Bought the ticket to Lao Cai and set off in the same evening I came back from Halong Bay. Reached the train station at round 7.30pm and got into my train at 8pm. The first sign that things may not go so well that night was when a local Vietnamese man actually switched his seat on his own accord with another person and was sprawled over my seating area when I arrived. He tried to persuade me to go somewhere else to sit. Trying to be understanding I relented but eventually realized it was a no go as there were too many switches going on. It was going to be a long night.
The train was a hard-seater. We left the station in Hanoi at 8.30pm and was supposedly going to reach Lao Cai at around 7am the next morning. An almost 12 hour train ride. After the excruciating ride from Saigon to Hanoi, I wasn't especially looking forward to this ride. I must say this one sealed my aversion to trains.
Lao Cai was the transit point to get to Sapa so I would have to take a bus from the train station up into the mountains. No idea which bus also but I supposed that I would figure it out when I reach Lao Cai. Nearing midnight, the people around me started to drink and make merry. There was this bunch of women that looked like they were dance hostess or something who started to sing. And the wine was aplenty as most of the Vietnamese started gathering around my area to drink and sing folk songs. At night, when they were done and when more passengers got on the train, we had to squeeze. The women and men, started to sleep between the aisle of the train, under my seat and seats that were meant for 2, were shared by 3 people. It was uncomfortable to say the least. That dude beside me started to lean on my shoulders and when I indicated no, he pleaded with me to allow my shoulder for him to sleep on. Not homophobic or anything but that was too much. I was thankful when I finally reach Lao Cai in the morning. The air was quite cold when I got off the train and I was met with swarms of locals persuading us to engage their service. This Vietnamese dude started following me around and told me he has a bus waiting to bring us up to Sapa and would leave immediately. I gave in eventually and followed him. I was tired and wanted to get on with the journey asap.
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| Street in Sapa |
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| Unpredictable Weather |
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| Food Fusion |
The bus ride up the mountains took around an hour and a half. It was quite an enjoyable ride and the the view was beautiful and should be even more so if not for the mist. Along the way, I saw the first signs of the Hmong people in their traditional garb. It was raining and the air was really cold when I got out of the bus. Sapa I must say was beautiful. Sapa town was small. It was a Saturday and the town was crowded with tourists. It took quite some time for me to find a reasonably priced guesthouse to stay in.
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| View of Sapa |
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| Rice Padi Fields in the fog |
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