With images and apprehension : China

The border between Vietnam at Lao Cai and China at Hekou is very similar to the Canada-US border at Niagara Falls. A bridge you walk across and of course pay a small fee for that pleasure puts you in China where you fill out a visitor card and receive a portion to retain for surrender upon departure from China.All very simple. The officer even speaks english and starts his cross examination very friendly. Shortly into this conversation you begin to wonder if you should have some more plausible reason for being here than just curiosity and start apologizing for not speaking chinese or knowing at least 1 of the more than one and a half billion souls you will be soon be in the midst of. Finishes well however, but the tone of the "best of luck" is a little scary and portents ominous disaster just outside the building.Ends up I could have taken my copy of Lonely Planet after all. Had heard they confiscated it at the border but they didn't even check my bag.  
Hekou, a pleasant enough looking city offered no reason to remain so I made my way to the bus station bought a ticket on a sleeper bus to Kunming and settled down to wait the 6 hours till departure desperately hoping that sleeper buses in China would somehow be better than in Vietnam.
In the station waiting I met a young couple from Poland heading back to some city in China where they were teaching english. They had been to Vietnam during the Tet holidays which are the same as the Chinese Lunar New Year. They were enjoying it, had a small unheated apartment and made enough teaching 20 hours per week to even afford frugally managed holidays.Had actually met quite a number of youn'un's during my travels doing the same and even a few of contemporary ages.All reported great satisfaction with their situations.
In my eagerness to flee Hekou I forgot about stopping at Yangshou an area of dramatic terraced  rice paddies.One of two areas I kind of regret not seeing. The other being Guilin, that karst landscape are which is similiar to Halong Bay which I did go to on a foggy day.Arrived in Kunming about 5am and felt much like I had in Hekou so ended up catching a train, soft sleeper bottom bunk at 8:48 to Dali.

Sapa Vietnam

Its funny how 5000,50000, 500000 can all sound the same when someone in a different language says them. So really paying the equivilant of 25 Dollars fo a ride from Lao Cai to Sapa instead of 5 dollars isnt as bad as paying 500000 instead of 50000 to the ear anyway. It was a 35 minute bus ride so at least from that end it was worth the 25 dollars.Yeah confusing but that is how you usually end up overpaying.
Sapa is a nice little town in the mountains where a lot of terrace rice paddies are located and the indigineous Hmong can be found.They were previous allies of the Americans and South Vietnamese and fought very vigorously against the Viet Cong.
I ended up with a gaggle of Hmong women following me around a very foggy Sapa in hopes of selling me bric a brac of various natures. Try as I might to rid myself of these pests it was impossible until I would go into a restaurant and after a couple of coffees I was able to emerge Hmong free.
The return to Lao Cai was only 50000 dong since I had learned to listen better and 10000 dong for a motorcycle ride to the bridge and the entrance to China

Best laid plans of mice and men

When last I left you I was full of piss and vinegar with my procurement of a sleeper ticket to Lao Cai. I am revisiting this in order to continue my tale. Unfortunately I have to do it from memory as China very effectively blocks WeeDoo. It's obvious to me that I have been found out by the Comrade authorities and they are scared I will incite a revolution for freedom from their oppression.But back to the train.
Here I was just waiting for the train. I decided I would go in a little early, get my bag out of the locker and find the right loading platform. It was kind of funny but I noticed the clock at the platform gates was an hour ahead of my watch. Yup, you got it, Vietnam is an hour ahead of Cambodia and I had not to set my watch to the new time so I got to watch the red lights leave the station taking my highly prized sleeper with it.
Not all was lost however as an official seeing my delema said I might yet catch the train at the next stop at the other edge of the city.He offered to help but said I would have to buy a new ticket and the taxi was expensive.
So if I had to leave that night we could try. Having nothing else to do I was up for the challenge. A deal wass struck. 1,000,000 dong and away we went. This would cover the taxi new ticket and his time.
With little fanfare he commandeered a taxi and we sped of into the night of Hanoi in a race against time and train. I now know what it would be like to be giving birth and being rushed to the hospital. Around cars in the far lanes, through redlights. I think we did a couple of sidewalks at one point. The driver showed no fear and seemed to love the challenge but alas we arrived to redlights again.
Buddy who was helping me was reluctant to take any money since we had failed to beat the train but a cursory glance at the taxi meter showed in excess of 1,200,000 dong, so I forced buddy to accept 600,000 dong pay the driver and buy me a new ticket for Lao Cai on a soft seat not a sleeper since the next train was 6:48am the next day.
Buddy helped me find a hotel about 500 meters from the station and allowed me to handle negotiations for the room from 500,000 to 350,000. The hotel guy accepted but wasn't happy with these arrangements but showed me to my room and put a 5:30am wakeup call in the book.
Next morning at 6:20 he got his revenge knocking on the door and amusing himself watching me scramble out to race off 500 meters with bags barely straped on to the station to make my train leaving in 38 minutes.
Visions of red tail lights spurred me to herculean efforts and I managed to make my train. I think I would have just stayed in Hanoi and would probably be there still had I missed the train again.