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November 11-13
we met our local guide Lisa at 7:00 in the hotel lobby. we were picked up in a Santa Fe and wist away to a local restaurant close to the train station. Lisa said we were going for Pho and we requested not Pho 24 and thankfully Lisa agreed and took us to a local restaurant. she explained why this particular restaurant was good for foreigners despite the fact we were the only white ones there. This particular place was a bit bigger than a whole in the wall, the front open air to the street. we sat at a small table for 4 that had short table legs and very short stools; the off white walls probably had never been washed, the floor however was kept clean, I had to squeeze past the staff mopping the floor and went for a bit of a slide. Lisa proceeded to demonstrate how some food places only dip the chopsticks in water and do not wash them as she grabbed a set from the box on the table continuing the lesson on how to use chop sticks. she handed me the chopsticks now that have been caressed by her hand, and rolled on the table as our Pho shows up. Hmm, morale delimia do I use the sticks she has played with or grab a "Clean" pair from the box...damn, the soup bowl is steaming hot which in theory should kill just about anything, decision, add hot chili sauce and dip the sticks in the hot soup....all is good, yum, that hit the spot. back in the vehicle for a short ride to the train station. Megan and my train tickets were booked separate and we were in different compartments, luckily lisa noticed and changed so we were in the same compartment. Our train left at 9:00 pm and was parked when we arrived, we walked across the tracks to our train with Lisa giving advice not to give our ticket to anyone that asks, we had a bit of time before loading so we said goodbye to Lisa. shortly we loaded. the train, called the pumpkin express, has what looks like parquet flooring on the walls, there are 4 berths, each with clean linen and one very hard mattress. Not long after we settled our bunk buddies arrived, a couple from Holland, a guide had taken their train tickets and proceeded to take them to their compartment then wanted money once they arrived. the man refused but grudgingly coughed up 5,000 dong after his girlfriend said just give him something, the guy wanted more but that was it and he left pissed.
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