On the Road (Rails?) Again

When I made the decision to visit both Saigon and Hanoi, I knew I had three options for traveling between the two places: plane, bus, and train. Plane tickets quickly add up, and since I'm already taking three or four flights during my trip (since Thailand) I decided to rule that option out. Because 2,000km is a lot of ground to cover by bus without stopping, I chose the train. I had read that the Reunification Railroad was a must on the list of things to do in Vietnam.

We booked our tickets months ago with a travel agent who promised to deliver them to our guest house in HCMC. However upon our arrival we discovered a problem: the tickets had not arrived. Fortunately we were still able to book two tickets on the train we wanted. The only difference was that we now had "hard class" beds (hard beds - 6 bunks per cabin) as opposed to "soft class" (soft beds - 4 bunks per cabin).

We didn't think that would be such a big deal -- we still had beds for the 33 hour trip, right?....

It turned out our assigned hard class bunks were the highest of the triple tier in the tiny cabin -- above the windows and only about two feet below the bright flourescent light bulbs and a fan that blew moldy air and second hand smoke directly into our faces.

Our neighbors were a sweet elderly couple who immediately gestured for us to leave their first level beds so they could sleep. So there we were, wide awake at 1:00pm faced with an ultimatum: force ourselves to lie down in the tiny 3rd tier beds, or stand in the aisle.

Eventually a third couple arrived to occupy the 2nd tier and things became even more crowded and confusing (especially in light of the serious language barrier). Fortunately a quick exploration of neighboring cars revealed a nearly empty car with soft seats and huge picture windows. We found that we could actually stretch out more and enjoy a better view from these seats, while using the beds only for the overnight portion of our trip.

Scenes from the train window:

We are now about 31 hours into the 33 hour train ride and it's been quite an adventure. The toilet is a squat toilet -- a hole cut into the floor that simply empties out onto the speeding tracks below. Luckily we have plenty of room to stretch out in the soft seat cab, and the views and scenery have been phenomenal.

The track basically parallels the east coast of Vietnam, so we have spent a lot of time speeding along cliffs overlooking the ocean below on one side and facing huge limestone cliffs on the other. We have passed innumerable miles of bright green rice paddies speckled with water buffalo and laborers in conical hats.

Sunset over the rice paddies

Recently mountains have been changing shape and taking on fluid amorphous outlines. Beautiful as the scenery is, the sun has set yet again, and I feel I have been on this train so long I've practically resigned myslef to staying on forever. I've all but forgotten I even had a destination in the first place. Hanoi can't come soon enough!

At the beginning of the train ride....

After 32 hours....