our ankles. We didn’t have any, but a lady at the lodge had one later that day. And a family I’d met later on the trip had one.
Anyway, the trek was definitely filled with nature and beautiful sights and even though I’m now terrified of snakes I’d do it all over again (but, of course, I’d pack more bottles of water next time).
