Location: North 22.33028, East 103.86343 (GPS at the summit)
Sapa, Vietnam
Difficulty: Class 1 (YDS)
Climbed July 17, 2018
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Information:
How to get there:
This mountain is located in the mountain town of Sapa in the north of
Vietnam. One may travel by train and bus from Hanoi. There is also an
excellent road connection.
Route description:
Start in the central area in front
of the church in Sapa, this location is
N22.33543, E103.84208, elevation about 1490 meter. Walk towards the
church on the left side. As you pass the church, there is a hotel entrance
straight ahead.
Turn left before this entrance, an
uphill tourist street runs here. There is
a signed place to pay a park entrance fee on your left. Pay VND 70.000 (2018)
and proceed up the street. Higher up, there is a check point that stamps your
ticket.
The first part of this trail runs in a city park. Nice, wide steps and well
prepared surface for any kind of tourist. Higher up, near some interesting
rock formations,
one should keep left, the trail branches, but only a left branch will
get you onwards. From an open area, where you can see higher terrain ahead,
follow a smaller, more normal trail in
the direction of the higher hill.
Soon, your trail ascends gently, the trail is still pretty wide and follows
a fence. Pass a property (with two barking dogs) on your left, then arrive
immediately in front of a hut (where somebody lives). From here, the trail
becomes very small, as you pass
through dense vegetation. First, a bit uphill,
next more horizontal. It appears that very few walk here. Keep following
this very tiny trail as it crosses a small stone fence, then ascends in more
open terrain before crossing more vegetation to reach a bigger trail that
runs uphill (from your left to right). Follow this bigger trail the rest
of the way to the summit. Comments:
This was our last day in Sapa and with rain there were not many
reasonable options for hiking. Ham Rong is the city mountain and as
such seemed like a place to visit.
I started at 0930 and after a leisurely walk with some false sidetrips
in the park, I arrived at the summit at 1030. The weather briefly cleared and
the view was ok. I noted the highest point
on the extended ridge and decided to
visit it as well, likely lower. I left the summit at 1040 and walked by the highest
point on the ridge. My GPS confirmed that this was 5 meter lower and a visual check
back to the top was also pretty clear in this respect.
I descended and did notice that some leeches had gotten onto my legs near my shoes.
They seemed less annoying than the ones in Malaysia, but still something you
rather be without. I was back at the car around 1130.