Sometimes when things seem to be going wrong, they are going right for reasons you are yet to understand.

I was headed to Lao Cai and Sapa on the overnight train. I considered walking to the train station. But it was dark. And I was tired. And my pack was heavy. So I took a cab. It was the best $1.25 I have possibly ever spent. And the taxi driver didn’t even try to rip me off (something they are well known for). Brilliant.

The plan was to take the overnight train to Lao Cai, a town right on the Vietnam China border, get picked up by my homestay guide to explore Sapa and spend the night in her village. Well…that didn’t exactly happen. Okay so it didn’t happen at all. The first bit, the train bit, happened. Sort of. The whole getting on the train was a nightmare. The “train station” (and I use that term very, very loosely) was complete and utter chaos. Let me paint you a picture.

Gray concrete building open on both sides next to a concrete courtyard. Dirty blue plastic chairs scattered around the courtyard but none in the station itself. People sitting, and sleeping, on the floor and ground. Random announcements in Vietnamese over a loud speaker. Random chickens walking around. The occasional stray dog. And did I mention it was dark? Very dark. Now, I’m not gonna lie…it was scary. I was actually scared. No one appeared to have any idea what was going on, and I believe that it was only by the grace of God that I ended up on the correct train.

So we arrive in Lai Cai at 5:30 in the morning and, upon exiting the station, I see a young girl with my name on a sign. My guide. Excellent. Until she tells me that the road to her village, and in fact the entire village, is flooded. Okay….well s***….except…..

Those who know me well will tell you that not only am I a fairly decent problem solver, but that I typically have a back up plan. I had arranged the homestay through a hotel in Sapa (who was also going to hold my large pack for me while I was trekking). So we called them up and asked if they had a room for me for the night. They did, however, I couldn’t check in until 11am. Okay, no problem. I could still trek out of Sapa to see the villages that were not flooded, I would just have to do it while spending the night in a hotel. I was slightly disappointed but ready to roll with the punches. We drove the 30km from Lao Cai to Sapa, up 3000 feet into the mountains.

We made it to Sapa. And it was freezing. Okay, maybe it wasn't freezing, but it was a good 20 degrees colder than Hanoi was. So there I was. Cold, tired, and slightly disappointed when my would be guide dropped me off at the hotel. I couldn’t check in for another four hours and all I really wanted was a hot shower and a nap. Instead I was left to wander the town. Feeling mildly sorry for myself, and a bit grumpy if truth be told, I thought to myself, what do I need to make life better right now? Here we go….ready? Because it is actually quite simple. Diet Coke, chocolate croissant, foot massage. Yep, that did it. I was back in fighting mode.

After finally checking into the hotel (I still have a proper bathroom….ahhh the benefits of plans going astray), I got my nap and then headed out to shop the local markets. Pizza for dinner (there it is…finally!) and an early night.

I signed up the next morning for a trekking tour down the mountain and into the valley to visit some of the local villages. We would trek to the Y Linhho, Laochai, and Tavan villages along rice terraces and bamboo forests to mingle with the local tribes. Again the lone American, I trekked with an Aussie couple, two adorable and hilarious guys from Holland (one of whom I dubbed Dutch Seth Rogan), and our guide. We set off and were quickly joined by a dozen or so local women who were walking home to their village and asked if they could walk with us. Sure thing. Their English was pretty good and we chatted away. We walked and talked, and it was good. And then….it started to rain. And rain. And rain. And then it rained harder. By the time we had hiked the 9km to our lunch spot in the village, we looked like tired, drowned rats. I was soaked from the skin out. We ate lunch and attempted to dry out before finishing the last 3km to two neighboring villages. We started telling our stories and the two dutch guys told us about how they had flown into Hanoi a week ago, rented a motorbike (“piece of s*** bike” said dutch Seth Rogan. $8 a day rental so I guess you can’t expect too much), and set off wherever the mood took them. I was trying to picture it. Two good size white guys. One motorbike. Hilarious. Apparently from the moment they set off on the bike, mayhem ensued. Flat tires. Wrong turns. Running over a chicken (what do you do? Stop? Just keep going?). And this is how I ended up sitting on the cold ground, in the middle of nowhere northern Vietnam, wet and dirty and laughing so hard I had tears running down my face.

It makes me laugh now just thinking about it. We continued to share stories and they gave me some tips for Laos. Valuable advice such as if you eat “happy” pizza, which the two of them highly recommended (shocking), only eat half. Do not, under any circumstance, eat the whole thing. For those who may not be aware, “happy” pizza has a little something special added to it if you know what I mean. You just gotta love the dutch.

After returning to Sapa from trekking I found dinner (pizza again…what can I say? They make a damn fine pizza in Sapa), got another foot massage (heaven), and headed back to Lao Cai train station one happy camper. Although Sapa did not go exactly as planned, it was still brilliant. Made just that much better by two hysterical new friends.