trains

June 29th, 2009 by Elizabeth

I am so tired, I’m beyond sleepy. After 16 hours on the train and another taxi to GVN headquarters, I found they don’t have room for me today (one volunteer has to go home tomorrow so I will have her room for the next month). So I went on a hunt to find a cheap hotel – fortunately, just around the block is a hostel where I will be staying for at least one night, maybe 2 or 3. No worries – my own bathroom!

The train: For the first leg of the ride I shared a compartment with a young Vietnamese girl who immediately offered me part of her lunch since she saw I wasn’t eating anything. “You have lunch?” I replied, “yes” which was a total lie but I didn’t want to bother her and she said “want some?” and offered me part of her sandwich. How nice!!!! I declined, of course, but it was a nice introduction and we spent the next few hours chatting, reading, napping, and she taught me yet more Vietnamese. And she laughed at my luggage. I must look a spectacle: 120+ pounds of luggage, 3 ginormous bags that collectively are twice my size; I’m sweaty, no makeup, etc etc. She has reason to laugh at me.

Then she departed the train at 5pm and 2 young guys climbed on at 7pm in Nah Trang. They were also very sweet and polite, and slept the entire time, so I basically had the cabin to myself. I had a lower berth which made the views of rural Vietnam much nicer. The train never goes faster than 65mph, I decided. MAYBE 70 occasionally. It was only 20 min late to its due time in DaNang, which impressed me. The berths are at least 30 years old, and the community toilet in our car is a hole in the floor. Yep, runs right out onto the tracks. :) I never did visit the dining car, since I wouldn’t leave my luggage unattended. I could have ordered dinner (about $2) from a man who would walk through each car at 5pm with 2 huge metal buckets – one with cooked drumsticks or chicken wings or some kind of poultry, marinating in some sauce; and the other bucket with another type of meat…Dinner. There were many fresh veggies in a pot he carried in his hand…but I was told never to eat fresh veggies unless you wash them yourself. So…I had pass on dinner. Glad I had my clif bars.  

Ugh, too tired to write anymore. I’ve been up for 22 hours. I need to catch some sleep before breakfast! I meet the other volunteers today!

Elizabeth

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This entry was posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 10:38 am and is filed under Vietnam Orphanage.

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