Sunday, September 26 and Monday, September 27, 2010
Early start yesterday. Got up at 6am (was kind of awake anyway due to the noise) and was at breakfast by 6:45. Got the French toast again, sweet and delicious. Met Brian and Myan (from San Francisco) while waiting for the 7:30am bus tour to Bac Ha. [They were also taking the train to Hanoi and then going to the airport for the 6:30am flight to Hue. I thought that flight was too early, but I told them we should meet up and go to the airport together.] Little did I realize that the bus was outside and we were just waiting for Caroline and Phillip to pay their hotel bill (the hotel only takes cash so they were having some trouble). We finally left Sapa at 8:15am, after picking up five Israelis from another hotel.
First stop was in Lao Cai to drop our luggage at some random restaurant where they would sit for the day then on to Bac Ha. The beautiful drive on a very windy road looked different from the scenery near Sapa, more trees, less rice fields. When we finally got off the bus in Bac Ha, I saw Alison and Arian (from the train). We walked around the Bac Ha market, a famous Sunday market because various minority groups come from around the area to sell their handicrafts, clothes and food wearing their traditional dress. Some of the dresses were amazing – the Flower Hmong are known for their elaborate colorful clothing and it was stunning. Tons of locals stood around in their ornate dress chatting with each other.
One area had a bunch of food “stalls” where mostly locals were sitting on the short stools enjoying pho, rice and other dishes. In an open area horses were being sold while another section had fresh produce and cut up meat (none of which looked very appealing, especially when you see the head of the pig sitting on the table next to the body). The main section contained handicraft stalls; there must have been 50 sellers all trying to unload the same types of items, from handbags to rugs to laundry bags and drawings, to tourists. I wasn’t planning on buying anything but ended up with a very small square drawing and a hand-sewn item. While I was walking around, I ran into Ina and Bryan (the people I hung out with Hanoi, separately).
Alison and Arian had an arranged lunch, so I met up with Caroline and family for lunch at a restaurant recommended in Lonely Planet. I ordered vegetable pho (sticking with non-meat and the classic dish just in case) but we had little time to eat and were running back to the van. We stopped for a short, muddy walk near a local village before getting back on the bus towards Lao Cai. Lao Cai borders China, so we drove to the river to see the border crossing. I had my shoes scrubbed (as did most people) since they were totally muddy for a dollar. Even though it was sunny, it rained and there was a full rainbow as we headed toward the train station. Unfortunately, we were dropped off in Lao Cai at 4pm with 3.5 hours until the train.
My first stop was the ticket office to exchange my voucher, but the woman looked concerned and told me to come back in 45 minutes. This made me a bit nervous, so I hung around for 40 minutes and eventually got my ticket. I found Alison and Arian again and hung out with them for over an hour before going to the restaurant with my luggage. My plan was to write but there weren’t any places to sit and I ended up talking to an Australian family before finally heading to the station. As I walked, I heard my name called; it was Brian and Myan from breakfast, they’d found me. Since they still needed their tickets and we agreed to meet at the Hanoi train station for a taxi to the airport. While waiting for a train, I ran into another Brian, who I’d met at the Hanoi train station on the way to Sapa. He offered me a free ride to the airport. Seemed like I ran into everyone I’d met in Hanoi.
Alison and Arian walked towards me with their tickets and it turned out our tickets were for the same berth. I was so relieved to know that I’d be in a cabin with people I knew. The other person was a Vietnamese tour guide; he seemed a little sketchy so Alison and I kept an eye on each others things. The train left at 7:30pm and I went to sleep at 8:15, glad to finally be on the move. Arrived at 4:30am in Hanoi. It turned out that Brian couldn’t find his driver so I shared a taxi Brian and Myan (who conveniently speaks Vietnamese) to the airport. Sadly, there were no seats on the 6:30am flight and now I’m stuck at the airport with over 7 hours until my flight.
(a bit later)
Feel like such a waste. It’s 9:30am. I’m still sitting. Ran into Brian and had coffee with him while he waited for his flight. I wrote for about an hour, watched a show and did some travel planning/reading. I’m going crazy here. I desperately need to shower and still have three hours until my flight. There isn’t much I would have done in Hanoi today anyway, and I would have left for the airport now, but I feel like such a waste just sitting. I do need to finish writing, so I guess I’ll work on that for now.
(written in Hue)
Managed to pass the rest of my time at the airport. Once I checked in and got rid of my backpack, I cleared security and found a small restaurant which had wireless. Someone on the loudspeaker said that our flight would be delayed, but in the end we boarded on time – thank goodness. The hour flight passed quickly and we touched down at the small Hue airport. Got my luggage and paid for the airport shuttle since the woman told me it would take me to the street of my hostel. Well, I ended up being the only person on it, so the driver dropped me right at the hostel door – couldn’t have worked out better and I saved 100,000 dong by not taking a taxi. 23 hours after arriving in Lao Cai for the train I made it to Hue.
More about Hue in my next update.
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