Another day, Another train

So tonight I am getting the final train (of the ones that I have planned) which will take me to Ho Chi Minh City (AKA Saigon). Corneils, a Dutch guy that I met on the final leg of the Trans-Siberian railway into Beijing said that he thought that UK to HCMC might actually be the record for longest train journey possible between two points – if so then that’s pretty cool!

Since my last post from Beijing, I have got the train to Nanning (China,) changed trains there to get on another train to Hanoi (Vietnam,) spent a day hanging around Hanoi (Vietnam), and then got an overnight train to Hue (Vietnam,) from where I am currently writing this.

Hanoi seemed like a nice city. The journey there was also entertaining since I ended up in a carriage with a Swedish couple, Stella and Robyn, who are also travelling around SE Asia and New Zealand, so we did lots of tip-swapping. The journey also involved TWO trips off the train in the middle of the night to pass through customs – one to exit China and one to enter Vietnam. I was very sleepy. Lots of people have asked me about if it is possible to get enough sleep on trains, but in fact I have the opposite problem – I sleep so deeply that it is very difficult for anyone to wake me when we need to get off unexpectedly! (Although I somehow always wake up BEFORE my alarm if I am actually getting off at a stop.)

After the night’s ordeals and on arriving in Hanoi, the three of us walked into the centre together and found a coffee shop in which to get our bearings (and free wifi!) After this we went our separate ways, having swapped contact details for continued tip-swapping as our travels continue, and I proceeded to spend an enjoyable day wondering around the streets of Hanoi old town, and around the pretty lake in the centre. As I’ve said, Hanoi seemed nice, with a relaxed atmosphere, and I look forward to visiting it again when I return by bike.

Hue… isn’t so nice. Although I have enjoyed looking around here as there are some interesting historical sights to be seen, the town itself is a collection of everything that is bad about tourism in general and backpacker destinations in particular – the central part is filled with tacky bars and clubs with english names and neon signs that blare out loud disco music during the evening, and the residential areas further out are run down and generally full of traffic. I sort of wish that I had gone to Hoi An instead, which everyone I have spoken to says is much nicer, but I was drawn to Hue because of it’s historical significance (it was the capital of Vietnam’s monarchy until the Vietnamese republic was declared in 1945.)

On that ‘historical significance’ note, I did do a very good tour yesterday (organised through my hostel) which a) got me out of the town and b) included lots of the main historical sights. It included a dragon boat cruise down the Perfume River, visits to a traditional Vietnamese garden house, 3 Tomb complexes built for 3 different emperors, a Buddhist pagoda, and the Hue citadel – the ancient palace of the emperors, similar to the forbidden city in China. The guide spoke good English and was very funny, and there were also some other english speakers on the tour to chat to, as well as some french speakers, so I also had a chance to use my French! For the tour, it was worth coming to Hue, but I can’t say that will be sorry to see the back of the town when I get the train tonight.

Ho Chi Minh City is looming as quite a significant point in my journey, because it’s where I will pick up my bike! After that, I just have a bus ride across to Phnom Penh in Cambodia then a few days before I begin cycling! I’m rather excited! But first, just another day, another train 🙂