Train Journey to Saigon
Nha Trang -> Ho Chi Minh, 27th & 28th
May 2002 (Part 1)
The train last night, was THE way to travel. It started off a bit
doubtful though. When I'd booked, I'd hoped to get a soft berth (the
hard berth from last time was VERY uncomfortable) but unfortunately
she said there were only hard sleepers left, so I had to take it.
Also, I wanted a top berth, because the top bed gets a small
cupboard to put your bags in safely, which is great peace of mind
when you're trying to sleep on the train, but she could only give me
a middle bed. Oh well, I'm sure I'll cope.
When the night came, the train didn't leave till 11:20pm, so at
about 10pm, I left my hotel for the short walk to the train station.
Truthfully speaking, I didn't feel too safe on that walk. It was
late at night, and Nha Trang gave me the impression of being a bit
of a dodgy place. I couldn't take a motorcycle taxi because of all
my bags, so I just had to go for it. I walked swiftly, confidently
and with determination. Anyhow, it's only on the beach where theft
happens, and then only to drunk people??
Nonetheless, for the walk there, I was dubious every time I passed a
lone guy standing on the street or riding his motorbike slowly.
After a tense 15 minutes, I reached the station safely. The only
annoyance was a moto driver who came up to me about 100m from the
train station & kept insisting on giving me a lift even though I
knew I was right next to it.
Grateful to reach the station, I dropped my bags, collapsed into a
plastic chair, and looked up at the clock. 10:20pm. An hour to wait.
I gazed around the waiting room, a quiet, grey room with a loud TV
blaring away in Vietnamese. A small haphazard collection of
Vietnamese people sat around me. Some carrying briefcases & wearing
suits, some wearing dirty jeans and holding a big cardboard box. The
atmosphere was quite sombre and a bit dead. The room really did make
me feel sleepy, and I almost nodded off a few times while waiting.
People came and went, and it felt almost dream like. I shook myself
back to life, then about 20 minutes before the train was due to
arrive, another farang appeared at the train station, a lanky
Scandinavian guy. He sat town at the opposite end of the waiting
room and didn't appear to notice me.
The train arrived 30 minutes late, and as soon as everyone filtered
out onto the platform, I followed them. Interestingly, they all
seemed to be handing over money to the station guards, but the other
farang & myself weren't asked for any money. Hmmmmm. I wonder what
that's for?
We all stood, watching the headlights of the train approach, growing
from two amber pinpricks, to large yellow eyes in the night. I
talked briefly to the other farang. This was his 4th visit to
Saigon, he really liked it in Vietnam and kept coming back for more.
I got a few tips from him about things to do & see while in Saigon.
When the train pulled off, we went our separate ways, we'd both
bought hard-berth tickets but they were in different carriages.
Entering the train, I was surprised the find that the beds had
mattresses on them, and there was also an air-con unit. Hmmm. I must
be in the wrong carriage. But after checking again, I was definitely
in the right place. I looked at my ticket, and it seemed as though
someone was in the bed I was supposed to have. However, when he saw
me, he acknowledged that he was in the wrong bed, and went to move.
But as he was about to move to the top bed, the one I wanted anyway,
I said it was ok, and I'd take the top one. He seemed happy with
this, so I put my bags in the little cupboard at the top, and hopped
up into the top bed. (The Vietnamese don't seem to like the top
beds, and only buy them because they're cheaper than the bottom
ones. The guy had obviously bought the top one, hoping the lower one
would be empty and he could use it. Anyhow, it all worked out for
both of us). However, I still couldn't understand why I had a
mattress & air-con! I was sure that in the middle of the night,
someone would wake me and say I was in the wrong place.
Anyway, I wasn't made to move and I have a very comfortable night's
sleep. I woke early in the morning, to the blaring radio installed
in every train cabin. After listening to an unintelligible
announcement in Vietnamese, they put on some...um...lovely Thai pop
music at max volume. Time to get up I think.
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