Hear that train whistle blow

The train ride from Ho Chi Mihn City to Hanoi was long (32 hours) but not nearly as long as the alternative: a 40+ hour bus. We were incredibly thankful that we took the train because the scenery was BEAUTIFUL.

Somewhere near Hue.

The only ugly part about riding the train was that people just throw their trash out the window and it remains right where it lands. Some of the most beautiful landscapes were just covered in litter.

We took the hard sleeper 6 berth compartment and opted for the top bunks for extra cash saving. Luckily, we had the whole compartment to ourselves (except for this old woman) on the second day. She was super sweet. She would share her bread and sugary peanut butter with us and we shared what little food we had with her: oreos. It was a fun day. She slept pretty much the whole way so J and I listened to music, took pictures, cuddled, and played cards. Fun, fun, fun!

The rural areas of of the central highlands were really nice too.

I didn't take too many photos of the locals on the train but I did snap off this one of this little guy and his father watching as the train went by. Super cute.

Later that afternoon, on the second day, our compartment filled up with a second old lady and her two daughters with their two whiny children. And they were really rude to us. Normal train protocol is that all beds are folded up and everyone sits on the bottom ones until it's time for bed. But these ladies felt the need to kick us out; they found someone who spoke some English to come tell us their children wanted to sleep and so we needed to leave the bottom beds. It wasn't even dinner time yet! But we were like, "Fine, we were okay with that," but it soon became clear that no naps were on the agenda and they just didn't want to sit with us. How were we to supposed to eat smooshed into the top bed? You can barely roll over up there! It was a big annoyance and a little rude of them. They even made our old-lady friend move to her middle bunk! She was OLD! Ugh. I had to keep reminding myself that these people were not like the rest of the people I've met in Vietnam and that they were an exception. So, Jeremy and I moved our sorry selves to another car and ate dinner in a seat.

Later that night, we crawled into our beds amid the whining and rapid text-messaging of the two inconsiderate women below us and their children. They wouldn't turn off the light, kept opening the door (often leaving it open and letting in cigarette smoke and noise from the tracks), and took no heed to lower their voices all night. But the most perplexing part: from where Jeremy laid in the bunk across from me, he could see the woman in the bottom bunk below me. And what he saw was disgusting. The woman down there had pulled up her shirt and bra over her breast and was letting the little boy who was sleeping with her play with her nipple! And she didn't seem to care that there was a man in the car or that he could she her! I was sooo shocked when Jeremy told me this in the morning. Vietnamese people are generally very modest! It was hard to believe.

The rest of our train adventures were pleasant though (in case you now have an apprehensions regarding the train in Vietnam). On our way to Lao Cai from Hanoi, the locals shared food with us, invited us to take their pictures, talked with us, and even offered Jeremy some of the local fire water!! (Read: crazy rice wine.) He refused and thus made himself look like a sissy amid the ecstatic laughter of the car's passengers. :)

Good times, good times.