We went back to Hanoi for one night after Halong Bay and then went on our next three day trip to the Northern edge of the country. We took an overnight train to up Sapa, on the Chinese border. This time there were only five of us on the trek- the two of us, an Aussie couple, whom we really enjoyed, and a woman from Amsterdam. It was freezing up there! If you had blindfolded us we would have been sure that we were back in Canada.

The first day was too foggy to see more than two feet in front of us and the third day poured with rain. Luckily the second day, when we did our big trek, was quite nice. There were rice terraces everywhere and the scenery was really amazing, but we really didn't get to meet any of the hill people unless they were trying to sell us things. We actually walked a full 20km that day up and down small mountains. We bought some pillow shams that ended up bleeding indigo dye all over us from the dampness, and I got to see the biggest spider I could possibly imagine. It was so cool, it didn't even occur to me to be frightened!!

The train back wasn't so bad, but we had to share our cabin with a Vietnamese businessman, who snored like a chainsaw. Thank god we brought ear plugs!!