Well the sleeper train had air conditioned rooms with 4 bunks. We were in the posh cabins in the last 2 carriages of a very long train. The station in Hanoi was quite chaotic, thank goodness we had our guide as we crossed railway tracks, dodged mopeds then clambered up into the carriage. We didn't get much sleep, as although the bunks were comfortable enough the train rattled and jolted, stopped and started until at 6 am we reached Lao Cai, half an hour late due to engineering works.
After a quick breakfast in a local cafe we were collected by our driver for the 3 hour drive to Cao Son weekly market. Local people from different tribes meet here every Wednesday, some of them starting their journeys at midnight. Some brought their goods on horseback, some walked with baskets on their backs, most came by motorbikes and there were a few small trucks.

There were the usual tourist textiles on offer, but also live chickens, pigs, dogs and cats. Meat was being butchered with nothing wasted: plastic bottles of blood were for sale alongside sausages and pigs' faces. Most of the women were wearing traditional costumes but the men favoured jeans and Adidas T shirts as more practical for wading through mud in the rice fields. It was great not to be harassed by the ladies selling their trinkets.

After lunch we drove to the Sino-Vietnam border for a quick photo stop, and there was a festival going on in the temple. A 'medium' is dressed in a series of 36 different costumes and then dances, bringing a different message from the spirit world with each costume change. As she danced, she distributed banknotes which were passed through the audience to the needy. The locals in the congregation chattered, texted friends, then got up and left when they'd had enough.

Another hour's drive along rutted, potholed mountain roads with hairpin bends brought us to Sapa. The town was built by the French Colonials as a retreat from the summer heat and it still looks very French. This impression was helped by the number of French tourists and signs 'ici on parle Francais' on restaurants and shops.

From our room we had a stupendous view across the valley to the mountains until the cloud descended, when it could have been Woodley in Thames valley fog.