Sunday 8 December
I was up early for the drive
into Lao Cai to catch the 09.15 to HaNoi. The journey was shared with a couple
of Portuguese guys who were working with the National Archives on a process to
rid the exhibits of insects. They had enjoyed a few days off in SaPa but had
both suffered from the Vietnamese cough that everyone seems to have.
Well, after the train journey
I imagine I’ll have it too. We left 45 minutes late, seemed to stop everywhere
and went at a crawl for the first seven hours. The train filled up quite
quickly, with its more than fair share of projectile coughers. No wonder half
the passengers were wearing masks!
By no stretch of the
imagination was it a pleasant journey. The train was full, the seats cramped,
when not going ultra-slow the carriage took up a terrible motion, day turned to
night and we were still a long way from Hanoi. As for the lavatory; best not to
go into detail. I’m glad I’ve done it though, just to see what it’s like and to
have the opportunity to reconsider my transport to Ho Chi Minh. Fortunately
I’ve already booked a flight to Hue. The whole point of a day train, to see the
scenery was rendered pointless by the windows being so filthy as to make
admiring the countryside impossible while the passengers on the sunny side of
the carriage immediately drew the curtains. I found myself sat next to a right
old battle-axe who spread herself across the armrest and made the journey extra
uncomfortable; she spat from time to time and let rip with some ripe farts.
Quite charming. I was glad to arrive and was in a combative mood for the rogue
taxi-drivers at Hanoi station. A quote of 8.5 US rapidly was lowered to 4.
Still too much I thought and walked it to my hotel.
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