Sapa July 12

My first experience on an overnight train.

So my guide picked me up at my hotel at 8 and then we went off to pick up others as well. After the van was full he took us to the train station where we received our tickets. Met some travelers from all over the world, (England, Germany, France, USA)
young and old.
As I was walking to the caboos where I was staying the train next to ours almost caught on fire. Pretty crazy.
So I finally arrived to my cabin, which was the delux soft sleeper. There were 2 Vietnamese girls who could only be 18 years old and then 10 minutes later an Aussie girl walked in who wasnt very pretty. So it was 3 girls and me for an 8 hour train ride. I started off trying to read but as the train got moving so did my stomach, therefore I had to put down the book and the earphones on. After about 30 minutes of listening to music I fell asleep. The bed was fairly comfortable, but the train ride was not so, lots of jerky movements, bumps, and swurves.
Arrived in Lao Cai at 6:30 AM July 13 where I met my van driver. The drive to Sapa was about an hour away. So instead of waiting for the next train to arrive with the hours who took the hard sleeper, the man insisted for us to get in a van full with Vietnamese. So some of us did, and the van ride was more unpleasent than the train. So many turns and rocky roads. Almost got sick, but luckily made it to Sapa before anything happened.
Arrived at the hotel, which was decent, but nothing to ride home about. My room location was right next to the reception, so that was unfortunate but dealable. Checked in my room, dropped off some stuff and headed to breakfast. The meals are included at the hotel. Ate an omelete then got ready for the 2 hour hike.
Met in the lobby at 9:30 to meet with the tour guide and the others who I'd be traveling with for the next couple days. Philipp and Yens are 20 and from Germany. Lisa a 40+ woman from Boston and then a elderly couple from France. Our tour guide's name was Mah who was from a Village in Sapa.
So we started walking to the only village for the day which was called the Cat Cat village. Pretty touristy, but the views were stunning. Rice patties along the mountains for as far as you can see. Ended up at a beautfiul waterfall. I forgot to mention that it started raining very hard and did not have any rainy gear so I got pretty soaked. Luckily on our way back to the hotel it was only drizziling. It was a great first day, with a 3KM hike.
Came back to the hotel, showered, had some lunch, and then explored Sapa City with my German pals. It is extremely tough to walk down the streets here with out being bombarded with village women who beg you to buy some of their hand craft bags, pillow cases, and what not. I had the strength to say no and keep walking, however i did buy a pancho in case it started to rain the next couple days. So we were walking and stopped into a bar to have an expired beer. Not very good. After that we went to another bar where it was overlooking the mountains. Since Sapa is sort of in a valley, the weather is quite crazy. One moment the mountains are viewable and beautiful and the next they are invisible.
Came back to the hotel, relaxed for a bit then off to dinner. I noticed I was not feeling to great, but ate anyway. After dinner, really did not feel great. My stomach was acting up a lot, but went out for a bit anyways because it was only 8Pm. Met some Israeli girls who were here traveling from the South to North. It was good to have your own kind around.
Came back to the hotel around 10:30 and went to bed.