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Published: February 4th 2016
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After a lively night, getting in around 11.30 fuelled by mintless mojitos (they had run out) and great travelling chat with a Dutch couple who followed us to the Hmong Sisters Bar and some Americans, we felt a bit jaded this morning and depressed at having to check out at 11am and wander around homeless until our bus pickup at 5. the hotel is too cold to wait in. There is actual fog in reception and some of the corridors, where it rolls in through the open doors. One girl at breakfast today refused to eat it in the dining area it was so cold, she took it up to her room. We stuck it out and ate what we could.
We found out last night that there is a new cable car to the top of Fansipan mountain, which opened 2 days ago. The photos from the top showed sunshine, with clouds below. It is the longest one in the world, and goes up to 3000metres. It costs $20/25 to go up it. One guy who tried yesterday said they walked the 3km to the base station to find it only operates at 8.30 and 9.30am, so if anyone
is thinking of going best check it out first. Also the weather, as today you wouldn't see anything. I couldn't find a website for it.
So what to do until 5? I checked booking.com and it said full, but I asked the guy on reception and he said we could keep the room until then and just pay for half a day. £3 each, back upstairs after breakfast and into bed with the blanket on. Result! Bargain! We ventured out for lunch and had a set vegetarian menu for 90,000 each. The veggies are so tasty here, and grow in random little plots by the side of the road. Nobody steals them like they would in the UK. I wanted to explore the other bit of Fansipan (Fancypants) Street but Sam was not in the mood for walking any extra, slightly uphill. She stood in a strop at the bottom like a 5-year old and wouldn't move. I had to entice her up the hill with a shop selling cookies. They had Laughing Cow slices, 5000 (15p) cheaper than the ones we found and rejected last night so that made her happy.
The lady in the restaurant spoke
very good English (we were the only customers) and wanted to chat. She also needed help writing a sign for outside to entice people in to sit by their fire. After much deliberation and discussion we came up with 5 words for her 'Get warm by our fire'. That was the best we could do. She wanted to use 'We have firewood' but Sam explained that meant she was selling wood for the fire! There are open wood or charcoal fires in every restaurant. Very cosy but the smoke is horrendous, our clothes smell of it and eyes sting. And because smoking in bars is absolutely no problem here.
We went down to reception just before 5 and the girl said the bus had come early and as we weren't there it had gone to get someone else and would come back for us. Wait 5 minutes please. Then wait 15 more. She made a few calls, the exchanges seemed longer than necessary to just ask how long. By 5.30 I was very antsy, we were supposed to be in Lau Cai by 6,, get our boarding passes from the Livitrans office (find it first!) then have dinner in
a restaurant in plenty of time for departure at 8.25. By 5.50 I was having to be more insistent, what exactly is happening, we are worried. A few more excuses, the driver is coming, please wait 5 minutes, it is New Year holidays (so???) and she admitted he had gone without us. I asked why she hadn't come and got us when he was early, she knew we were there, we could have come down immediately. Very sorry, my mistake! It is a family business, so the older couple, her parents, organised a lift to what we thought was the minibus stop. Helmetless and running out of options, we sped through the foggy, unlit streets of Sa Pa on the back of 2 motorbikes, just lucky we only had small bags. Only to be dropped at the public bus, which was waiting to leave at 6.10. Only 30,000. Never have I been less delighted to be saving 50p! Should take a an hour, leaving us just over an hour to get our passes. Annoyed, as we wanted if possible to choose our beds so we were on the bottom.
We were the only farangs on it. We sat at
the front and I was terrified the whole way. The driver was very careful, mainly because we were in thick cloud for half the journey, and he literally crawled along navigating by the dim white line in the middle of the road and the odd tree at the side. There were people on scooters, 2 abreast, with no lights on, the odd animal and the slowest cars in the world. We obviously weren't going to be there in an hour, and were quite surprised to arrive by 7.30. We seemed to be driving through Lau Cai for ages, by this time not in the mood to admire the Tet lights. Next problem, where is the office? Not in the main station. People kept pointing in opposite directions. We jogged off towards the only light in the road only for a guy to come out and lock the office, pointing back to the station. It was insane, and we were stressed. Found a lady in uniform, waved our tickets at her and she took us back outside to the front of the station again. We were going freakin’ nuts with it. There was a huddle of Vietnamese women, one of whom
was holding our passes. A random stranger, it seemed. She did later appear on the train (to take away the biscuits and substitute with inferior ones) so must wait outside for latecomers like us, but she was absolutely unidentifiable.
For the record, to find the office you need to take the road to the left as you are facing the station, and it's just down on the left, really close, but no signs to help you find it.
We even had time for a cup of tea and to buy some Pringles, not believing we'd made it.
Not lucky enough to get a compartment to ourselves this time, and the ones either side are full to bursting with families, literally about 8 of them in there tying babies, squeaking toddlers, the lot, all making the hugest row you can imagine, so sleep will no doubt be even more difficult. We have 2 young Canadain girls, polite but as friendly as a pair of rattlesnakes. Dinner was Laughing Cow and ritz biscuits again, plus a banana stolen from breakfast. The loos are horrendous, camel mode necessary!
Once we got going it was much smoother than the outward
trip, and quiet, so we did manage to sleep. Arrived 4.45 and used our map to walk back to the hotel in 20mins, the streets were so quiet it was easy. Our hotel was all dark, but Sam peered through the window and found the young guy who works here asleep across 3 chairs, wrapped in a blanket. His face was a picture, bless, all scrunchy with sleep. He looked about 5! He let us in and I said 'sleeping!' to him, so he promptly turned off the light and lay down again, leaving us in darkness with our iPad and phone, trying to be quiet. Nothing is open around so we'll have to stay here for an hour or so until it gets going.
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