SaPa is situated in the mountainous area of northwestern Vietnam, at the foot of Indochina’s highest mountain Fansipan. It is just over 3100 meters. SaPa was also the place where Seb and I would part ways for at least a couple of days. My 30day Vietnamese visa was running out, and I had to do a so-called “border run”, which entailed a 2 day journey from SaPa to the border town Nha Meo, and back to rejoin Seb again somewhere in the northwest! It would turn out to be a journey with both ups and downs. SaPa is not everyone’s cup of tea - many feel it has lost its authenticity, and become a real tourist city. We certainly saw a lot of “western food” restaurants in the city. We met many backpackers there - some of them wanting to climb Mount Fansipan. If you are reasonably fit, it would take you 6-8 hours. If you were lucky enough to experience one of the very rare clear and sunny days in SaPa you would witness a most stupendous view from the top. Unfortunately, most days are cloudy and misty. For $35 you could also take the cable car from SaPa to the top of the mountain. It takes about 15 minutes to ride the 6 kilometer distance. The following morning early I was on my way. Later in the day Seb would make his way to the top of Fansipan in the cable car. Unfortunately, I missed out on that one. Had to be satisfied with the view from the bottom up! I arrived at Nha Meo - a dusty, dirty, messy, uninteresting and depressing place - on 21/4, with my visa expiring the following day. One would think a border town would have a choice of accommodation on offer. Not so. I checked into the crappiest, dirtiest hotel I have ever stayed at, ready to get out of there the following morning and do my border business. The following morning at 7 when the border opened I was waiting. I parked my motorcycle at the parking lot in front of the Vietnamese border building, as it is not allowed to bring a rented vehicle into Laos. It took me 35 minutes to exit Vietnam, walk 500 meters to the Laos border to enter. After entering I immediately turned around and excited Laos, walked 500 meters back to the Vietnamese border, where I got my 30 day visa stamp, entered Vietnam, started my faithful Honda and left Nha Meo at full speed! My visa for Laos, I had obtained in Hanoi 2 weeks earlier at the Embassy of Laos, at a cost of 1.000.000 Dong ($40). For a couple of days I hadn’t been feeling too well, and I had totally lost my appetite. I was barely able to get water down. I decided to continue my 2 day journey back to Seb, and decided I would see a doctor when I arrived in Yen Bai, where we were to meet. Whether due to exhaustion, dehydration, lack of food or whatever - I lost my way a couple of times, and a distance which should have taken 4 hours ended up taking 7 hours. At one point I came around a “blind” corner, and right in front of me a little calf wanted to cross in front of me to reach its mother. Not wanting to hit it, I took evasive action, resulting in me going down hard on my left side. I stood up immediately, adrenalin pumping, shook my arms and legs and established that nothing was broken. A young fellow had arrived, and together we lifted my bike. Apart from a broken clutch lever and two broken side mirrors, the bike was fine. Once I had the bike going in first gear, I could change gears without the clutch! A few kilometers later I decided to stop for a rest, and a bit to drink and also access the damage a bit closer. The Vietnamese sit on tiny children’s plastic chairs at restaurants and at home - absolutely not suitable for larger westerners! As I sat down, all 4 legs of the tiny chair collapsed all at once, and I was flung backwards, where I hit the top of my scalp pretty hard against a concrete pillar. I stood up, and the blood was pouring out of the cut, splashing down on the serving table. Both the waiter and I got a bit of a fright, and he ran to get some toilet paper and cotton wool. As I felt the cut on my scalp, I could feel that it was minor, and we quickly got the bleeding under control. Talking about a parody!! I soon found a roadside mechanic, who replaced the clutch lever and the two mirrors. He also gave me a recommendation for a Homestay - I thought it better to call it a day.