From Hanoi to Hoi An

Jake had a traumatizing experience on the way from Hanoi to Hoi An. It was traumatizing enough as we set out on an overnight train at 11:00 p.m. and were told at the last minute of an early morning bus transfer to another train. "Hmm," we thought..."too late."

Luck was on our side as we boarded the train and seemed to have no random roommates in our four-person sleeper car. The cabin had zero frills, what I imagine a prison cell to be like. Immediately we were happy with our last minute decision (thank you Susannah for the advice and letting us borrow them) to bring our own sleeping bags. This would be the second time we decided to use them.

I'll let Jake disclose his experience as he has promised to write the next blog. Let's just say it was something he's never encountered before. At 5 a.m. we were awoken to a frantic Vietnamese train conductor to disembark. (This reminded me of the time my sister and I got caught at midnight by a Swiss train conductor on the Eurail line because our passes had expired and we hoped to get to our destination before they noticed. The Swiss are too organized.) Bleary-eyed, Jake and I wandered off the train after getting our bags situated, sleeping bags in the compressor bags, etc.

As we left the train, we noticed only two buses which did not fit the amount of people on the train. This was unlucky for all of the unknowing westerners who got left behind. At least we were all in it together. With no instruction, we decided to just wait it out...for 45 minutes until the next bus came. The sun was up by then and everyone clamored to get a seat on the bus, and we miraculously got seats together. The bus transfer was longer than advertised (potentially 2 hours but both Jake and I were doing that fall-asleep-in-class-head-bob thing for the duration of the ride). The train was held for the third bus, so we were off again in no time (and still with no roommates).

After 8 more hours on the second train (again, longer than advertised), we reached Danang and could not be happier to see our hotel car driver when we disembarked. The train ride towards the end was a beautiful one from Hue to Danang. We snaked around the coast to see the South China Sea and lush jungle while marveling at the engineering of the train itself, built to hug the coastline. It always ends up being worth it!

Now that we're in Hoi An, we've hit another great stride (two words - clothing and food). We'll tell you about that a little later. To answer Lori's question, the lashes are waning!! I woke up with two on my pillow this morning. I think I'm down to a paltry 55 or so, and I'm wondering if I have normal lashes left. Wouldn't that be a hoot...!