After a reasonable nights sleep I woke to discover my ipod was flat as I had fallen asleep with it playing all night long, without a charger I wasn't listening to music on the train later. After some very nice breakfast of pancakes and fresh fruit we made a rough itinerary for the day. A couple people in the group weren't feeling too good so we were going to take the easier route instead of the hard mountainous route for todays trek. I will admit I was a bit disa...

Arrival in Lao Cai was very early in the morning, we came out of the train station all weary eyed from a rough nights sleep to be greeted by the usual mass of people asking if we needed a taxi to Sa Pa. On first impressions Lao Cai is just another town full of hotels and neon flashing lights, but looking above the buildings and past all of the random lights you see the hills and mountains in the background and remember why you made the train ride. A short transf...