We woke up several times in the early morning to a rooster crowing. Then we finally got us to have breakfast with the other people at the home stay. Breakfast consisted of thin crepe-like pancakes with honey and bananas. It was yummy but I was still hoping for all this rice for breakfast that the guidebooks had promised. We packed up and headed out for more trekking. We hiked up a big hill with amazing views and then went into this very muddy bamboo forest. It had rained the night before so the trail was muddy and slippery. I wiped out once in the forest and covered my left hand in mud as well as getting some on my bag. After I regained my balance I spouted off “This fucking sucks” No one really said anything we just kept walking. When we emerged from the forest we made our way to a waterfall where we rinsed off our shoes and hands and rested for a bit. Then we travelled down a steep, slippery hill to a little restaurant. There we left our bags and headed out with another tour group (the one that stayed at the same house that we had stayed at) to a nearby village to see what life is like there. It had started to rain so I put on my little poncho thing, Kyle prefers to get wet than wear his. Our guide stayed at the restaurant to prepare our lunch. We had to cross a stream; it was the one coming down from the waterfall we had stopped at earlier. There was a small bamboo bridge but it cost money to cross so we just forged the stream, Kyle found an easy way across for him with his long legs, but I resorted to just taking off my tennis shoes and walking through on submerged rocks. The village was not very interesting we same some ox and some houses, but I was ready for lunch. We went back to the restaurant and had a yummy bowl of noodles with cabbage, tomatoes and a fried egg on top. After lunch we had to rush up the hill to catch the bus back to Sapa.
I was ready for a shower! The hotel said they were booked so they showed me to this little bathroom that had a shower head attached to the sink. No way! I am not showering in there after being muddy and sweaty all day and then have to sleep in a train. So I told the guy at the front desk to call buddy or something at another hotel so that I can have a proper room to shower it. Miraculously with a little persistence he found a hotel virtually next door where we could shower. After our much needed shower, Kyle finished his book. Then we waited for the bus that would take us to the train. We were still a little worried about the tickets and making sure everything went right. But the man from the hotel actually rode with us to Lau Cai to get our tickets and our dinner. We had a quick bite, some pork with chilies for me and sweet and sour chicken for Kyle. Then we made our way to the train. Everything went smooth from there. We shared a cabin with a French couple, and I finished The Historian as well, and then we slept all the way to Hanoi. Side note- The Historian is a great book if anyone is interested, keeps you interested.
We arrived in Hanoi at 4am, and walked to our hotel after turning down a taxi that wanted to charge us too much for such a short distance. On this walk to the hotel we saw an old woman pee in the gutter and I saw a dead rat, well I almost stepped on it, yuk!
When we got to our hotel where we had stored our other bags we found the big metal gate closed! Oh no! We knocked on it, no answer. We went around back but couldn’t find an entrance. So we went back to the front and Kyle banged loudly on the gate with the butt of his flashlight. The two guys that were working had all the lights off and were sleeping on the floor of the lobby! Well we woke them up, they opened the gate, and we got a room, all the way on the fourth floor, and no lift! We showered and slept for another 3 hours! Much needed rest!
