I finished teaching and many of my students went to do other things like helping in the parishes, working in the leper village, or preparing to plant the next rice crop. It was decided that I should take a three-day vacation to Hue with a brief stop on the way back to see friends in Ha Noi. Loc and Tan, two of my students, were to accompany me. At 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday we went to the station in Ninh Binh to wait for the 8:03 train.
Here are Loc and Tan having a drink of Khanh Do while we wait at the station.
We're just getting out of town and saw these huge piles of rice.
There are three types of train cars, and you pay more as the amenities increase. At the bottom is hard seat with no air conditioning. That is the cheapest and definitely the least fun. Then there is hard seat with air conditioning; that was us. Finally, there is soft seat with air conditioning, what we had on the way back.
There is limited food available on the train, so many people bring their own. Families sleep on the floor on mats they bring. It feels like a traveling village since the trip is long (it took us 13 hours to get there) and we easily made friends.
Here are Loc and Tan having a drink of Khanh Do while we wait at the station.
We're just getting out of town and saw these huge piles of rice.
There are three types of train cars, and you pay more as the amenities increase. At the bottom is hard seat with no air conditioning. That is the cheapest and definitely the least fun. Then there is hard seat with air conditioning; that was us. Finally, there is soft seat with air conditioning, what we had on the way back.
There is limited food available on the train, so many people bring their own. Families sleep on the floor on mats they bring. It feels like a traveling village since the trip is long (it took us 13 hours to get there) and we easily made friends.
The scenery was breathtaking.
This is a trains station on the way to Hue.
Too cute for words.
A teenager checking his phone. Sound familiar?
Tan eating dinner.
Loc showing off what he bought.
