Night train to Nha Trang

We are on a night train from HCMC to Nha Trang. Can I just say – I am lying down on a bed, or should a say an ironing board with about half a metre of space between me and the ceiling. There are 5 other beds in this space where we would not normally fit a toilet. It’s not pleasant. Luckily my bed is just about long enough for me to lie down. Cockroaches are everywhere. Jo is hysterical, she has a roach phobia, and is threatening to run down the corridor ripping her clothes off screaming, Joe is very concerned about this thought and has decided to stop thinking. He is drinking beer instead. The train trundles along occasionally. Usually though it is stopped. When it stops, it stops immediately, causing everyone to end up jammed towards the front of the train – or in Mum’s case, slammed against the wall of the shared toilet (which in itself is a hole in the floor leading directly onto the tracks – there may be an East Asian toilet blog appearing imminently!). We are settling down for the night….good night, sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite!

Love from Anna xxxx

After a strange night where, at about 2.30am, Jo did enact her threat and having calmed down proceeded to enter every cabin in an effort to find ours. The beds were hard (described very accurately as ‘hard sleepers’. The roaches were plentiful and the sleeping bag liners were a life saver. At the end of our eventual 11 hour journey there were spectacular views across Vietnamese plains with stunning mountains as a backdrop. On arrival at the station a taxi driver awaited us with a sign stating, ‘Mr. Simon’, we climbed aboard and headed for Whale Island. The journey consisted of sleep and grossly exaggerated stories of hoe little each of us had slept on the train – each of us adults claiming to have been awake all night watching others sleep. I did receive an apology from Jo for pouring water on me and for flicking roaches from her bunk, middle, onto mine, bottom. No-one else would sleep at the bottom for fear of being roached! Joe is traumatised from Jo’s display in the corridor. I am concerned that he is in a catatonic state….or maybe he is just sleeping.

Our first views of Whale Island leave us jaw-droppingly astonished. It actually looks better than in the pictures! More of that later after 5 days of bliss with no internet connection!!