Before 2014, getting to Sapa from Hanoi involved an overnight train ride to the border town of Lao Cai, then a stomach-churning 40km journey up a winding mountain road by van or car. When I visited Sapa many years ago, the minivan had to stop to allow passengers to throw up.
From the airport, the shuttle van took me to the waiting room of the transport company to await the mother ship, which arrived 40 minutes later in a blaze of bright lights against the falling rain and dark skies over Hanoi.
The mothership was a large bus, converted to hold 20 sleeping berths on either side, leaving a narrow aisle. Each berth was a self-contained cubicle with a massage bed, pillow and blanket, full-length window with accordion blinds, USB charger, WiFi, bottled water, reading lights, TV screen and privacy curtain.
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