Day 23: Train to Hanoi

Tuesday, 11/12/2024

I did not sleep well last night, even though I was in bed earlier than normal.

I woke around 5:30am to pee and just decided to stay up and get ready.  Showered and dressed, then packed up all the bags and left the hotel.

I just dropped the key on the front desk as there was no one around to take it.

I walked across to the station and took a seat inside the boarding area.  I verified the train number and the time and then waited.  Place was filling up good, lots of people taking trains this morning.

When my train was announced as arriving soon, only a few of us got up, the rest must be waiting for other trains.

We we went out onto the platform and waited about 10-15 minutes till the train arrived.  I had checked the signs on the platform for where my carriage should be, but when the train arrived and the numbers were put out, this was not the case.

I had to walk to the other end of the train to find my carriage.

The train platform at Dong Hoi.

I boarded and was in the first cabin in the hallway, and in a lower bunk thankfully.

Currently there was only one lady in the other lower bunk.  She did a quick acknowledgement hello and then rolled over and went back to sleep.

I got my bags stowed under the bunk and then took off my shoes and settled into the bed.  I think I dozed off for about 30 minutes.

The first stop was about 90 minutes after we departed, and this was where the lady in the other bunk got off the train.  No one else boarded here, so maybe I will get lucky and have place to myself for a while.

But at the next stop 30 minutes later a couple with a young daughter, maybe around 6 or 7, got onboard and took up the lower bunk and one of the upper bunks.  I am guessing child did not have separate ticket and would be in bunk with one of the parents.

The mother immediately laid down and went to sleep.  She actually did not appear to be well; her husband later was feeding her and when she stood up, she needed help to get out to go to the bathroom and seemed unsteady on her feet.

The father was in the top bunk and had the daughter up with him most of the time.  The all slept, though I could hear a tablet playing some kind of show or game going the whole time, so the kid might have been playing with it.  Quite a noisy thing whatever it was.

The father did get up for a bit and had some food he gave the girl and as mentioned helped feed his wife.

Roughly 3 hours later, they got off at a stop and he handed me some type of local food, a rice paste wrapped in banana leaves.  I tried to refuse, but he just pushed them over to me.

A few minutes later another family boarded and came into the cabin.

A quick observation: After both occupants of the other bunks left, a steward came in, straightened the sheet, folded the blanket, fluffed pillow and put it back!  So, they do not change the bedding between occupants. Yikes.

So always good to take the earliest train possible, as most likely to have clean linen then as they do not run trains overnight, so thinking they change it out overnight as my stuff looked untouched when I boarded.

This new couple had 2 kids, a boy that was maybe 4, and girl that was probably around 3.  Both started fighting and screaming and basically being brats.  The mother sat on the bed with them and basically ignored them while the father went into top bunk and fell asleep right away.

Later, as the mother tried to sleep and the kids kept up being brats, she finally got fed up and swatted them both and they calmed down a bit, though she had to occasionally repeat the exercise.

The girl finally fell asleep with the mother, but the boy just stayed up playing with random stuff in the cabin until he finally dozed off as well.

During the rest of this trip, I mostly read my e-book and checked things online when I could, but reception was in and out at times.  I also marked the route via the GPS so I could trace it later, though appears to be only one main rail route, so would not be to hard to find on the map later.

I would always check out the view when I used the restroom as well, though much of it was not that exciting.

I think I too might have dozed off a few times, but none of them very long, few minutes here and there to rest my eyes.

There were at least 2 other families in the carriage with small kids as well.  At least 2 babies, one of which kept crying quite often unless they would hold it and walk up and down the hallway.

Another little girl probably around same age as the one in my cabin kept sneaking peeks around the door frame to our cabin.

At first, I thought she might be trying to play with the other two kids, but then I would catch her staring at me, then she would giggle when she saw me catch her staring and run away.  Guess she doesn’t see many foreigners.

After several short station stops along the route, most only a few minutes long we stopped at one place for nearly 30 minutes.  Not sure the purpose, but a lot of activity on the train then as well.

We finally came into edge of Hanoi, so I got stuff put away and ready to go, put on my shoes and then just watched the GPS so I could see when we were about to reach the station.

I tossed all my trash from the candy bars I had brought along, empty water bottle and what was left of the food the one couple had give me into a plastic bag. I had tried the food, some kind of sweet, but was not good enough to eat it all.

I got off the train, and then had quite a long hike to reach the main station, and had a hard time finding a trash bin to dump my trash in, but finally did see one.

Once I got outside, I was immediately hit up by guys asking if I needed a taxi, which I did, so went with one to his waiting cab right there in front of the station.

He loaded bags in the truck, then once inside the car, I brought up the address of the hotel and showed the driver who understood where I wanted to go and we drove off.  I pulled up the route on the GPS to follow along and while he chose a few different turns, was not deviating to much from the expected route.

Took a bit longer than I thought due to the markets and crowds. Any later and they probably would have closed off some of the streets as well, so got there just in time.

He got confused at the one corner trying to find the place, but as I knew where it was, I was able to direct him down the street to the actual location.

I paid the driver, collected my bags, and went into the hotel.

The guy at the counter got me checked in and then the porter took my bags and showed me to the room.  I sorted out a few things and checked the room out.  Small, but nicely done, a good bed, small desk, and mini fridge, with a closet-cabinet on one side and a very large bathroom with a proper shower.

Only the bathroom had a window, which was blacked-out, but could be opened so you could look out over the old quarter of the city. I was on 6th floor so had a decent view.

The Silk Grand Premium Hotel & Spa - Hanoi

My room for the next 5 nights.

After a short rest, I went out to find food as I had only eaten a few small candy bars all day long and drank a bottle of water.

I could not remember any specific places in the immediate area, so wandered a bit to re-acquaint myself with the neighborhood.  I soon chose a place (Garden House Villa Restaurant) I had seen last time, but had not eaten at, but looked like a good place to try and had pizza which I was craving again.

This was a larger restaurant with a decent amount of inside seating, plus some seating on the patio and also they put out tables and chairs down next to the street, and later at night probably into the street.

The food was bit more costly here than some of the less nice places, but still cheap compared to costs back home.  It was really good as well.

When done I wandered a bit more and picked up some stuff to drink back in the room, then went back to the the room.  I went down to inquire about laundry at the front desk and forgot my key in the room!

Guy said I could drop the laundry off in the morning and it would be ready that evening.  I will also stop then and talk with the guy then about some excursions to nearby areas that I would like to explore during my next 5 days.

He then came up to unlock my room for me as well.

Tomorrow will mostly be a planning day, so will not be going anywhere other than walking around the local streets.

I relaxed for a bit and got the journal caught up to present, then read while I swapped out batteries on the chargers as well.  Thinking I will make it an early night tonight as a long day on the train and things will get busier again starting tomorrow.

Goodnight!