Arrived at the Hanoi train station an hour before the departure and we were told to sit over there and wait for our train. Then a small kid started screaming and the mother did not do anything to try and subdue the child, I said to Penny I hope they are not in our carriage. Another train lady asked to look at our ticket and she told us we needed to go up stairs and wait for the train. Great no chance that kid will be on our train. We waited 10 minutes and we were allowed to board the train to Da Nang. Found carriage 5 and we had booked the both bottom beds, managed to get the bags under the beds. The compartment looked clean, very basic compared to the other trains we have travelled on and not that comfortable. Just had a pillow and a top sheet no duvet which we have had on all other trains. There is certainly no sound proofing. We left on time and no one on the train has checked our tickets, normally they are checked twice and also our passports. Leaving Hanoi and some of the shops are just meters from the track and at times we are like the next lane to the main road very close. This is the noisiest train I have ever been on seems like no suspension and we feel every joint of the rail as each train wheel passes over it. The whole of the carriage is shuddering and laying down on the hard mattress it is not comfortable. I mentioned to Penny that Kellie would not mind it as there is no cockroaches. Less than 2 hours into our journey and Penny yelled out to me there is a cockroach as it was climbing the wall close to her. Kellie you were told right the cockroaches are still here. We stopped after 3 hours and a load of Germans got on to the train and they were carrying beers onboard so they partied away in the walk way. I decided to start categorise all of Penny’s photos and videos for the trip and there are a lot. I have been saving them on my lap top during the trip, she said she has cloud for storage but not quite sure how it works, so I hope she appreciates all the time and effort it will do to complete to where we are now. After midnight a bloody screaming kid gets on our carriage it is positioned down the other end of the carriage but the noise reverberates right through the carriage, come on parents get your bloody act together people are trying to sleep and we don’t need this carry on at midnight.
I am up at 07:00 the train has been stopping at various stations can hear the people coming on to the train. That kid is still screaming at times, they should have a separate carriage for parents and kids and they can keep each other awake all night. They might get the message. We arrived at Da Nang at 12:20 and we found a taxi who will take us to our hotel half the price what other drivers are asking for. It was a 32 km journey the hotel is okay it is a few km walk in to Hoi An village. After we checked in we found a restaurant the food was excellent but she did not do too well with the deep fried squid in batter, it all fell off. Back to our room Penny was tired and the 90 minute sleep helped her. I got some washing done and its hanging out to dry. It is nearly 20:00 hours and it is 25 C much warmer than Hanoi last night. We are heading to the old town soon, booked a cooking tour tomorrow afternoon.
Maurice's Travel 