Ahhh...Traveling by Train in Vietnam

Well, to make the most of our remaining time in Vietnam, Lucian decided to put his bike on a cargo car up to Hanoi and we booked 2 tickets north.  We ended up with a soft sleeper compartment with the top bunk (not too bad).  We could only get the train that departed Hue at 3:00 PM, putting us into Hanoi at 4:00 AM.  Mind you, this is about a 420 mile trip and it takes 13 hours...good lord.

So we packed up, found a taxi, and made our way to the train station.  The train arrived a few minutes late, but that gave us time to survey our possible cabin mates.  We were assigned to car 9 so we set up camp outside while a surplus of westerners made their way behind us.  The largest group of people were from New Zealand, a mix of students from an all boys school and their teachers.  Through eavesdropping we learned the boys were on their senior trip and we making their way from Saigon to Hanoi, like us.

We boarded the train and learned we were with two of the teachers from the school group, a history and geography teacher.  The geography teacher looked like he packed an entire REI store in his bag, it was intense.  We made small talk for a while then tried to settle into our accommodations.  Everyone but me had a mattress cover, undoubtedly masking what was underneath.  I was not so lucky and I immediately covered the stained mattress (complete with some old gum from the last passenger) with a sheet that was provided. I had a movie stored on my computer which I drained the battery watching and Lucian continued to read "Angels and Demons".

Rocking back and forth, I had a hard time on the long ride and just wanted to get to Hanoi.  Sleeping was not had on my part and I longed for the European rail system which I have only heard good things about.  I closed my eyes and just let the time pass, the faint smell of cigarettes wafting through the hall of the car.  The lights flickered on at 4:00 AM and we slowly gathered our belongings.  I felt greasy and ready to get off the train.  Defeated was the word of the night.

The trip into Hanoi's Old Quarter was roughly 1 km, but we couldn't grasp walking the distance with our heavy packs.  Departing the station we were greeted by a driver who led us to his taxi.  We gave him the address of a guest house randomly selected from the Lonely Planet.  He nodded and off we went.  10 minutes later and I was fed up.  He was driving us in circles and I asked Lucian what we should do.  Lucian said to only give him 20,000 VND ($1.00) and call it a night.  The guy obviously knew what he was doing and I was in no mood to play "let's screw the tourist".  We were let off at the entrance to a dark alley and he motioned toward it.  Lucian pulled from his wallet what he we rightfully owed to the man and he put up a fight.  Lucian calmly explained that we were cheated.  "You drive us in circles sir."  The man pushed Lucian and sped away in his taxi.

Furthermore, the dark alley held no hopes of any open guest houses, hotels, or hostels.  The rickety gates closed and locked tightly over all of the entrances.  I entertained the idea of sleeping outside with my pack as a pillow until 6:00 AM when the doors would be bound to start opening.  Minutes later, two men sped up on their motorcycle and handed us a card to a hostel.  Seeing as though we had no other choice, we followed on foot and were led to a dingy, moist, and overheated room.  I shouldn't complain, as we never would've found a place to sleep if it wasn't for this.  It took me hours to fall into a deep sleep but eventually I did.

We've since checked out of the place and Lucian found a great guest house just up the street.  The Old Quarter district is overwhelmingly busy with a mix of crowded streets, fresh food sold on every corner, and blacksmiths working hard along the sidewalks. We happened to see our New Zealand "friends" again in fine form as they were parading down the street in an army of cyclos. I'm looking forward to some good food and seeing Ha Long Bay. Wish me luck!