To train or not to train? Part III

To train or not to train? Part I

To train or not to train? Part II

Hanoi 2010. We’ve caught up with old friends and made new ones. Now it's time to make our way to Hue. Adopting the ‘winging it’ method of travelling more and more in recent trips, we had not booked any flight. The price, by Vietnamese prices, was expensive and there weren’t any departing soon enough for our pencilled in itinerary. I had read about Livitrans before arriving and opted to give it a go. The VIP cabins, for two, were only available on runs to Sapa, so it was Tourist Class for us.

One of the hotel staff accompanied us to the station where we entered (a controlled and sanitised room) and waited in a separate area to the local travellers. We boarded. Our roomies were a couple from Holland. Pleasant and friendly. Our cabins were similarly pleasant and friendly, with complimentary water, snack and tooth brushes. Not a bad trip and would probably do it again, although next time, perhaps medicated.

It’s just that lack of sleep thing that gets me every time and the train driver had a habit of slamming on the breaks every hour or so. Arrive Hue.

A couple of days later we biked it from Hue to Hoi An, which is not far from Danang (about 6 hours with scenic stops) and is the end of the line for the Livitran service. Not sure if it’s a north/south remnant left over from the war. From Danang we were headed for Nha Trang, but the trains weren’t overnighters.

I spoke to the girls at the Mango Split cafe (photo) in Hoi An, who suggested stopping in one of two towns to break up the trip. Quy Nhon (will be going there again) here we come!

*Word of advice – check out the price directly from/at the train station, before buying your ticket. Ripped off severely by VN standards....

To train or not to train? Part II

Previous related post To train or not to train? Part I

Our stay in Chiang Mai (2009) was coming to an end and it was time to head back to Bangkok. There weren’t flights leaving soon enough so we weighed up the cost of a later departure & hotel versus an overnight train. Of course the train won. I made it quite clear that I was willingly doing this under protest...meaning the ball was in my court regarding our mode of transport. So, we went ahead and booked our tickets at the hotel we were staying at.

The first class sleepers, which are cabins, weren’t available on this run, so we opted for 2nd class. You can get the low down at seat61. When making our booking we both chose lower bunks for ease of access, for a little extra baht and paid accordingly. But, as usual, something must have got lost in the translation and we arrived to what would turn out to be an upper and lower. ไม่เป็นไร !...

To train or not to train?

I haven’t been on a train in Australia since 1996, when I had to go to the big smoke and was too chicken to drive into the city of Brisbane. Something I used to do daily in my younger years, but living out in the ‘sticks’ kind of makes you city shy.

The next time I boarded a train was eleven years later, in Beijing. With a population of around 17 million and at the city’s central station during peak hour...it was quite an  harrowing ordeal adventure. Susan and Jim our appointed tour guides were wonderful. After a few days and nights of organised eating of Peking Duck, Chinese Acrobats and walking the Great Wall, they informed us of our pick up time which was more than hour before our over night train departed. I thought, 'are you kidding? Half an hour would be more than ample! Wouldn’t it?'

Day 12 Quy Nhon to Nha Trang

I had soooo much trouble editing this post, I decided to upload them as pictures...sorry, you might have to use your magnifying tool.

Day 11 Hoi An to Quy Nhon

The train trip took about 5 hours to Dieu Tri station, from Danang, which is only about an hour from Hoi An... then a short taxi ride to the beach side town of Quy Nhon. I was taught that if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all...so I won't say much about the actual train, except that the people were friendly and welcoming.

The scenery along the way was nice...I think...that's dirt on the window (above).

The taxi driver recommended the Saigon Hotel, which was a little above our budget. The receptionist directed us to the Y Linh Hotel, one block north and about half the price. We were offered the choice of two rooms - one which was massive and one smaller, but with a huge balcony, which we chose, and had views of the beach and esplanade.
Quy Nhon was a nice surprise, with very few tourists and very little English spoken. After a short stroll, Stray and I found a local cafe/restaurant, where plenty of locals were dining. The food was fantastic and we were a bit of a novelty and entertainment for the other patrons. My migraine headache did not make the experience very enjoyable. We had an early night, as I felt like death warmed up.