Night trains and buses are strange things. To make the best use of your time, avoid boredom and -yes- save money too ;you travel overnight. Sleeping with total strangers in a very small space you arrive bleary eyed in a new place and you know you should go out and make the most of all this extra time you've created but you're a bit too tired to do it at normal speed.
That sounds quite philosophical for me but then again it's 6am, we arrived in Hanoi an hour ago and we're waiting to be able to start the day properly. Unsurprisingly nothing's open yet and we can't check in; after waking the receptionist up we did get somewhere to wait though.
After 10 months on the road we're beginning to feel like experts on overnight travel and can advise the best type of bus or train to go for. This last one was pretty good, a soft sleeper cabin with 4 bunks, which we had to ourselves till about midnight when 2 locals joined us putting on the main flourescent light in the process. At least it's better than the local karaoke we had inflicted on us at 4.30am on a recent bus trip...
Sarah
x
