Last train to Sapa

As I've written before, independent travel in Vietnam is not hard.  However!  There are a few experiences that can get a little tricky.  Similar to the bus depot in Hanoi, there are few to no English speakers in the Hanoi train station.  We wanted to head to Sapa & the simplest & quickest way to get there is by overnight train.  We asked our hostal if we could compensate them to purchase our train tickets.  They did.  We also asked if we could compensate a staff member to walk us to our train & sleeping car as we'd heard the station can be really confusing.  When we waited for our taxi, the helpful translator never arrived.  We had a train to catch, so we pressed on.

The station is mayhem.  There are families & luggage everywhere.  We couldn't find an English speaker & we couldn't read the signs.  We breathed.  Amazing destinations are often hard to reach.  Worst thing that happened was we didn't get to Sapa.  But we were pretty close already.

An aggressive older man began gesturing his willingness to lead us to the train.  This is what I was trying to avoid.  I'm very conscientious of my own safety and surroundings.  I do research & plan so that I can avoid being in a situation where I might take up an aggressive stranger on his offer to lead me to my train.  Kevin & I talked, tried to get a sense of this man, & ultimately decided to agree to his guidance.

He confidently marched us to our train.  We definitely would not have made it on our own!  You need a guide and/or a translator to get on the Sapa-bound trains.  Once he walked us into our sleeping car he sat down and gestured for compensation.  We were obviously planning to tip him so Kevin gave him what seemed to be a generous and appropriate tip.  He gestured angrily, obviously communicating that he needed more.  We considered what to do and ultimately Kevin elected to give him more.  This continued.  This man was aggressive, and we were both nervous, but he didn't seem dangerous.  Plus, the train had to leave and he didn't have a ticket.  This is why I try to avoid these situations as much as possible-- ultimately, he would have to leave and I wouldn't be further extorted.  On the other hand, here I am a tourist, wealthy in his eyes, in his home.  It's a delicate balance & I hope to be respectful.

Eventually the conductor did come and he did go.  Our bunkmate turned out to be a young Australian traveling on her own.  Apparently, Vietnamese passengers swapped tickets to put all the foreigners together. They think we smell funny and are hairy.  True enough.  We eat differently and use different soaps, deoderants, and lotions.

Our train was filled with a group of Eastern European men traveling together and equally raucous Vietnamese men heading to Sapa for a bachelors weekend.  No matter, I can sleep through most things.

We had been warned about theft.  We slept dressed, hugging our luggage.  I don't see how we could have been robbed, but there were enough warnings that it felt wise to heed.

The train soon pulled away from the station and began its slow steady ascent into the Tonkinese Alps.  Around 6 am the train began slowing into the fog-filled Hoang Lien mountain range.  The train came to a stop at Lo Cai and sleepy passengers began disembarking.

Lo Cai feels like the wild west & it kind of is.  It's a main transit point for travelers from Hanoi venturing across the border to either China or Laos.  Before we returned to Hanoi we had a few hours to kill.  We played with a little girl and her dirty balloon before we all became distracted by the elderly women across the street getting into a screaming, hair-pulling match.  Their sons pulled them a part.

We found a van headed to Sapa and purchased our ride.  Into the mountains, home to many Indigenous people, such as Hmong.  Home to water buffaloes, terraced farms, and medicinal hot pots.  Home to us for the weekend.