Standing atop Fansipan mountain, I feel on top of the world -- which is to be expected, since they call this summit the Roof of Indochina.
Standing 3,143 metres tall, Fansipan is the premier tourist destination in the highlands of northwest Vietnam's Lao Cai province. As part of the Hoang Lien Son mountain range, Fansipan boasts many endemic species of flora and fauna.
Sapa town, at the foot of Fansipan, is renowned for its magnificent mountain views, with peaks looming out of the mist and the rice terraces of the Muong Hoa Valle.
From the town, I took a 6km cable car ride to reach an altitude of 2,800 metres in just 20 minutes. Around the cable car station, you can visit several pagodas and take a break for some photo opportunities before continuing on to the summit. To reach the top, you can either board a tram or walk up 600 steps.
While we rode the cable car, many tourists snapped away at the beautiful scenery outside, with or without themselves in the frame for selfies, to be plastered all over social media. Others kept their phones in their pockets and preferred to watch the stunning landscape through their own eyes, trying to memorise every detail.
The views were amazing even though there was a lot of cloud cover across the mountains and the weather was quite cold, foggy and rainy. But these clouds only added to my impressions as the cable car climbed higher. We entered the clouds and then climbed above them -- a spectacular moment that left me feeling as though I was flying like a bird.
The ride is operated by Fansipan Sapa Cable Car resort, which opened in February last year. Nguyen Xuan Chien, director of business of Fansipan Legend, which oversees the resort, said around 3,000 people have ridden the cable car in this time, although most have been domestic tourists.
Mr Chien, who accompanied a group of seven reporters from the Thai Journalists Association on the cable car ride, said he hopes many more foreign tourists will travel to Sapa and Fansipan, particularly people from other countries in the region who might not realise such scenery exists in Southeast Asia.
"You don't need to go to the Alps in Switzerland or other mountains in any other countries in Europe to see their high mountains," he said.
higher ground: Visitors crowded around Fansipan's summit, nicknamed the Roof of Indochina, above. PHOTOS: ANUCHA CHAROENPO
"Here in Vietnam we have Fansipan peak, the Roof of Indochina, for you and other visitors around the world to visit and explore its beauty.
But the technology in the cable car is of European standard. "We have imported 33 cable cars from Switzerland and each contains a maximum of 30 people at a time," Mr Chien said. "We spent about two years constructing this cable car project. We have a good maintenance system. We pay more attention to ride safety."
Phan Quang Hung, commissioner of the executive board of the Vietnam Journalists Association and chairman of the Lao Cai Journalists Association, agreed.
Mr Hung, who also joined our group, said he also wants to see more Thai people visit Sapa and Fansipan.
He pointed out that doing so is a lot cheaper than going to Europe and at the same time you can find spectacular natural beauty to rival the scenes in some European countries.
"In recent years, there has been snow in Sapa in winter," he said.
"If you have an opportunity to travel to this picturesque town on this occasion, you will definitely see quite a romantic scene here. The whole town will be covered in white."
Mr Chien said tourists can travel to Sapa town and the Fansipan peak all year round, but said the most beautiful scenes can be found during August and September. At this time, the rice fields take on a sunny yellow and gold colour as the crop is ready to be harvested. Visitors will also see many farmers hard at work in the rice fields, making the view through the cable car window even more beautiful, he said.
Before we reached the cable car station, Mr Chien told me and other visitors that the air at the peak would be thinner, and warned us we would need to take regular breaks to ensure our brain gets enough oxygen.
It was true. When I got off the cable car, I had to walk slowly to allow time for my body to adjust. But the view was definitely worth it.
keeping tradition: A Hmong woman in Cat Cat village. Tourism promotion has offered villagers a fresh source of revenue.
Besides the natural surroundings, I found a few temples at the top of the mountain. The resort has put up maps to suggest walking routes for visitors. The resort is also building a big Buddha, the statue of the Bodhisattva Guanyin and a big bell tower at the summit. Mr Chien said these will open to tourists next year.
Following Mr Chien, I spent almost two hours on the top of the mountain, enjoying as much of the fresh air as I could. I walked around the aforementioned under-construction sites -- noting that this required a lot of footwork and as such, the route may not be suitable for the elderly.
But if you get tired or cold, you can stop off at one of the tea carts selling tea with cinnamon, the sweet-smelling and health-giving spice that adds gentle heat.
After half a day scaling and exploring the peak of Fansipan, we enjoyed a great lunch at the resort, which served signature Vietnamese dishes. We then moved on to Cat Cat village, home to the Black Hmong ethnic minority of northern Vietnam. We visited Cat Cat waterfall and dropped in on a family of Hmong people to learn about their culture and customs. They treated us to a traditional dance performance, after which we spent about an hour trekking through the rugged terrain surrounding their village.
A Hmong vendor said her village opened to tourists in 2010 to create a source of revenue for the local people. The village is renowned for its natural beauty.
"There are both pros and cons to the tourism promotion policy," she said. "[On the downside], a lot of Hmong children do not want to go to schools because they want to help their parents sell souvenirs and food and drink to tourists. They enjoy meeting them.
mists of time: Some temples at Fansipan peak. A Buddha statue and a bell tower are also being built at the summit.
"On the plus side of the tourism promotion policy, it can really help us earn a living. I can save money to build a shop here."
Admission to the village costs 40,000 dong, or almost 60 baht. We went there by small taxis because it was rainy and foggy, which meant bigger cars would find it hard to navigate the small and rough roads leading there.
As for the cable car, each ticket costs 700,000 dong, or around 1,000 baht. This may sound a bit pricey, but for me it was worth the expense.
After all, as Mr Chien said: "This is a must-do activity in Sapa, riding the cable car.
"If you'd rather trek to the peak, you will spend around two days. Would you like to try?"
For now, one day was enough. Back in our hotel in Sapa, some of us went for well-earned massages after so much time spent walking at high altitude. For me, a fresh pineapple juice ordered at the hotel bar was a perfect refresher. n
The seven Thai journalists, including myself, were invited to visit Vietnam under a Memorandum of Understanding between the Thai Journalists Association and Vietnam Journalists Association, under their Media Exchange Programme 2017. The programme is aimed at helping promote media relations and constructive coverage in their news media so that people of the two countries will have correct understanding in terms of social, economic, political and cultural matters.
