‘All aboard, the Reunification Express’ - Doesn’t have quite the same ring and it certainly didn’t take us to Marrakesh - quite the adventure none the less. We waved goodbye to Henry the mini-schnauzer and jumped in a Grab with just our new pared down luggage - 20 kg wheely-pack and a small wheely/backpack each. Our small bags should have weighed in at 5 kg... but probably closer to 10kg at the moment. And of course 2 large shopping bags with ‘necessities’ for the 17 hours riding Vietnam’s rails from Saigon to Da Nang. (Is it just me, or does everyone think of the Robin William’s movie, Goodmorning Vietnam? Da Nang me, Da Nang me... oughta take a rope and hang me? Just me? Fair enough.) What, pray tell, could possibly be necessary for such a long train trip? As much as we pride ourselves on moderately cast-iron constitutions, we’re still careful with food hygiene. And whilst we’re sure they’re a delicacy, the possiblity of fried chicken feet for dinner just didn’t turn us on. So, dinner food, soda water, whisky, 3 litres plain water, beer (just in case), nibbly nuts, bread, eggs, spreads for breakfast and a chocolate brownie for dessert. Other necessities? loo roll and hand sanitiser. Lots of sanitiser. Better safe than sorry - and heaven forbid one becomes ‘sorry’ on a 17 hour train trip.

The main reason we love Grab (Asian Uber) is the upfront fixed price. It was about 6.10 pm by the time we left District 2 and had we been in a cab we probably would have felt he was driving in circles or possibly lost. But it was the peak of peak hour traffic and the 20 minute trip only took 35 - so not bad altogether - and a fixed price - so perfect. The station in Saigon was relatively small and easy - walk in front door, through the electronic gates and the train - in our case the SE4 departing at 7.45 pm was right in front of us. Little things amuse us and station in Vietnamese is Ga - like the French ‘Gare’. Chicken is also Ga - though there may be an accent involved somewhere.

We realise it’s a cultural thing and it’s certainly possible no one’s ever died from a hard mattress, even in Asia, but the 4 berth soft-sleeper should be rechristened to ‘hard sleeper’ (and their 6 berth ‘hard sleeper’ should be called the ‘solid as a rock’ sleeper). We’ve travelled in sleepers all over the world - from Egypt to the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Austria and all over the USA - and this was the hardest and least comfortable sleeper ever (we were in a 4 berth soft sleeper incidentally). Of course, 1000% (10,000%?) better than sitting in a seat for 17 hours. The linens were nice, the duvet/quilt was nice, the pillows were comfortable - though we thought it was a bit dodgy when we left the train in Da Nang after 17 hours - and saw the beds being made up for new guests - with all the old linens - we trust our own clean hair and hygiene - but not that of others. We have another train trip lined up in 3 weeks from the imperial city of Hue up to Hanoi - only 13 hours (4.30 pm to 5.30 am the next day. We’re looking forward to it, mind you - will be inspecting the pre-loved linens very, very carefully. (Pictured: Scenery en route... very wet... very green.)