On the train to Hué

02/10/2024

Last night we were kept awake by the fireworks. This morning we felt like we had been run over again. Smoky lungs, puffy eyes. Glad to finally be moving on!

After pancakes and lukewarm coffee for breakfast, we packed our things and checked out. We met another couple outside with whom we chatted about their three-year journey and were in a very positive mood. But the most unpleasant thing was still waiting for us. We still had to pay and ask how the train ticket price he quoted came about. He hardly responded at all to Nina's question, but only told us that the prices on the Internet were not correct and that, after all, it was the Tet holiday and was therefore more expensive than stated. He didn't respond at all when we asked if he could show us the bill. We paid the amount he said for everything and took a taxi to the train station. When we got there, we asked at the counter how much the seat we had booked for the train and our journey would cost. We found out the same price as online. We confronted our host again via WhatsApp and confronted him. He stuck to his excuses and said that he didn't have our money and had paid the high ticket price to the train company. (It's about €30, which is a lot of money in Vietnam). We were incredibly angry but now we can't do anything and have to come to terms with it. We definitely wouldn't stay there again.

We spent our long train ride (11.5 hours) with our series, books and our leftover snacks. We waited in vain for food. Because oh, how could it be otherwise, the mini market described by the host, where we could have bought snacks and water, was not open. Luckily, the on-board staff often came through with water and coffee. At around 5 p.m. there was even a warm, vegetarian dinner, a rescue in an emergency!

“One banana please.” - we got an ear of corn… 🌽

We bought a simcard for our extra cell phone in Hanoi for Vietnam. With the tariff we can probably only surf and nothing else (no calls, no SMS). There were 2 variants: either 3GB per day for 250,000 dong or 5GB per day for 350,000 dong. We decided on the second option. Today for the first time there was a problem that our internet was used up. However, we were able to understand that we only used 4GB today. So you've been fooled again! Man! We were at a loss for a moment when it came to getting to the accommodation, but somehow it worked out. We arrived at our new room at 11pm. It is newly renovated, so clean and quiet. We share a bed and the blanket.

Let's see what the night brings. We are already looking forward to our breakfast tomorrow.

Good night

Ronja & Nina