Berry's SEAJ trip Day 19: Blisters and finishing this trek (6/24/15)

Get up due to lots of noise coming from both nature and the ladies of the house talking incredibly loudly. Had rained all night which is not good as the paths we are taking are all mud paths to begin with and so rain makes them even worse.

Berry and I posing in our hiking best. We will need it on the day ahead.

Leaving the homestay and appreciating the view.

Sapa countryside with a waterfall and cottages all around.

Terrace rice fields for the win!

So after breakfast, before we headed out, they gave us bamboo walking sticks with points shaved in the tips to penetrate the soil for better grip; these sticks helped immensely. We slowly make our way up through continual rain climbing from 800-1200ft elevation before making our way down to the village for lunch at 400ft. This was the time my sandals were not ideal for my trip. I kept getting mud in them, rocks which wouldn't come out on their own, and slipping everywhere. Do not know how everyone else was flying up and down these paths. With the wet feet and the sandals not made for this, I developed multiple blisters. Since my feet are always wet, I cannot put the duct tape on them to help out. I stopped to get rocks out of my shoes and wash them off when I thought we were out of the mud (we weren't) and wound up getting a leech on my foot when I put them in the water to wash them off. After lunch, Cu tells us we just hiked 30km over 2 days. Such a long trek that I was happy to have behind me. We get back to hostel and wash our shoes off and then I have a coffee with the ladies as they wait for their shuttle back to Hanoi. Since I was incredibly filthy having worn the same clothes the whole time on the trek, I got into my room, and walked into the shower with my clothes on and just let the hot water flow over me and my clothes (even the hat) and wash them with myself. It felt nice to be in fresh clean clothes as my clothes had not been dry since I left the hostel for the trek due to the rain/sweating. I relaxed that night around the hostel while making future plans.

Me and my 1836 at the hostel's patio hanging out after getting back from the trek.