Adventures in overnight transportation: Part I

While in Vietnam, we took 2 overnight buses and 1 overnight train. This is the overnight train we took to Hue. It was pretty awful. Our first mistake was insisting to the woman booking our tickets that we'd like to be on level 2. Assuming level 2 meant a second floor on the train (the kind you take stairs to get to) we agreed that was the way to go in order to catch some scenery. After giving us an "Are you sure?????" look, she booked the tickets. We arrived at the train station early, picked up some vietnamese sandwiches and waited for our train. It arrived and we jumped on, only to find our cabin was occupied by a large Vietnamese family. Confused and worried, we began frantically looking around for help from an employee. Just then, a friendly man (not employee) asked for our tickets and informed us that we were on the wrong train. What!!?? We jumped off right before it pulled away, narrowly escaping a 14 hour adventure in the wrong direction with no where to sit or sleep. Relieved but still slightly jarred, we boarded the correct train, and immediately looked for the stairs. No stairs. Anywhere. We found our cabin on the first, and only, level. ATTENTION: Level 2 means TOP BUNK. We willingly booked ourselves top bunks and the "Are you sure?" look began flashing in my brain. Luckily, the bottom beds were taken by a sweet and quiet German couple who shared cookies with us in the morning. However, top bunk means you sleep with all of your stuff. Large backpack, small backpack, purse, food....

And someone's left-behind, used q-tips.

Obviously, this is how we felt. Oh yeah, and the air conditioner vent covers were broken off about four different vents so I had a steady stream of freezing cold air blown on me all night. Have you ever tried to keep warm with a patchwork of summer clothes as your blanket? The next day, we weren't supposed to arrive at our destination until 1pm. All the scenery we hoped to see on the second level? Sorry, you can't see anything from the top bunk. Just used q-tips. The only good things about this trip were (1) I took benadryl and it mostly knocked me out, and (2) this sandwich...

Banh mi. Mmmm.