One one things

“Good morning! Coffay! Morning! Coffay! Coffay!” I scraped the sleep out of my eyes - a flashback to 3 years ago on a train in Kerala. It was still dark and I heard “Lao Cai” being mentioned down the corridor - and a European voice said 20 minutes. We were supposed to get out at Lao Cai and find our way to Sa Pa, about 28km away. I looked at the Viet Namese lady who shared our cabin and asked “Close to Lao Cai? Sa Pa?” she looked back at me and smiled to suggest that she had no idea what I was talking about. I smiled back - quite used to the reaction. I had a glance at my phone, I had slept surprisingly well, 6 am it said. But more importantly, there was nothing in my inbox. A couple of days ago we met a couple of chaps who recommended a place to stay in Sa Pa called Saparooms. Before getting on the train I had sent a text to the owner asking if we could stay there tonight - but no response. It was a bit chilly but I expected it to be colder in the Northern mountains on the border between China and Viet Nam, but I later found out that Lao Cai was just over 500m above sea level. The train eventually came to a halt and we scrambled out to a light drizzle and walked along the rail track to the station. Immediately a smartly dressed man with an umbrella spotted our wide eyes.

Chap: “my friend you are with tour?
Me: “no my friend, it’s ok”
Chap: “I take you to Sa Pa - 30,000 VND”
Me: “hmmm we’ll see”

We walked along and our new friend came with us all the way. We stopped by a taxi near the station and I asked how much to Sa Pa? Our friend muttered something to the taxi driver who looked a bit puzzled and showed 4 fingers. “400,000 VND”. Our friend with the umbrella smiled and pointed to his mini-van. 30,000 it is. We stuffed the backpacks in and sat with 2 Germans - the man with the umbrella ran off, looking to fill the van before we left. We waited for about 15mins and we saw him return with 4 Westerners behind him. As they got close he ran ahead and popped his head into the van and with one hand kept his index finger to his lips, with the other pointed to his 4 new customers. “100,000 VND..shhh..no tell them you pay 30,000 VND - you pay me now”. I sceptically reached for my wallet and paid up. He took the money and walked to his new clients and in the rear mirror I saw him in conversation with them behind the van and another exchange of cash. We weren’t quite sure what was going on - but our umbrella man ran off again despite the van being pretty much full with 8 people.

This time the wait really kicked in and everyone was getting restless as other vehicles in the station began to leave. I glanced at my watch, it was around 7.30 and I was regretting having made the biggest mistake - paying up front. It became clear why he had pitted us against the 4 Americans with the price differential (he probably told them the same thing) - he wanted us to pay up front so that we won’t just get out of the van and find alternative transport while he waited for the next train to come in. (Either that or he had disappeared with our cash). To my relief he came back, this time about 6 people. I couldn’t help but laugh aloud - 14 ppl in a 12 seater, plus an equal number of backpacks. Remarkably everything fitted in - I was ok bc we got in early, but it looked pretty uncomfortable for the latest recruits. There was a general sigh of relief as the van finally coughed awake and we were off. The drizzle was still quite mild and Lao Cai didn’t look particularly attractive in its own right. We stopped for some petrol and the guy manning the pump looked in and was enthralled by the tattoos on the arm of the American behind me. He touched the tattoos and stuck his thumbs up and produced an iridescent grin. The American grinned back and we set off again.

I kept glancing at my phone hoping for a message from Pete, the manager of Saparooms. Our fallback plan was to find our way to Saparooms from the drop off and try our luck for a vacant room, if not there were plenty of other spots to stay which we would just have to find. The air outside got cooler and the road began to wind as the climb to Sa Pa began. As we got closer the view became spectacular. Vast valleys of paddy surrounded by mist covered mountains dotted with streams came into view between the tall trees lining the mountain road. I was really looking forward to spending 2 days here. To my delight I got a text from Pete - there’s a room available - hooray! An hour later we reached Sa Pa, a sleepy looking hill town which had none of the hustle and bustle of a Lao Cai let alone a Ha Noi. I liked it immediately. The van stopped near a couple of guesthouses where girls ran out trying to sell rooms, with a commission to our man with the umbrella. We wore our backpacks and after a quick glance at the map headed out through the drizzle towards the other side of town - luckily not too far away. After a couple of steep, slippery roads we got to Phan Si street and stepped into Saparooms. The welcome was as warm as the interior - Pete greeted us and offered us breakfast and a nice clean room. Over a warm bowl of Pho Pete showed us trekking maps of Sa Pa and as we planned our activities over the next 2 days our energy returned and we were rearing to go.