Anticipation can sometimes be way above the reality and I did not dare get my hopes up about the overnight train from Hanoi to Hue (600+km to the south) even though a First Class soft sleeper ticket was in my hand. I was right not to get my hopes up.
Arriving at the station in the first taxi ride of the trip, I was though pleasantly surprised at how organised everything was prior to getting on the train. The government certainly know how to keep people employed in Vietnam as there were at least 3 people checking/punching my ticket before I even got aboard the train. I loaded up with bottles of water for the 11 hour trip not really knowing what to expect on board. The steps up into the carriage were perilously steep and someone I thought was a member of the multitude of staff kindly helped me on with my bag and even checked my ticket for the right berth number. He took all of about 20 seconds to do this and then put out his hand and said, "$5" - not even a please. Some choice words sprang to mind and I sent him packing, well nearly, he held a grudgingly given $1 bill in his 'helpful' fist - probably muttering obscenities under his breath just as I was doing under mine! This little incident did though make me fail to really look at my surroundings...Oh dear...if this was First Class I was only delighted in knowing that it had to be better than the other classes on the train. My fellow travellers in the 4 berth compartment had faces just as long as mine. We stowed bags, sat on the bottom berths and looked at each other - all of us knowing it would be a long night. The air-conditioning could not be controlled in the compartment and it was like a fresh day in the Arctic tundra. We gestured to our 'cabin girl' who was patrolling outside, you guessed it, checking tickets, with the international gesture of trembling and clutching hands to sides of arms, generally shaking and going , "brrrrrr" a lot. Minutes later the cold air blast stopped and then the rest of the night it was unbearably hot in the compartment!
It was not all negative, there were sheets, pillows and blankets..something to be happy about until one of my cabin mates said, "do you think these are clean?" The rest of night was spent dealing with phantom itches and wondering if the crawling feeling on my skin was little critters or the fact that it was so hot in the compartment. If there is something they can do well in Vietnam though, it is running trains on time. at precisely 11:00pm the train slowly pulled out of Hanoi station on it's 2 day journey to Ho Chi Minh City. After about 30minutes of some small talk, my cabin mates started crawling into their bunks. Lights out. Try as I might, I could not get to sleep in my First Class Soft Sleeper bed, the train was really rocking and rolling along the narrow gauge track and the driver just loved using his brakes whenever he had the chance. Finally I drifted off into a fitful sleep and then....... the door of the compartment opened, the lights came on and I felt someone tickling my right foot! It was the 'cabin girl' waking me up to tell me my stop was approaching. I mumbled something not very appropriate, knowing my stop was at least 7 hours away when she realised she had made a mistake, she needed to wake up a guy in the next set of bunks!!! The four of us grumbled and groaned and tried, but failed, to get back to sleep. Oh well, at least we got to watch the sun rise over the spectacular countryside. There were people working in the emerald green paddy fields from before 6:00am. The train trundled it's way towards Hue with the beautiful countryside passing by making up for the disappointing lack of sleep. I later found out that the average speed of the train from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh is 48km/hour (about 30mph!)
We approached Hue station on time - not bad Vietnam Railways!
Arriving at the station in the first taxi ride of the trip, I was though pleasantly surprised at how organised everything was prior to getting on the train. The government certainly know how to keep people employed in Vietnam as there were at least 3 people checking/punching my ticket before I even got aboard the train. I loaded up with bottles of water for the 11 hour trip not really knowing what to expect on board. The steps up into the carriage were perilously steep and someone I thought was a member of the multitude of staff kindly helped me on with my bag and even checked my ticket for the right berth number. He took all of about 20 seconds to do this and then put out his hand and said, "$5" - not even a please. Some choice words sprang to mind and I sent him packing, well nearly, he held a grudgingly given $1 bill in his 'helpful' fist - probably muttering obscenities under his breath just as I was doing under mine! This little incident did though make me fail to really look at my surroundings...Oh dear...if this was First Class I was only delighted in knowing that it had to be better than the other classes on the train. My fellow travellers in the 4 berth compartment had faces just as long as mine. We stowed bags, sat on the bottom berths and looked at each other - all of us knowing it would be a long night. The air-conditioning could not be controlled in the compartment and it was like a fresh day in the Arctic tundra. We gestured to our 'cabin girl' who was patrolling outside, you guessed it, checking tickets, with the international gesture of trembling and clutching hands to sides of arms, generally shaking and going , "brrrrrr" a lot. Minutes later the cold air blast stopped and then the rest of the night it was unbearably hot in the compartment!
It was not all negative, there were sheets, pillows and blankets..something to be happy about until one of my cabin mates said, "do you think these are clean?" The rest of night was spent dealing with phantom itches and wondering if the crawling feeling on my skin was little critters or the fact that it was so hot in the compartment. If there is something they can do well in Vietnam though, it is running trains on time. at precisely 11:00pm the train slowly pulled out of Hanoi station on it's 2 day journey to Ho Chi Minh City. After about 30minutes of some small talk, my cabin mates started crawling into their bunks. Lights out. Try as I might, I could not get to sleep in my First Class Soft Sleeper bed, the train was really rocking and rolling along the narrow gauge track and the driver just loved using his brakes whenever he had the chance. Finally I drifted off into a fitful sleep and then....... the door of the compartment opened, the lights came on and I felt someone tickling my right foot! It was the 'cabin girl' waking me up to tell me my stop was approaching. I mumbled something not very appropriate, knowing my stop was at least 7 hours away when she realised she had made a mistake, she needed to wake up a guy in the next set of bunks!!! The four of us grumbled and groaned and tried, but failed, to get back to sleep. Oh well, at least we got to watch the sun rise over the spectacular countryside. There were people working in the emerald green paddy fields from before 6:00am. The train trundled it's way towards Hue with the beautiful countryside passing by making up for the disappointing lack of sleep. I later found out that the average speed of the train from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh is 48km/hour (about 30mph!)
We approached Hue station on time - not bad Vietnam Railways!
2 days to travel from Ha Noi to HCMC by rail! Wow! If you are on a holiday and the rail might not be such a bad idea. Vietnam airline economy seats are pretty uncomfortable.
ReplyDelete