On the Indochina Rooftop
Some of my mountaineering guests were a bit reluctant, but in the end everybody came along – up the 3.143 metres of Fansipan, the highest mountain of Vietnam. By cable car. ? Accessible like this since February 2016. And it is SO worth it!
We were just so lucky with THE perfect weather conditions and very few other visitors. It seems the brand new service draws the crowds from Hanoi on weekends and in the summer months. Apparently 35.000 have been here on the long weekend around the Vietnamese Reunification Day this year alone. People had to shuttle from hotels as far as Lao Cai that time.
Nearby Sapa, formerly known as a sleepy hill station, has changed accordingly. Couldn’t really recognize it after about four years.
The cable car itself with its superlatives as well as all the new structures on top of the once virgin summit already appear a bit oversized for a weekend getaway project. And they are still building – pagodas, statues, temples, restaurants, shops… Rumours about the reasons are plentiful.
Nevermind. The views are absolutely stunning, breath-taking in fact. In case you opt to cover the last few meters via the 600 step staircase instead of using the additional funicular train.
Anyway the Germans were happy to know that “the longest non-stop three-rope cable car (6.292,5 m) with the greatest elevation difference by a non-stop three-roped cable car (1.410 m)” was designed by a famous Austrian specialist. ?
