Overnight train to Saigon

I wasn't planning on writing a post on our train ride to Saigon, but after actually taking it, I thought that I would share the experience. 
We boarded the train in Danang.

Click on the photo for large pics

The train we were waiting for was an express train that rides between Hanoi and Saigon and is suppose to be one of the best trains available.
The train was an hour late on arrival, so we finally could board at around midnight.

The compartment we reserved was already slept in by someone and there were dirty sheets on the beds. Our first thought was, of course, that once the train will start riding again the personnel will bring the new ones. So we waited.

The train was really old and dirty and created an impression that it wasn't washed even once in the entire time of its existence. Anyway, we were laughing about it and making jokes until someone from the train personnel showed up to gather the bed covers. The guy took the dirty sheets and started to walk away. Then the following conversation took place:

Us: Eehh, what about the pillows and the blankets??

Guy: Ah, don't worry, they are okay..

Us: Sorry??? But there were people sleeping on them..!!

Guy: It's okay (big smile on his face)

Us: You mean that you are not going o change them at all..?!?!

Guy: It's okay (with the same smile)

The guy walks away.. This was our reaction...

So, we decide that nothing can be done about the pillows and the blankets, but at least we will be getting some clean sheets, and that we would just sleep in clothes to stay warm (AC was working like crazy and we were half frozen in less than 20 minutes).

Then the guy shows up with "clean" sheets, which looked exactly like the ones he took away, only folded. We tried to unfold one of them but it was full of hair and extremely dirty. Another conversation:

Us: The sheets are dirty, you didn't change them. We want the new ones!

Guy: It's okay, sheet clean (even bigger smile)

Us: What?? There is hair and they are dirty!!!!

Guy: It's okay.. (with slight annoyance, but still smiling)

Us: no, change them!

The guy takes the sheets and walks away, coming back 5 min later with the same sheets. 

Us: This are the same sheets!!!!

Guy: It's okay, now clean.. (big smile)

Us: is this a joke?!?! We gonna complain to the management!!!

Guy: It's okay (turns around and walks away)

 

After that we started to laugh hysterically and couldn't stop for the good 10 minutes.

We had two sheets with us and they were given to the girls, the guys decided to use the ones brought and just sleep fully clothed. We put the pillows in the t-shirts making some kind of pillow-cases.
 All together it was a long night and we hardly got any sleep. In the morning everybody was hungry and we bought some corn as all the other food choices weren't much appetizing. The moment we put the food on the table a whole family of cockroaches came running. In a split second we were out of compartment screaming. Guys returned to deal with the cockroaches, but the idea of still having to spend more than 6 hours in that compartment wasn't very comforting.

At some point we were so tiered and wanted to sleep so much that we pretty much stopped carrying about the dirt and about the cockroaches all together.

This train ride we had from Danang to Saigon definitely qualifies as the worst one in my life by a mile, but... It taught me a good lesson that we are quite spoiled after all and that we simply forgot that in many other parts of the world things like comfort cannot be taken for granted. Nonetheless, I was very happy to get out of that train when we finally arrived to Saigon.

 

On motorbikes from Hoi An to My Son and the beach

Motorbikes are essential in Vietnam and probably the best way to move around in the busy chaotic city traffic and in the suburbs. We were not very sure about the idea of renting a motorbike in Hanoi because of the extreme intensity of the traffic their, but Hoi An seemed like a perfect place to gain some motorbiking experience. 

The rental "office", consisting of three guys hanging out on the street, was just in front of the hotel and the personnel assured us that we will not be disappointed. The motorbikes were much cheaper than we expected - 4$ per bike for the whole day, excluding the gas money. We had to stop at the gas station later on to refuel and were offered an escort for free.


Click on the photo for larger pics

One of the guys drew us a map on how to get to My Son, which turned out very accurate later on, another one explained how to start/switch off the engine and how to honk, the most important skill of all :-)) Vietnamese honk all the time without any apparent reason and we did the same just to get even. The reaction was lots of smiles and waves :-))

After 30 min we were all set to go.
We wanted to see the My Son temples, or what was left of them. They are situated 40 km outside of Hoi An and as was mentioned before, we got the map from the guys who rented us the motorbikes. On the way we got to see some rural countryside.

We got to My Son an hour later.

As it turned out, of the several so called temples, there is only one actually worth seeing.

The rest of the ruins are mostly a few stones lying around in small groups.

Although butterflies flying around seem to like them a lot.

Altogether, My Son alone would probably be something that can be easily taken off the itinerary, but just driving around the country side was absolutely fun and we enjoyed it enormously.

 

On the way back from My Son we decided to drive to the beach to see where to go the next day. On the way we stopped at the river to see the sun going down.

And finally, there was the sea...

Vietnamese fishermen use round boats when fishing, but I have no idea why... It was funny though, because I've never seen a round boat before. They looked more like huge pots than boats :-))

The guys wanted to try the water...

... and Lena was trying to take a picture of the very cute puppy.

Because we got here only in evening, we didn't have much time left before dark. So, we got some cocktails and decided to comeback here for the whole day next day.

In the evening we met with Eva and Daniel to have our last dinner together at a family restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet. The restaurant turned out to be an all-you-can-eat place, which we didn't know, so there was some misunderstanding in the beginning but was resolved quickly and we had a great evening.

The next day we spent at the beach, the same one we found a day earlier. I didn't really want to take any pictures as Lena was busy with it already; the ones she made are available HERE.
Before going back to the hotel and returning our bikes, we went for a last drive around the suburbs.

In the evening we were planning to take the train to Saigon and decided that it will probably be best to get some dinner before going to the train station in Dananag, since there is no train station in Hoi An. Just walking around, we got to the local market, which we haven't seen before. It reminded me of the markets in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, I guess because it's all Asia after all.

In the middle of the market there was a large pavilion where all kind of food was prepared and sold at the spot.

We decided to get some food here instead of going to the restaurant as everything looked quite tasty and smelled great.

The dish we all ordered was ok, but the guys decided that they want an additional one, which tasted a little bit strange, but we blamed it all on the specifics of the local food. 

After dinner we all got back to the hotel where the taxi was arranged and left Hoi An, arriving to Danang one hour later and two hours before the train departure. 
Our next stop was Saigon.

Hoi An, the city where time stands still

Click on the photo for the large pics

We arrived to Hoi An late in the afternoon, and when we wanted to pay the driver remaining 50% of the agreed amount, he started to say no, no and then something in Vietnamese. Considering that his English was limited to 3 words, we understood that he wants us to pay the full price for the car, while we already paid the first half at the hotel in Hue. After several calls made to the hotel, some translating from the people walking around and lots of hand and feet gestures, we finally understood that he wants us to pay 1 more dollar because his exchange rate was 21K instead of 20K for 1$. I don't know how expensive it is to make phone calls in Vietnam, but the guy seemed very happy when he got his 1 dollar after half an hour of explanations. :-)

Our Polish friends' suggestion of the hotel paid off for the second time. After some negotiation (again) we got 3 rooms for 18$ each and these were the first rooms that I wanted to make a photo of.

With the nice view from the balcony

The first impressions of Hoi An were of the town at night. Its colonial buildings in French style, the slow tempo of life, the friendliness of the locals and the overall romantic atmosphere made us feel like we traveled back to the beginning of the 20th century when this part of Vietnam still was one of the French colonies in South-East Asia.

Hoi An is a town famous for its tailors and here you can order any kind of clothes just by showing a picture of what you want. A full suit with complementary shirt will cost you from 60 to 180 dollars depending on the material chosen.

Also Hoi An is a very colorful place because of the many lanterns hanging outside in every shape and color imaginable.

Being also famous for its different food specialties, we decided to chose a restaurant that will offer a broad choice of different local dishes. The choice of where to eat is enormous, from cheaper, street food like places...

 ... to more expensive ones

The variety of food is more than enough for every taste, so we decided to order all different dishes and share, so that we can try as much as possible.

The town is so relaxing and enjoyable that even after a long day of being on the road we still didn't want to return to the hotel and decided to just walk around.

The locals, spending all the time outside, try to entertain themselves with performances and music.

The others try to seduce tourist with Chinese special drinks :-)

We really didn't feel like trying one of those... Brrr
After walking around a bit more, everybody agreed that it was time to call it a day and get some good night sleep, so that we can start earlier in the morning.

Eventually, earlier start wasn't meant to be, and we managed to get up and to get outside closer to the afternoon. During the day the town was as charming as during the evening.

Typical sleepy provincial town was doing it's day to day routine

The town is even so relaxing that most of the tourists don't even feel like walking, so they are slowly driven around by the rickshaws. 

I guess this photo wouldn't have been much different, say, a hundred years ago.
We were different than most - we actually walked :-)

We loved walking along the river, even the water felt like it was sleepy too, same as the rest of the town.

From the sightseeing point of view, the guide mentioned two places. One was the Japanese bridge

Other tourist were eager to get into a very small room right in the middle of the bridge, but since we had no guide and nobody explained to us what it was for, we didn't.

The other one was a pagoda. At the entrance some lady was trying to sell the entry tickets, but wasn't even noticed by most of the visitors.

After just wondering around all day and relaxing, we felt like we need to change the pace.
Therefore, our plan for the next two days now included first renting some motorbikes to visit My Son, the old temples that are located at about 40 km distance from the town, and then to go to the beach to get some sun.

Next: My Son