Reunification Express

On Saturday night we boarded the over night train on the Reunification Express Line. The line runs from Hanoi the nation's capital in the north, down the coast to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Our journey was a 13 hour ride ending in Danang.

Our car included 4 soft berths which we shared with a couple that live in NY.

A bit of a shaky ride, but as you can see the accomodations were plush.

I personally did not sleep much, but officially woke around 6:30 to visions of the Vietnamese countryside flying past my window. We spent the morning gazing out the windows, sampling the Vietnamese train cart food, and exchanging stories with our cabin mates. When they got off the train in Hue I thought for about two minutes that we had also left Shannon behind, but fortunately she walked in from the adjacent car while I was yelling at the crew to hold the train.

The scenery between Hue and Danang was incredible.

The train weaved along the coastline and rose above the sea level, hugging the edge of the hilly countryside.