Guns? Drugs? LONELY PLANETS?
Trip Start
Sep 17, 2007
1
127
272
Trip End
Oct 08, 2008
Hekou,
China
Saturday, March 8, 2008
We took a nice sleeper bus back to Kunming and turned around and booked another one for the next night. This one went down to Hekou, on the border. We managed to check into a hostel for the day and catch up on some travelpod and sleeping. Then, in one of those neatly planned but slightly risky situations that happen so often, we quickly hopped from the supermarket to the embassy to get our visas and then to the bus station. Everything worked out fine, and we were on our way.
This trip wasn't nearly as comfortable as the previous one, as the highway soon ran out
the bridge to China
. Train services between Kunming and Hanoi had been suspended indefinitely some time back, so this was the only option. So after a bumpy night we arrived in Hekou early that morning.A short walk brought us to the office on the Chinese side. Surprisingly, we were almost the only ones there. Never crossed a border that didn't come with a long line and a wait. Everyone was really friendly. We had to push a button indicating our satisfaction with the service. I pushed the green smiley face. Our bags went through the metal detector and we were about to head off when the lady at the desk called me back.
"Do you have any books in your bag?" she inquired politely.
"Yes."
Her expression became slightly more menacing.
"Would you show them to me please?"
Here I realized that I'd forgotten a small detail. China doesn't like Lonely Planet books. At least, China doesn't like China Lonely Planet books. Something about Tibet or maybe Taiwan. They were going to confiscate my China LP.
I had a bunch of books at that point. I opened up my pack and showed her my Southeast Asia LP. Then one of the books I was reading. Then I opened up my little bag and showed her my journal and the fake Vietnamese guidebook I had picked up in a hostel.
"Is that all?"
"I think so..." I mumbled.
She looked at me carefully for a minute, then smiled brightly. "Okay you can go."
My China LP was tucked safely in the bottom of my small bag. I had momentarily entertained the idea of letting them take it so I wouldn't have to carry it. But I later traded it for a big novel in Hanoi.
So, customs cleared, we had arrived in Vietnam. Along with that came all the adjustments of being in a new country. And you have to get ripped off. It's just the way it is.
Our destination was Sapa, a French hill station about an hour away. Minibuses were supposed to leave regularly. Apparently we were there at a bad time. We negotiated a price with some guys at the border but they came back and said they had to raise it so we walked down to the bus station by ourselves. There weren't any minibuses. Only a very annoying guy who wanted almost $30 to take the four of us (another couple had come off the bus with us). After a lot of arguing and a little waiting, a minibus came, saw us, and said they would take us to Sapa. At first they wanted even more than the first guy, but we got them down to half. We agreed and got in the van. We were still paying about twice what we should have. Now that the van was financed, all the sudden everyone was going to Sapa. And they all got in our van. Which for some reason drove to another van. This was after a woman in a cafe threw a chair at one of the guys inside with us. We weren't in China anymore.
But, finally, we set off and drove up into the mountains. Sapa is known for having crappy weather so I was glad to see a view for most of the journey. Then we climbed higher and everything was cloaked in a heavy, opaque mist. Oh well. And so we arrived in Sapa.
~Travis
