Almost Done

Sapa is a beautiful and quaint (although overly touristic) "village" in the highlands of Japan. Analiese and I arrived with the intention (and the tour booking) of climbing Mt. Fanxipan, the highest mountain in Indochina (which encompasses Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos...apparently.) I was a little apprehensive about the climbing itinerary of 6 hours one day and 7 the next, along with staying overnight on the mountain in a tent, but I went along with it. It couldn't be worse than Fuji, I thought, and I've climbed that twice. Plus, I like hiking, I like conquering new peaks and working through my exhaustion to emerge victorious. So I was excited. But Analiese and I didn't plan on a lot of things. We didn't plan on our "English-speaking guide" knowing just a few words. We didn't plan on every other member of our 20+ member touring party being Vietnamese. We didn't plan on the "trail" being just a roughly-hewn vague sense of direction through the wilderness, led by our guides. And we certainly didn't plan on the rain. So much rain. Lots of rain. Creating rivers where there were none, making the trail dangerously muddy and slippery, soaking through my cotton bag. (Which I was stupid to bring.) Our tennis shoes were soaked through and crusted with mud within 20 minutes. The guides talked to the other tour members, but not to us. In inadequate shoes, I was slipping left and right. The rain was making me irritable and uncomfortable. Whether rational or not, I was stricken with a sense of isolation and misery. Then I slipped and rolled my ankle. It was less than one hour in. If we were to continue, we would face 5 more hours of rain-hiking that day, a restless sleep in a wet mildewy tent, and 7 hours of hiking the next day, all with people who don't speak a word of English. Analiese and I quickly decided that this hike wasn't a great possibility for us, not least of all because of my ankle. We told the guide, and luckily for us, a porter was able to accompany us on the way back down. We couldn't get refunded for our tour fee, but we got a hotel room anyway and stayed there instead. I stayed in and rested my ankle (which was boring but super necessary) while Analiese explored. Today I walked on it a bit, and it should be fine--just a minor sprain. But yesterday it really hurt. Sapa is beautiful regardless and it's so, so nice to be in a place that isn't 100 degrees. 

Now I'm on the night train back to Hanoi. This train is RICKETY AS F*CK. I don't know how anyone can sleep at all on this thing. But it's clean inside. On the train on the way to Sapa, I happened to overhear two Japanese girls talking and they were the first I had encountered on this whole trip, so I said hi and introduced myself and then went back to my room. I was sad because I thought that I wouldn't see them again. But GUESS WHAT! They are my bunkmates on the overnight train this time!! This train has 11 cars and each one has 8 four-person berths. What are the chances that we are in the same berth!! They are Sayaka from Kanagawa (Zushi) and Nao from Saitama (Kasukabe.) They live in Ho Chi Minh city and teach preschool at a Japanese school there. We just got done talking for over an hour. Meeting them was so fun!!! Once again I am so so happy to speak Japanese and to get a chance to meet Japanese people. I am smiling so big because what are the chances?! It makes me so happy. 

We have one more day in Hanoi tomorrow, then I go back to Japan for a quick stopover, then back to CA!