Translation of trapo

The machine arrived in Cuba at nine and it was already dark. The border control was nothing like the one in Mexico. They were communist and one could see the strictness and uneasiness of them.
In my opinion, this is another thing, it is rooted in history. People of different countries will always point to their neighbor's mistakes, a vicious cirlce arises which is very hard to avoid.
Anyway, on our last day in Sapa, we hired a taxi driver, payed him twenty dollars and asked him to drive us around for a few hours. We had the Tram Ton pass in mind which separated two climate regions.