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Published: September 30th 2007
Vietnam Railway
The train station in HueHi friends and Family,
Meet up time is 07:15. Today, we’re going to Ninh Binh via train. We’re on a day train rather than a night train. I went to India in 2005 and the overnight train I took then was extremely uncomfortable.
The Viet Nam Railways train is pretty alright. We were in the 1st class Sleeper carriages that have 4 Sleepers per compartment. We were in Compartment No. 9. We’re with Simon and Trevor. Provided are free bottles of water, duvets, sheets and a pillow. The beds had mattresses and each room had air Con, individual lights, a wooden attached table, and hooks. It was pretty comfortable. There was a mirror on the door, guards and constant railway staff plied and paraded the train, and the doors had internal security locks.
We had a look at the various compartments. There was 2nd Sleeper (6-bed compartments, 1st Class Seats and 2nd Class Seats. Non-Sleeper. The 1st Class seats didn’t have the sophisticated standards of Deutsche Bahn (German Trains), but looked like typical British Rail executive seats (sorry fellow Brits, but its true!!). They had large comfy seats and head rests with a huge flat screen available. The
Vietnam Railway
At the train station in Hue 2nd class seats were not as comfy and had a small TV and the AC was not as efficient.
In our 1st Class Sleeper, hot water was available, dustbins and two sets of toilets, (Western and hole-in-the-ground). The Western toilet had toilet roll and was pretty old, but typical of train toilets found anywhere in Europe! The taps ran and bar soap was provided.
The evening before, Bill had advised us all to go shopping for refreshments as the train journey was 10 hours and also in case we didn’t like what was being offered. The staff had pretty OK food, chicken, and meat on skewer, the usual snacks, and reasonable prices. My companion ordered lunch that came in a plastic box-rice, beef, pork, and onions with a cup of green vegetables. We weren’t sure whether it was soup or used to keep the veggies moist. The rice and meats were fine but I didn’t like the vegetables. Chopsticks, seasoning, and even a plastic spoon was provided.
We arrived at “The Thuy Anh Hotel” shortly before 19:00.
More later!
Good Night!!!
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