The Train Ride

We are taking an overnight train from Hanoi to Hue, but the journey really begins with the bus ride to the train station. Someone decided to take a ‘shortcut’ route since it was rush hour. Well, it turned out to be rush hour on the shortcut road too, and it took almost an hour and a half to travel less than ten kilometers. But we finally arrived, grabbed a quick dinner at the station (a hot dog sandwich for me), and hopped on the train. The train is quite nice, or at least our section is (second class). There are four beds to a cabin, about five feet ten inches long, with sheets, pillows, and (rock hard) mattresses. We even have a small table, two electrical outlets, air conditioning, and nightlights. And the bathroom may be a squat toilet over the tracks, but at least we have a toilet and a sink.

We manage to stay awake for a few hours, but eyelids are drooping pretty low, and despite my hard mattress, I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

I wake to a lightening of the sky outside my window. Rolling over and propping myself up on my elbows, I look outside. The scene is perfect. Mist rises over green farms of trees and rows of vegetables. Marshy rice paddies, now empty of their harvest, reflect lines of mango trees on their smooth surfaces. The red sun rises slowly, dispelling the mist. And I see even the sun in double, reflected off the water. This early in the morning, the people are already awake, pacing their fields and leading water buffalo behind. A buffalo calf kicks up its heels playfully, enjoying the morning.

The train rolls gently to a stop, and my cabin mate jumps up suddenly, remembering that no one will tell us when we have reached our stop and hoping that this is not it. As soon as she opens the door, a Vietnamese lady looks in and asks briskly, “Tea, coffee?” With a little aid from those universal hand signals, she reassures us that Hue is down the road, and persistently asks again whether we would like tea or coffee. Now we assure her that we are fine, and she moves on immediately before answering our second question of “So when will we reach Hue?” But with a little probing elsewhere, we find out that we have several hours more, and drop the heads to the pillows once again.