Sao Mai Hotel Lao Cai

... dubbed in VNese with a Southern accent). Sure, to his credit, he did wake up with the required "What the hell ???!!!!" when the bells started tolling but his head promptly fell back on his pillow and his snoring resumed automatically. When he did wake up at 6:30, his first words were "BBQ that damn dog and all its friends!". Nice.... His body is purging years of built-up stress by sleeping lots and purging years of built-up chunkiness by trekking lots ...

... we talk with guides Sho and Siu<br>who just shared their stories. We asked them if they were bothered<br>that all of these tourists come to their village. Both said no &#8211;<br>that they were glad that tourists came because their life has<br>improved. Siu told a particularly moving story. When she was a young<br>girl she was very poor &#8211; her dad had mental issues and she lived<br>not in a house but in the rice fields with only a piece of cloth tied ...

... lightning.<br><br>It wouldn't have been a strenuous walk (about 10km I suppose), but the weather made it a challenge, because we were mostly heading down the valley, scrambling down the rice terraces, and parts of the path had become a river. We walked through jungle-like terrain, jumping over streams, crossing on bamboo bridges, taking narrow steep paths which dropped into deep ravines and were quite treacherous in the wet. It was ...

... but to head back early to Sapa town as to avoid the most dangerous parts of the trails. Even the 'easier' routes have been turned to sludge and parts are pretty hard going before we head back to the main road where we catch a lift back to the town. Spending the rest of the afternoon at the town walking around the market we're forced to rush our meal before catching a minibus to the train station - where we catch another night train back to Hanoi.

... I had a pack of food and water, and I was ready to walk until I could go no further. I had been confined to a room for the past two days so my legs were yearning for exercise, this was the perfect outlet. <br><br><br><br> Mopeds drove by, locals coming up from the valley floor always made it a point to smile and wave. A tour bus flew past me as I was nearing the place where walkers get off of the main road and get onto a rock path that shoots straight down to the bottom. They ...

... up going to a club which turns out to be a gay club!!! (ash you would have loved it!!) Had a big argument with some motorbike driver who tried to hit one of the girls we were with and threw stones at her!! (this is Vietnam guys it was the dudes out here do, again ash you would probably get on well with them, a lot of common ground between you and them) Anyway being the man i am i stood in and told the guy to **** off and not hit women ...

... and tacked on several hundred dong. The driver actually locked the doors and forced them to pay the ridiculous rate before letting them out. The faulty meter is a really common trick so keep an eye out for it. <br><br>There were several things we wanted to do in Hanoi but since we felt the other towns were a priority we had to make the tough call to miss out on seeing it. <br><br> Sapa<br><br> We arrived in Sapa by the afternoon and had made some ...

The sleeper bunk I had on the train from Hanoi was comfortable enough, although nothing like the photos shown when I bought the ticket. Why in the H does everyone lie? I'm a filthy backpacker and would have been fine seeing a picture of the actual cabin. That said, Garret is returning to Hanoi to fly home in a few days and is going to pay a visit to the travel agent to get some of our money back. I hope he gives them a proper ...