So, yesterday we checked out, having a long lunch and buying more dvds (101 for 4 english pounds!!!) We went on the pc for a bit and then ccollected our bags and headed to the bus station. It was so confusing, coaches and buses everywhere, luckily a woman helped us and took us to the right one. It was a bit of a surprise as they were 3 rows of beds across, and 2 high, with pillows and duvets, not what we were expecting! We set of at 7.30pm for our 12 hour train journey to the vietnamese boarder, lao cai. About 2/3 hours in we stopped for the toilet but the bus man didnt do a head count and nearly left an old man behind, the poor man was literally running along the road and then someone noticed him so we stopped! didnt give em much hope! When lying in them for so many hours the beds are not that comfy anymore so when we arrived at the passport checking point before the boarder i ws glad to get off and stretch my legs! Me and tony got off and the humidity just hit us straight away, and we were both in thick clothes and trousers so not very nice!

we arrived at the boarder 1/2 hour before it opened and it was really humid and sticky, i didnt hold out too much hope for myselfat this point! Me, tone, an american and 2 dutch peoplefrom the coach all sat on the corner and waited and soon became the localfreakshow, everyone like pointing and laughing, i think party because the dutch guy was over 6ft tall!! 2 guards started arguing over how to move the railings that blocked off the road, it was quite funny. Then some what i assume were military, people came out and a really crackly national anthem was playedover a tannoy as they raised the flag! how very random! as soon as they had finished they opened the boarder the vietnamese side first and all these women, in the pointed hats, began running, i mean really running, over to the yunnan side, the men following with big carts of goods! we walked over the bridge and entered vietnam! i was too hot to be excited,as you know had big my rucksack is in that humidity it was awful! we had to fill in arrival cards and then go throiugh small security checks. they only asked us if we were carrying books! they confiscate all lonely planet guides and anything that may speak badly of china! bear in mind lonely planet guides cost at least15 pounds there were a few rather angry people! glad we hadnt brought one we walked through and attempted to find a cash point.

now in lao cai vietnam it was a 10 hour train journey to hanoi or 3 hours to sa pa we decided to stay here for a night and decide the next day! we checked in to a hotel after spending 1/2 hour trying to find a cash point and failing and tony went across the bridge to the other pat of the town to find one. I stayed in the hotel and wrote my journal! our room was okat, the bathroom was the most daamp covered place ive ever seen!! i didnt want to say anything as 1) they wouldnt have understood and 2) the man looked like he may have killed us!! he was scary!! We slept til 4pm, solike 6 hours of sleep! went to dinner, where they doubled the prices as we were tourists! came back to the room and tony watched the arsenal tottenham match!