About 150km southeast from either Kaiyuan or Gejiu rail and road converge at the border town of HEKOU . Trains head back to Kunming in the early afternoon, but for those who are Vietnam-bound the border post is only a few minutes' walk from the bus and train stations. Customs guards here are very picky, and you might find that it "costs" a US$1 bill at each of the three departments who take it in turns to inspect your passport, luggage and health - the Vietnamese attitude to foreign capital makes the Chinese commercial mind seem positively sluggish. Over in Vietnam, Lao Cai has a huge game market, a few despondent hotels, buses for the hill resort town of Sa Pa , and a train station 3km south with two services daily for the ten-hour run to Hanoi.