Day 1: Welcome to The Alps of Tonkin

The second I arrived in my room in Sapa, a small mountain town in the far north of Vietnam, my plan for the day was clear: Shower. Eat. Sleep till 4 PM.

Doesn't sound like your usual travel itinerary? Missing some context? Alright, lets Terantino that opener real quick.

Previous to Day 1, Night 0 was spent on an overnight train from Hanoi to Lao Cai, with an arrival time around 6 AM, set to be in Sapa at 8 via leisurely motorbike ride through the mountains. Literally hundreds of tourists do this every night, and some might even describe it as the most comfortable train ride they'd ever taken. They didn't take our train -- the budget train.

Does it look grungy and depressing? Good.

OUR overnight train involved metal benches with token plastic cushions that had long lost they're cushiness. Our bench faced another, with a particularly good looking Vietnamese girl in it, but once it became obvious that she couldn't speak any English, and was somehow immune to my good looks and boyish charm as a result, she was suddenly very much in the way of my leg space. The train of course rattled, creaked, and lurched all night, and the metal curtains that covered half the window limited sightseeing, yet allowed in plenty of mountain air to make the journey a fairly chilly one.

read on to hear more tales of woe and misadventure!

 

Long story short, no sleep was had on our 8 hour train ride (which turned into a 10 hour train ride) which put us in to Lao Cai, a border town just across the Red River from China, at about 8 AM. Once there, we grabbed some Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) and Coffee (Vietnamese rocket fuel/drink), got pointed in the direction of Sapa and we were off.

Off in the wrong direction.

We were so pumped about making the first leg of our long awaited motorbike trip that we missed the ONE turn we had to make from Lao Cai to Sapa. This was mostly down to a lack of a sufficiently detailed map, but i'll complain more about that later. Luckily for us, Dan is Vietnamese by ethnicity (Californian by birth) and is always able to ask locals for directions. But generally, local people suck at giving directions. Despite this, we knew that we couldn't already be THAT far of course, so after a little unplanned detour, we were back on the road to Sapa.

And what a road.

You know how they say you drive where you're looking? well...

Paddies on Paddies on Paddies

So when we arrived in town, eventually decided on a reasonable room, and put our stuff down around 10 AM, we were ready to finally GET SOME SLEEP. **TARANTINOING COMPLETE** The only thing keeping us awake this time was the view.

This picture was taken with my head on the pillow

After the 4 PM alarm (and 1 or 2 snoozes) we decided to take a drive around the mountains, get some pictures, eat some food, and pass out. Mission accomplished.

Driving? Check.

Pictures? Check. These girls were so sweet, and that one was not as sad as she looks...

Eating? Check. Yunnan Black Chicken, southern Chinese style

Next Day's Plans: Make a 5 hour drive through the Northern countryside, from Sapa, back to Lao Cai, then on to the final destination of Ha Giang, a town that most tourists are required to have a permit to stay in/travel out of. Estimated departure time: 9 AM

Stay tuned everybody, far more wacky adventures still ahead!