When you're traveling independently, you sometimes get stuck in uninteresting towns waiting for transport. While boring, it's not a problem for intrepid backpackers on one-year trips around the world. But when you only have two weeks, every day is important.

I should have only stayed one night in Sapa, because the bus back to the train station leaves at 4 pm, so I could have left after my trek yesterday. But instead, I had a whole day to kill. I thought I could sleep in, but since there is nothing to do at night, I went to bed early, and was up at 8.

I ate expensive tourist food and read my Ho Chi Minh biography for awhile. Then I figured I would climb the “tourist” mountain, which cost $1, since I had nothing better to do. It was rather surreal, with well manicured gardens, blasting Chinese music, ostriches, and crazy Vietnamese tourists laughing and shouting at me. The very top, which I had to myself, had good views of the town.

The bus arrived in Lao Cai, on the Chinese border, where the train leaves from. Lao Cai is notable for having been destroyed by the Chinese in a failed invasion a few decades ago. Maybe it was interesting then, but it is pretty unremarkable today.

Unfortunately, I had four hours to kill there. Copious amounts of Lao Cai lager made the wait less painful.