I rented a motorbike for the very first time and what an experience. It was very messy with a few close shaves, but I survived. I visited a few minority villages around Sapa and the scenery along the way was stunning.
That afternoon, I also climbed Dragon Jaw Hill and saw a traditional show by local minority performers. It wan't very popular and I was one of few tourists there, but the show was well worth it (despite the electricty outage in the middle).
Before I headed off to climb Vietnam's highest peak, I went out for a few games of pool and ended up hustling, successfully, a couple of cocky locals. My pool game was back after a long barren spell!
It was time to leave town to climb Mount Fansipan which at its peak stands at 3143 metres above sea level. Most people take 3 days, 2 nights to climb the mountain and return, but 3 others and me only had 2 days and 1 night. The walk wasn't too difficult although I had a cold which didn't help matters. We slept in a cabin at 2800 metres. It was very cold, close to zero celsius, and we were sleeping on bamboo sticks! The final walk to the summit was simply amazing, and the views from the top made the miserable night's sleep worthwhile.
We made a brisk return down the mountain, where evewn the guide was struggling to keep up with Neil and me. I chilled for a bit before heading to the train station with a soft seat overnight train ticket to Hanoi. I decided to trade my ticket with some local dude to get a sleeper bed. I ended up with the policeman's cabin on the train, as the dude paid of the cop so that I could sleep in his 'bed'.
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