here, there, everywhere

back in Hanoi after two extremely full days in Sapa, which was relentlessly misty and staggeringly beautiful, and where I very much hope to return someday. As it was, I had a very nice birthday, most of which was spent slogging through rice-paddies and hiking/falling into lots of very slippery, steep mud trails before arriving, ingloriously covered in mud) in a small village downhill from Sapa where I spent the night. So now I'm old and covered in mosquito bites, though I did get all the mud off.

I would love to post more photos but the internet cafe I'm in is a bit slow, so this one alone took a good 10 minutes to post; also I had about three hours of sleep on my night train back into Hanoi, and so after a day that began around 4 am (when I waited for several hours in the Hanoi train station for it to get light enough to go ANYWHERE else, fending off over-excited motorcycle taxi drivers and watching an extremely bizarre game show on tv), I think I'm going to go sleep. Anyway, photos and coherence to follow!