My alarm goes off at 6.30am on the dot, and I jump out of bed. Brush teeth, wake the others, make them brush their teeth… When these toothbrushes go into the ziplock back, they’re not coming back out until about 12 hours later, so I want them as dry as possible! We’re dressed and on our way upstairs to the rooftop breakfast by 7am.
We’re packed and in the lobby shortly after 8am. We check out and hop in our “limo” (small SUV?). I’m afraid the luggage won’t all fit, but our driver manages the very intricate game of Tetris to fit it all in the back. We get stuck in a few traffic jams on our way to the station, and I’m finally able to snap a picture of a motorbike taxi! The taxi driver brings you a helmet, so you match the bike and the driver’s uniform.
When the driver pulls up to the station, my heart sinks. Surely we must be at the wrong place?! This can’t be the big city of Ho Chi Minh’s main train station? Again – where are all the people?
Turns out we were just toooooo early. The website said to be there 30-60 minutes before departure, or 1-2 hours if you had oversized luggage. With our bags, I was SURE they’d make us check them, at least the three big ones! But no, the lady just waves us through, tells us to bring it all into our little cabin. I have my doubts, and think we’ll be sitting with our feet on our suitcases the whole way to Nha Trang.
The train cabin is the perfect size for our family of four! The girls quickly claim the top bunks and climb right up. The beds are not soft, nor wide, but they come with a pillow and a blanket, which is much needed.
The cabin is cold, and I am wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Maylin keeps climbing up and down and going across to visit her sister, so her body temperature is just fine. Joe has his hoodie, and Téa spends the day under her blanket. I’m freezing!
While we were waiting for the train this morning at the station, I browsed the three fairly similar shops all in a row at the station. I picked up some snacks that I found interesting, and tried to stock the family for the 9 hour journey. We were betting that there would be some food service, as well as coffee, served on the train. I bought the girls some pork filled steamed buns, as I know they will love them, for sure.
Once on the train and in our cabin, I find the train information binder on the table. I flip through and find a menu at the back. Lots of items are printed, but when I scan the QR code in the cabin to order food delivered, there is no coffee available! For a moment there, Joe gets very nervous, and seeing as we still have 15 minutes left until departure, I contemplate running out to the stall on the platform… I decide not to, not worth the risk.
After the train leaves the station and maybe 15 minutes into our journey, our door is wrenched open. The coffee cart lady is here! Thank goodness, Joe can have his coffee! We also buy a banh mi and I ask for the boiled eggs. We get three hot boiled eggs and a tiny baggie of mixed salt and pepper in a plastic bag, and two very skinny baguettes with a meat paté.
The 9 hours of the journey are long. Very long. Téa is happy as a clam, she is in a bed, albeit on a hard one, listening to her audiobooks. Maylin is all over the place, this girl does not sit still! She’s on the phone doing Duolingo, she’s on her Switch, she’s bugging her sister, or her mom, or her dad. I get a nap in. Joe gets a nap in. When the girls are playing on the Switch together, Joe and I watch an episode of a show we like, The Copenhagen Test. We watch the scenery go by.
The sun sets (unfortunately not where we can watch it) and suddenly it’s pitch dark outside. An hour after that, we roll into Nha Trang station. We grab a Grab taxi, and arrive at our AirBnb for the next three weeks. We’re tired, we’re hungry, it’s been a long day, and it’s chilly. It’s surprisingly windy, and we long to get into our AirBnb.
Once we’re in and Joe starts unpacking, Téa and I run back downstairs (and by that I mean taking the elevator from the 27th floor to the ground floor) to buy some pizza from the pizza stand across the street. While the pizzas are cooking, we check out the next door market for some yogurt and water. We carry our two pizzas back and have a very casual meal on top of the pizza boxes.
We’re tired, and cannot wait to explore tomorrow, in daylight. We can hear the ocean right across the street, but it’s hard to get a feel for it when we can’t see a thing!
I love trains but only being able to move around in that little cabin would make the day very long for me, too. Does Téa just stare at the ceiling when she is listening to her audiobook or does she do something else on her phone at the same time?
It was a very hard bed to spend the entire day on, bums were sore and legs lost circulation. But Téa was fine, she lays down and focuses on her book, hugs her Teddy and smiles along with the story. Maylin was also fine, she doesn’t sit still quite as much as mom and dad did.