Overland in Asia

Right now we're in Hoi An, about halfway up Vietnam along the coast. We got here by train. The same slow, rumbling, dirty train the locals use in Vietnam to transport themselves, their goods, and their smelly durian. But more on that later. Let's back up...

Two weeks ago, we were in central Cambodia. We took an entertaining and scenic bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, then a somewhat harrowing 9-hour night bus back (with nearly flat beds). 

We also spent several hours in a bus to and from the Camodian coast. One thing you learn quickly on a bus in Cambodia is that the promised air-con will break, the promised wi-fi is nonexistent, and the promised toilet is blocked. But the driver may stop, seemingly at random, at his friend's restaurant (or gas station, food stand, or shop) for a break of indeterminate length.

But all of that was nothing compared to our journey into Vietnam. We got on the bus at 8:30 am, after arriving at the "station" (a grubby parking lot in a dodgy corner of Phnom Penh) an anal-retentive hour early, partly because we had no idea where we were supposed to find the bus. Adding to the fun, excessive wine or some seriously bad food the night before had us feeling pretty rough. We boarded the bus with the usual cast of tourists, chain-smoking Indian guys, and locals who will proceed to get off at unscheduled stops in the middle of nowhere. After a few hours, we crossed the Mekong by ferry. Well, more like a barge. The bus attendants (inexplicably, there are usually 2-4 people "working" on the bus in addition to the driver) took this opportunity to buy a big sack of boiled snails, slurping them out one at a time. Given our sensitive state, and front-row seats, this was, let's just say, less than ideal. 

A few more hours and we rolled into the usual "rest stop," from which one of the "attendants" sped off on the back of a motorbike towards the border in the driving rain with everyone's passports clutched in one hand, a cup of sugarcane juice in the other. It was unclear what was going on, but he eventually returned, we loaded up, and then got to experience bureaucrats at their finest. Here's the Vietanam border station:

Three lines to leave Cambodia, three to enter Vietnam, and an hour later we were on our way. When we made it to Saigon, it was a relief to find our (very nice) hotel only a ten minute walk from the bus. We retreated for the night, and congratulated ourselves on booking train tickets through Vietnam - five trains, in fact, from Saigon to Nha Trang to Hoi An to Hanoi to Sapa, then back to Hanoi. Surely, the train would be much better than the bus...  

At lunch the next day we casually mentioned our train plans to a Canadian ex-pat and received a "what-the-hell-are-you-thinking" expression and "I always fly; the train are pretty dirty and the flights are cheap." Well, we figured, it couldn't be worse than the bus.  But it was. We got on our first Vietnamese train a day later, and were immediately greeted by the smell of durian. For those of you who haven't had the privilege of sampling this particular Asian delicacy, it's a huge fruit that stinks like trash. A lot of trash. Then we discovered that a too-small luggage rack meant that Brook's backpack was in the foot space of one of our two seats for the next 9 hours. The other seat was in permanent full recline. 

Oh, and there was also high-volume Vietnamese TV piped in throughout. Earplugs kept us sane, and we did chat with some friendly locals along the way.  We eventually made it to Nha Trang safe, mostly on-time, and glad to be off the train. 

But we dreaded the next one. Three days ago we arose at 4:00 AM to catch our 5:36 train to Hoi An. Like pros, we got to the train station a mere 25 minutes

early this time. Here's the train rolling in at dawn (can you see the fear behind Erin's smile?):

We were grateful that this train had full-sized luggage racks, less grime, and only a mild trash-durian stench. The TV was even louder (which seemed impossible), but this train had a dining car and carts rolled up and down the aisles offering up all manner of food. We rolled the dice and got some lunch, which turned out to be fairly good pork belly, rice, soup, and sautéed greens. For about $1.50, definitely beating Amtrak in the food department...

We have three more trains to go, but we're learning to roll with it and even enjoy the craziness (sometimes). The next one is a 17-hour overnight to Hanoi. Wish us luck...