Day 253 - Meandering our time away

With only the morning left in Sapa / Vietnam, we decided to make the most of it and headed up Ham Rong Mountain for some views over the township. We spent a good couple of hours walking the trails that wound their way around the mountain amongst the rocky outcrops, and found ourselves standing on viewing platforms - sometimes snatching views, and at others staring in frustration as the mist swept over the valley.

On our way back through town we people-watched, taking in all the colours and styles of the diverse range of villages that merge in the same market area. After a quick lunch, we jumped on one minibus that drove us 500m, where we were swapped into another minibus, and then another, before being ushered into the original for our ride back to Lao Cai. At Lao Cai we picked up our bus tickets and walked ourselves into China. At the border we ran into a situation we had prepared for before leaving - after putting our bags through the security checks the bag with all the books was asked to be searched. When all the customs officer found were the Vietnam Guide and a couple of novels, she asked us if we had any books about China. We knew exactly what she was looking for: China Lonely Planet that shows Taiwan as a separate country and therefore highly offensive to the Chinese Government. Luckily we'd left our guide at home and pulled out the sections we knew we'd required getting back home.

Back in a land where we have the advantage of language, thing started to go smoothly - we found the bus station with ease, and settled down for the few hours before it would leave. While waiting we stocked up on snacks that would sustain us through the 12 hour bus ride to Kunming, something we missed while in Vietnam.

At 6.25pm we boarded our sleeper bus, and started our VERY bumpy ride to one of the major cities in China, and one that we were at about 7 months ago! Though the journey for us was impossible to sleep through, as we had to brace ourselves so we didn't hit our heads on the roof when going over all the bumps, or roll onto the person next to us, when Adam went to the front to ask about a toilet stop, he realised the stellar job the driver was doing, while driving on a road that resembled a concrete-coloured frozen slushy.

Adlibing it back into the People's Republic.