Day 10 - Hue

Waiting for the train


It wasnt the best of starts for our journey to Hue. We realised that we have been scammed of 80k VND each (~SGD7) for the train ticket. The train system in Vietnam has more than 10 different routes for the same destinations, the difference lies in the number of stops in between and hence the amount of time. Despite being scammed, we still took one of the longest rides, an estimated 14 hours from Nha Trang to Hue.


Song trying to sleep in that cramp space

An expensive ticket for a 6 man hard sleeper cabin and a long journey was not helped by the delayed arrival of the train by 1 hour. Scheduled to to leave at 2300hrs, the train did not depart until 2355 hrs. The rumours we read on the forums were true the moment we saw the living conditions on the Reunification Express. The 6 man hard sleeper is similar to the bunks on a navy ship, 3 layers of bed on each side of the cabin, small and squeezy. In addition, the Vietnamese who shared the cabin with us actually smoked when the 'No Smoking' sign was RIGHT in front of him. The rest of the night was spent on the train and i wondered why the train stopped for 2-3 hours in the middle of the night...


Bags stuffed at the top of the cabin



Our morale took a huge plunge in the morning when we overheard a conversation from the Australians on the next cabin. The train has been delayed yet again due to an accident and the new arrival time at Hue will be 2000hrs! Thats an agonising 20 hours train ride from the initial 14hrs.


A tired and sleepless Ang 'enjoying' his rations

Our supplies of food and water went really low as we didn' t expect to spend so much time on the train. However, the train did sell food like rice with meat and vege etc. Having seen a Vietnamese pay 18k VND for his meal, we were not happy when they wanted to charge us 20k VND for it. Even though its only an increase of SGD0.10, it was the attitude of the vendor that disgusted us. Determined not to be cheated by intentional scammers, we carried the 'Ning Si bu Qu'* attitude and are prepared to starve rather than get cheated. Thus our few packets of Oreos and Ritz were rationed to be our lunch and dinner for the day.






Haivan Pass!

The Haivan pass, a scenic view of mountains and the sea is breathtaking. Coupled with the sunset due to the delay of the train, this might just have compensated all the unhappiness we've had on the train. Ironically, we were supposed to see the Haivan Pass for sunrise but instead saw it on sunset! The orange/lightblue backdrop against the mountains and the vast blue sea is a defintely must see in Vietnam!!




Buying Food at KFC

The clock reads 1944hrs as we finally arrived at Hue Station. Proceeded straight to hotel and then to KFC for dinner. The staff is extremely polite to foreigners and we even got a free fries!

*Ning si bu qu - A chinese idiom which literally means rather die than to surrender

Day 11 - Hue