Ta Van and trek to Su Pan 1st January 2011.

I greet the New Year by bringing up all of previous night's meal at about 7.00am and decide to give a breakfast of pancakes and other goodies a miss.
Mist has lifted somewhat but still drizzly and chilly as we set off, this time accompanied by a new trio of villagers. The morning trail very slippery and demanding so Gail has no alternative other than to enlist the aid of one of the women to negotiate the more difficult sections. A real workout for my Titanium knee but it seems to be holding up remarkably well, certainly better than my gut. Such situations only serve as a reminder, if such were required, of what the soldiers had to contend with in the jungles of Papua New Guinea and elsewhere. Puts my temporary problems into perspective.
Gradually wend our way down to the riverbed and late morning say goodbye to the three villagers who have been tagging us. Not really a fond farewell as they are unhappy with our gesture to pay them a reasonable amount for their help on the trail but not to buy any of their very poor quality locally made items.
On arrival at Su Pan we wait for our transport back to Sa Pa in the house of some delightful villagers who made us feel very welcome, even to the point of offering me some local herbal medicine for my gastro problems. They looked and tasted pretty horrible but I felt obliged to give them a go. Long later showed me a business card which the family had had printed extolling the virtues of their herbal remedies, one of which was designed to solve erectile dysfunction!  I explained to Long that given the way I was feeling nothing was further from my mind than a knee-trembler deep in the heart of the Vietnamese countryside!
Bumpy ride back to Sa Pa for quick lunch, after which we say goodbye to Long who has been an excellent guide.
As part of the tour we are able to have a quick shower at Hotel Papillon and then wait for bus to take us back to Lao Dai. The 4.30 bus finally arrives one hour late and what follows next is truly Pythonesque.
A mini bus designed to carry 15 people spends close to one hour picking up people from various hotels, dropping them off again, driving down numerous streets and then reversing back up the same streets. The increasingly harassed young driver finally managed to squeeze 18 passengers sardine-like into his vehicle and as luck would have it he proved to be a very careful driver as he negotiated the thick fog on the road from Sa Pa to Lao Cai.
All aboard the train at 7.30 pm for the usual uncomfortable trip to Hanoi. The cabin this time shared with a very friendly Kenyan/British guy and his French partner.
The Obese Ferret.