I'm Back!

Hello there!

It would appear that while I am not allowed to look at the fruits of my blog this PC will let me update it- strange.

Right I believe that I left you as I was about to get on a sleeper train to Hanoi. It was my first time on a sleeper since the UK can be done in a day by train, leaves on the track allowing. Only back home it would cost a year's salary or any limbs that you are not too attached to to spend 16 hours on a train. We got to the station in Danang early but it worked out OK as we bumped into an English couple and their three year old daughter that we had met while touring the temples at My Son the previous day. Little Chloe had got rather attached to the toy squirrel that my uncle gave me and spent a very happy day playing with him so she was happy to see us at the station and shyly enquired as to the whereabouts of squirrel. Turned out that they were on the same train as us but only going to Hue, a couple of hours up the track. Apparantely there is only one track in Vietnam and it runs the length of the country so there are frequent breaks while the train pulls into a siding to let others past.

We found our carriage and berths- three bunks piled on top of each other in a cabin containing six. Popping our bags under the bed we settled on the bottom bunk, folding the middle bunk away for now. Endless amounts of people came into our carriage, one old lady had an entire village carting her luggage around which they spent a lot of time and effort stowing in all the available spaces before checking her ticket and realising that she was in the wrong place. More baggage handling and she was gone and I had a shiny new bruise on my leg to remind me of her suitcase.

Sitting on the bottom bunk across from us was what I can only describe as the Vietnamese Pat Butcher. Along with her teenage kids, she sat there in hot pants, a low cut top, full make up and a cigarette in hand. She smiled at us, we smiled back. She lit up. We all looked at the no smoking sign. She shrugged and smiled again. I knew it was going to be a long 16 hours. She had three kids with her, which accounted for the remaining bunks but people still kept coming. Two men drifted in and out periodically. Pat's kid climbed off the middle bunk and went to stand in the corridor. One of the men climbed on the bunk and asked us what we thought of Vietnamese men. The kid came back and went to sleep on the bottom bunk with his mum.

There still seemed to be too many people around so we asked the man how many people were travelling in our carriage- he said himself, his boss and the woman and two of her kids. Five people in short. Three of whom had only paid for one bunk but made free with all of the others. We visited Chloe and her family in their seats and they did a return visit back to our room to see squirrel. The woman was fascinated with little Chloe and took many photos of her and her son on her camera phone. She was so into it that she forgot to smoke for a while and everything.

The hours passed by along with the gorgeous scenery- fields and jungle nestling beaches and small houses. Water buffalo played freely though seemed to hide whenever I got my camera out. We arrived in Hue and waved Chloe, Avia and Nigel on their way. Before too long it seemed like time for a beer. So we had one. One beer followed another in true British fashion and before too long we were all taking Vietnamese lessons off the kids. And making a right dog's dinner of it. I couldn't even say the girl's name though it sounded a little like someone clearing their throat. We used the phrases in the back of the Lonely Planet though were not surprised when no-one replied to Vicky's request to breastfeed in the room, guess our pronunciation wasn't all that.

Then the beer ran out. The beer lady hadn't been past our door in a while so off we went in search of the cans. We made it all the way to one end of the train but nothing. Back the other way, through the cheap seats, where everyone seemed to be staring at us. We found the beer right at the other end. As we walked back through people nudged each other as if to say 'ah, that's what they were after'.

I slept surprisingly well that night, I got the bottom bunk with Clare above and Vicky perched up in the gods. Pat Butcher took the top bunk with her daughter while her son split his time between the two other bunks with the men that he had met that day. At 2am we pulled into a station and I woke up. Not many people seemed to be around as I went out to find the loo but there was a queue when I got there.

Back to bed and I slept right through until the electronic rooster started to wake the train up at 4.30am!

We were off the train shortly after five am and into the sticky heat of Hanoi. We decided that we would just keep on going until we got to our destination of Cat Ba island. We got onto motos and went to the train station to get a train to Haiphong only to be told that we had a six hour wait. Hum. Onto another moto and to the bus station where our moto drivers flagged down a bus for us and on we got. Slept more on the bus and discovered that squirrel makes a rather comfy travel pillow.

Arriving bleary eyed in Haiphong we went to the ferry terminal. That is to say that Clare and Vicky did while my moto driver got lost. He left me sitting on a corner while he went to look for the others. By the time that we were reunited they had negotiated a ferry to Cat Ba. A moto ride, then a ferry then a bus journey and we were on Cat Ba island, 26 hours after leaving Hoi An.

We checked into a hotel, had a shower and then went out for dinner.

That was last week. I have more to tell! But you will have to wait......