Scaling Mount Fansipan - Vietnam's tallest peak

Once a mission of endurance, the completion of a cable car to the top of Mount Fansipan in 2016, has made it a far less challenging proposition for travellers wanting to scale Vietnam's highest peak. With some misgivings about the country's cable car obsession (they're being installed all over the place), we took the cable car to the top for a look. Very few travellers get clear views from the peak, which is normally shrouded in thick cloud and mist. That's not stopping the crowds though. The journey to the top of Fansipan is becoming something of a patriotic rite for Vietnamese young and old. And the structures being created at the top are truly grandiose - reminiscent of something from dynastic days. Treading lightly is most definitely not the intention here. Some of the views on the way up are truly spectacular.