Oops we did it again!

We vowed that after last year's exploits & our recent train experience in Vietnam that that would be the end of Vietnamese train travel for us.  However, we found ourselves again, waiting for a train. We were leaving the Hoi An/Danang region to journey to Hue.  This is ostensibly a short journey but unfortunately it is not!

it is 42 degrees, the train is late (we are coming to understand that this is normal) & the waiting room is filling up so much, with more people crushing in that I need to escape outside.  People are armed with all of the typical accoutrements of Vietnamese travel - bird cage (check), many cardboard boxes (check), lots of little plastic bags carried & tied onto other boxes & bags (check).  Amongst the impending passengers are a husband & wife with just-born twins.  The woman is clearly just out of hospital, still wearing a nightie, dressing gown, slippers & an odd, shower-cap-like hat.  Goodness me, what an inauspicious beginning to life, having to wait for a train in this heat & then take it.  I hope that they are at least in a cabin rather than a seat.

Finally, the train arrived.  We clambered aboard, having to scale over 2 sets of train tracks & walk on rock as the train hadn't pulled up near the platform.  The new parents & twins were in the cabin berths with us - whew, a small mercy.  We walked into our cabin to find a mother & 2 small kids on the bottom bunks.  The woman indicated that we could take the top bunks but unfortunately for her, we had paid extra for the 2 bottom bunks & had also paid for a third bunk as you need to pay for a bunk per person, except if kids are very little (as indicated by height rather than age).  The key issue that she hadn't appreciated was that there was little hope of R or I being able to scale the top bunk & we also needed a bunk to store our 6 bags.  The lady moved up to the bunk, we got all of our stuff sorted finally & settled in, waiting for the train to depart.  I went to check & alas, the last carriage wasn't yet adhered & several people were waiting on the platform for this to happen before we could depart.  
The art of patience must first have been cultivated in Vietnam!

After a long time, we left - hurrah! We were treated to picturesque scenery of beach, green vegetation & mountain ranges.  It is known as one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world & having done it a few times, I can agree.  

We spent the journey watching the world go by, sleeping (some of us) & playing with the kids in the top bunk.  It was pleasant enough until the end when it was seemingly the end of days & everyone tried to get out of the one narrow corridor with their bags, boxes, birdcages & babies - at the one time.  Only horizontal queueing works here, with order being survival of the pushiest. 

The Hue station taxis are effectively mafia-controlled so we had little choice but to take the price offered as all of the other taxi drivers we asked provided the same amount.  We were very thankful that the journey was a short one as it was only in getting into the car that we realised that there were no door handles in the back seat & the door & window controls in the front were locked (because I tried them after some signalling from the back seat).  We gladly exited the taxi at our destination & paid the driver to go away.  We had planned to have 2 days & two nights in Hue before having to leave at 6am on the third morning to start our journey into Laos.  However, the seemingly quick & simple train journey meant that we actually just arrived into Hue, sweaty, exhausted, tired & hungry, just in time to go for dinner & bed.  We had decided to take the train because it was so much less than driving ie $20 compared to $80 & ostensibly the same amount of time.  On reflection, there's a reason that we like to take private cars, because even though they cost more, they generally mean you have a little more control of the journey & the time & state of arrival at our destination.  

Top 5
1. We got from Hoi An to Hue
2. We had yet another fun-filled, adventurous transport experience
3. We got to witness strength in the shape of the just-born twins, just-released from hospital mother, & newly-responsible, protective father on the train
4. We had a chance to relax on our luggage & play some UNO due to the wait time 
5. I got to see how quickly I could go through an entire box of tissues mopping my brow/cheeks/chin etc due to the heat & the compression of other humans in the waiting room (very quickly)