We like them!
Why? (and click here to read about the illegal stuff we saw)We like them because they are a beautiful way to see the countryside without having to cram yourself into a bus seat for 10-hours. Plus most buses here are for tourists, while the train definately is not, especially when you take the "hard sleep" (2nd class with 6 hard beds per compartment) as opposed to the "soft sleep" (first class and 4 squishy beds). We had a nice silent conversation with a woman heading to HoNoi who showed us photos of her husband and grandchild and shared peices of sugarcane with us. And we ended up in the middle of a family of a few grown children (the two men were in military uniforms) and grandparents. Change the grandpa's eyes just a bit and we decided he'd look decidely like an old dutch grandpa! The grandma was tiny and cute with smiling eyes. They fed us hard boiled eggs and bright maroon pumpkin seeds (??). They were on the full 40h+ trip from Saigon to HaNoi.
Now the reasons we don't like the trains (not counting the kid who screamed (not cried) himself to sleep the first night and the soldiers' 5:30 alarm clock and booming voice) can be summed up by stating the rules on our ticket (typos are the real thing):
"Passengers are prohibited to carry on board dangerous items such as explosive inflammable radio - active or dead body, nauseatingitems, live stock or other commodities not allowed to be transported by government regulations."
and what we saw:
- live stock- there was a squawking chicken in the compartment next door to us
- nauseatingitems- Josh had the bottom bunk above a luggage compartment. All night it STUNK. In the morning we realized why when Grandma pulled out a whole durian fruit. On Wikipedia, durian is discribed as smelling like urine, vomit, and sweaty socks. Take your pick.
- explosive- when we got off the train in HaNoi, we discovered that the man in the other bottom bunk had a firearm under his bed. Not a hand gun, mind you, but an all-out assault rifle. Yikes!
- as for the radio, this doesn't really count, but playing the same five piano instrumentals (including Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You", a song from The Lion King, and, my personal favorite, Frank Sinatra's "My Way") for 5 hours straight is definately nauseating...
This is photo of a jack fruit. I know, random, but it looks a whole lot like Durian. It's big and spiky and also smells. Now you can picture it under a bed.
4 comments:
Wow, those trains look plush compared to the ones you'll ride here. Not that much plusher, mind you, but we don't have pillows on ours. Unless you ride in the A/C cars, which you guys might end up doing. So then, you'd have pillows.
And jackfruit? Very tasty. If you get the chance to try some, you absolutely should. There's a creepy seed in the middle that looks like it may spring arms any minute, but the flesh of the fruit is nice and sweet. And ask Dr. Ariarajah (or Brad, his trusty sidekick) about the sermon he gave on jackfruits. It's one of Brad's favorites!
So no active or dead bodies though? That's a shame.
Is it "radioactive or dead bodies?" What do they expect to happen over there?
You guys are SOOO funny. You make us laugh almost every time you send something. By the way, Dad and I do not recommend the jackfruit. We were blessed with a very large jar of it from someone's garden in the Philippines. And we really did think it tasted pretty much like old socks. So you have our sympathy about the dorian fruit (and the screaming babies, the firearms...... )
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