Planes , trains and automobiles

We had one last fabulous trek before we left Sapa - down to the Hmong village of Cat Cat. On one section of the walk Harper counted 772 steps which, apart from anything else, was pretty impressive counting. Given it covered only about a third of the walk, that's a good indication of the climbing involved.

The trip from Sapa to Hoi An takes some doing - over a 1000km in 16 hours of travel with three car transfers, an overnight train and a plane.

The drive back down the Mountain to Lao Cai was just plain scary. The conditions once again were thick fog, wet roads and on the cold side. Our driver insisted on tailgating every vehicle and jumping out on the blind, downward raking corners to overtake (or not, if at the last second he decided to pull out). On most corners, one side of the road was a rock face and on the other a 500 metre drop! Nerve-racking!

By the time we got to Lao Cai, it was a couple of hours before our train's departure time and the driver (kindly and without consultation) dropped us at a local restaurant near the station. You guessed it - someone from the family or network (we'll never know) - to squeeze another dollar out of us. Alternatively, we could join the throng in the station waiting room. Devil or deep blue sea?

The train trip back to Hanoi was uneventful enough, except for the load clackety-clack bang! noise everytime we went Into a corner or downhill, which was most of the time. I'm pretty sure the noise came from the ancient bogey system used to hook up the carriages. You can dress up the cars all you want, but until you get modern carriages its all lipstick on a pig.

Back in Hanoi, our driver thankfully mets us as we alighted the carriage. Lisa was off first and passed him our first bag. As I got off last and didn't know who this fellow was, I nearly clobbered him when he grabbed for my bag (thinking he was a tout). Fortunately Lisa intervened and it was smiles all around. Driving through the streets of Hanoi, it felt sublime to be back here for a third time and seeing all the familiar landmarks and city hustle again in the early morning light (5.30am).

We got to the airport with lots of time to spare and booked in priority through business class. It was a breeze and then on up to the lounge where we were the only white gringos, Lisa the only female and our threesome the only tourists. Yes, we kind of stood out, but that only made it more fun. Got a half reasonable breakfast into us and some reading, before the flight to Danang.

We arrived in Danang a bit over an hour later after a very relaxing flight only to hit our first snag. No driver. A few tense phone calls and another hour later, he finally showed up for the 45 min drive to Hoi An.

The drive out of Danang was revealing. Big wide roads and everything had been upgraded (since my last trip) with lots of new infrastructure and buildings. Along the beach drive south, the swag of huge hotels and resorts reminded me of Coolum and the more tacky part of the Sunshine Coast. We were thankful of our decision to skip this place altogether and go to Hoi An. Bliss beckoned.