Sunday, April 24, 2011

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.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Nha Trang, Vietnam

Entrance to our hostel
In front of the cable cars we decided not to ride
Construction sight
Street Lobster
View from the Sheraton
Drinks at the Sheraton, the only people in the entire place

Due to the speediness in which we did Vietnam, we only had about a day and a half in Nha Trang. We both agreed it had a nice, resort-y beach vibe. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great and in order to take the cable cars to a nearby island you had to purchase a ticket to the amusement park. What is that?  Next Stop: Hue.





Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Ho Chi Minh City

We were only in Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon, for about a day before deciding to go on a 2-day Mekong River trip and then traveling north. This is the view from our hotel at night.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Elisse Goes on a Trip

A couple weeks ago, I bid farewell to Korea and started a 2 month long journey through Asia with my boyfriend Neil. We spent the first part of our trip in Vietnam, surviving the worst weather and generally having a great time. I'll be posting pictures soon.