Day 252 - Ａ day into a frozen Mountain Pass

This morning we slept in as long as we could justify in order to remain in our nice and warm sleeping bags! Eventually, while dining on the fantastic breakfast cooked by our attentive hotel owner we decided that today we'd drive to the top of the Tram Ton Mountain Pass ("Heaven's Gate"), which just so happens to be the highest mountain pass in Vietnam at 1900m.

At the bottom before we entered the worst of the mist we got a glimpse of a village resting on the side of a lush green valley. On the way up we began questioning how life continues in such freezing weather - we passed fields of frozen lettuce and other produce, and were amazed at the mud huts people reside in and the ever hopeful locals trying to dry their washing in the sub-zero temperatures outside.

The higher we went, the more trecherous the road became, with mud mixed with ice threatening to put the jeep in a dangerous slide - but we made it to the Thac Bac ("Silver Waterfall") where we tread through a frozen forest! Bright green leaves were encased in a cage of ice, which transformed the foliage into crystal surrealness. The pass is a 600m vertical climb from our current location in Sapa, and if the weather wasn't so cold, wet, misty, and icy we would have hired a motorbike and gotten this view at the top: However, the weather was cold, wet, misty, and icy so we decided to hire a jeep and ended up with this view: We knew we were looking in the direction of Fansipan Mountain (the highest in Vietnam) and the valleys and forests below, but we didn't need to stop for long in this weather as we literally couldn't see more than a few metres in front of us!
We reversed out tracks, and bugged our driver to stop continuously on the way down, to collect our own photographic memory of our journey before we arrived back at our hotel.

While Liv made a quick beeline into bed for an afternoon of reading and warmth, Adam headed down a muddy bank to immerse himselves amongst the fields and houses of the locals. It was nice for him to get off the tourist trail, even if he was possibly imposing himself where he shouldn't really be. The whole experience was absolutely wicked and provided some great shots, until the huge, growling guards dogs came charging! Luckily Adam was saved by the whistle of a local man, and decided to retrace his steps back uphill.
Back at the hostel, we decided against venturing back into town for lunch and Adam treated Liv to lunch in bed!! Up here power is an issue, and we hadn't had power all day so while Liv stayed warm in bed, Adam headed into the markets for some shopping and great photos - including some stunning ones of the local children selling their goods.

Before dinner Adam sat on the balcony drinking beer and enjoying the peacefulness and motionlessness of a place that was slowly shutting down before the next hard day of mountain life wakes with the new sun.

For dinner we dined at the hostel and met a couple of Australians, and enjoyed their company for the evening, before hastily heading off to our warm beds!

Adlibing the Tram Ton Pass.