- Transportation to Hue: Via Sleeper Train
- Occupants per Cabin: 6 (3 bunks to a side)
- Foreigners Vs Locals: 4 vs 2
- Duration: 7pm to 7am
- Experience Rating Out of 10: 10!
Overall our adventures on the Sleeper Train from Hanoi to Hue was a lot better then I could have expected...with ONE EXCEPTION!!!
Felix and I made the arrangements, and figured that we could save a night at a hotel as well as get to Hue in the process.
Let me tell you... these train compartments are seriously cosy! Picture 3 beds stacked one on top of one another and a tiny aisle of about 2 feet separating you from the guy next to you. (I now also think that they recycle the bedding... but I try not to think about it!) We were lucky, that someone wanted to trade with us to be with their friends, because we actually ended up with two Scottish Doctors who were travelling through Vietnam as well! They had so many stories to tell about their adventures since they did a 6 month stint a couple of years ago! It was awesome to be able to trade stories. The actual journey was uneventful. The moment I treasured the most was when everyone was asleep, and I just watched the Vietnam landscape whiz by at twilight while listening to some mellow tunes on our Ipod. (Thanks Mom and Dad!) Little did I know that during the journey... we would have a 7th passenger!
When we got to Hue, Felix and I checked into the hotel and started to unpack and get ready for the day... as I was unpacking the provisions of food... the contents of the Ritz crackers started to crumble out. I was thinking in my head... "Man, I am so clumsy! Did I accidently break the packaging!?" I then realized it was a lot WORSE then that! As I took out the box of cookies, I noticed that the culprit had also left its teeth mark in the carton! Chills started running through my body! If anyone has ever been to Vietnam and seen the rats WILL understand what I mean. These suckers could be mistaken for small dogs! Hell if I was a small dog, I'd be scared of the rats here.
You know what the ironic thing is... that night I woke up a couple times, and would hear the guy on the bottom bunk, eating chips. I just figured he was hungry! Gosh.... but in actual fact it was a BIG FAT BLACK RAT, at my feet, mere inches away.... having a feast of Ritz crackers. Thank God I didn't find out during the night... cause I would have absolutely freaked out, and not slept the entire night, and probably would have stood in the tiny cramped corridor for the next 7 hours! It still gives me the creeps, just thinking about it!
It more or lessed rained the entire time we were in Hue, which kinda made the whole trip there a disappointment. We took a city tour and visited the Citadel, and the famous tombs. To be honest, I think since Felix and I have seen so many of the World's most spectacular sites, we are starting to have extremely high expectations, and to a certain degree compare what we see... =) I guess not everything you see in your travels will knock your socks off! ;)Plus the rain really didn't help.
Off to Hoi An now... our bud Jeff Tam said it was his favorite stop! We've heard favorable things from other fellow travellers too.. so looking fwd to it!
Got to go catch the bus now! Til the next entry!
