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We met a man at a restaurant in Lao Cai who told us he owned the train and could upgrade our tickets for free since there had been a mistake and some tickets were double-booked. We just had to meet him at the train when it was time to board. We weren't sure if we could trust him, but we insisted on keeping our tickets, thinking it couldn't go too wrong. As it got closer to 8:50 PM, we walked up to the train where the man from the restaurant was waiting, just as he said he would be. He got us settled into first class, and we didn't have to pay anything extra, so we were quite pleased. The train rattled and clattered loudly all the way back to Hanoi. By 6 AM, we were in Hanoi, where we took a taxi to Van Minh, but they didn’t have any more budget rooms available, so we set out to find another place. We decided on the "Royal Hotel," but there wasn’t much royal about it. We were up on the top floor, in what looked like a container sitting on the roof. It was incredibly hot in the room, there were no curtains, and it was terribly noisy from the street below. We lasted about an hour before we couldn’t take it anymore. They didn’t have any other rooms, so we got most of our money back except for 15,000 dong. Instead, we headed over to the "Sports Hotel," which had been recommended by some other backpackers. It only cost 8 USD for a room. After a couple of tough days in Sapa, we needed a little extra pampering, so we went to Hanoi Towers. We had read in the guestbook at Jysk Rejsebureau at Van Minh that some guests recommended a clinic that was supposed to be a bit pricey—but worth every penny. I got a facial and a pedicure for 220,000 dong, while Honny opted for a massage at 170,000 dong. Once we were done, we headed up to the 4th floor to Jack’s for lunch. Jack’s was owned by an Englishman and was a really nice restaurant. The hurricane had passed, and Halong Bay was open for boats again, so we went back to the old quarter to book a tour. We chose the company Hanspan, which had received good reviews in Lonely Planet. They were a bit more expensive, but with cheaper companies, you can’t always be sure of a good experience. Often, you end up disappointed with delays, poor transport, or guides who struggle with English. We paid 540,000 dong per person for two days, including meals but not drinks. With only a few days left in Vietnam, we headed to Thai Air to book our flights to Bangkok for August 2, 2003. It cost 180 USD per person. You could definitely find cheaper flights to Bangkok, but with Thai Air, we earned miles. The airport tax was 14 USD. On our way back to the hotel, we did a little more shopping. There’s so much to buy in Vietnam, and it’s really cheap, so you never quite finish shopping. I bought a scarf for 70,000 dong, and Honny picked up several DVDs for 18,000 dong. We chose a slightly nicer place for dinner, La Brique. For two courses, water, a drink, and a beer, we spent 190,000 dong. Afterwards, we headed down to the nearby bar street. There, we struck up a conversation with an Englishman and a Swede, both of whom worked in Vietnam. We also met a Norwegian couple, and we ended up going on a pub crawl and hitting a karaoke bar together. We had an expensive night out in the city, spending about 500,000 dong in total, which is around 250 kroner.