How fitting it is for the highest mountain in Vietnam to be on the top of the list. Fansipan stands at an impressive 3,134m in height. Fansipan is not only the highest mountain in Vietnam but also is the highest mountain in the Indochina region, earning itself the nickname "Rooftop of Indochina’’. The local name for Fansipan is "Hua Xi Pan’’. It means “giant unstable rock”. Fansipan is part of the Hoang Lien Son Range in the Northwest of Vietnam. It is adjacent to Lao Cai and Lai Chau province, 9 kilometers west of Sapa.
It is advised to stay off climbing the Fansipan during the rainy season. Slippery roads, heavy fog, and enhanced coldness will make your journey harder. The fog will also obscure Fansipan majestic nature views, further diminish your enjoyment. So the best time of the year to climb the Fansipan is between October and April, especially in October and November, in which the rainy season just ends or February and March, which is before the rainy season.
Fansipan is among the higher difficulty of Vietnam mountains to conquer, so make sure that you are physically fit. Normally it takes 2 to 3 days to complete a trek. A guide can be found at local hotels and tour agencies in Sapa if you request one. To get to Fansipan, from the starting point in Hanoi, you can ride either the overnight train or the bus to Lao Cai. Then, you will need to take a car ride to get to Sapa. Finally, one more ride from Sapa to where you can begin your journey.
Before you start any trekking, a permit has to be obtained from the Hoang Lien Center for Ecotourism and Environmental Education and a fee of VND 150,000 has to be paid. On a typical 2 days trek, you will start in the morning then reach a resting camp point at 2,700m around the afternoon. You will have dinner and spend the night at this camp point. In the early morning of the next day, you will then depart for the summit. After taking pictures, enjoying the scenery, you can choose to walk back down or take the cable car.
In 2016, to make conquering the Fansipan summit achievable for just anyone, a massive cable car system was conceived. It holds the Guinness World Record of the longest non-stop three-rope cable car in the world (6,292.5m) and the greatest elevation difference by a non-stop three-roped cable car (1,410m). The cable car is located in the Fansipan Legend resort complex. Ticket being VND 700,000 for adults, VND 500,000 for children from 1m to 1,3m tall and free for children under 1m. The cable car will reduce your journey to just 15 minutes of riding and around 600 extra steps to reach the summit. For aspiring climbers, please prepare the necessities before challenging the Fansipan on foot, ranging from trail shoes to hiking sticks, gloves, scarf, blankets, tents, foods, water, camera, and chargers.
