UK reporter shares amazing experience on north-south express train
VOV.VN - Andrew Eames, a reporter of British online newspaper The Independent, recently published an article sharing his amazing experience on the iconic Reunification Express which connects the nation’s north with the south.
In the article, the reporter shared several tips for anyone keen on travelling through the country by train, with this mode of transport viewed as the most sustainable and charismatic way to see the nation.
Eames said that the railway journey takes 34 hours and the route strings together several key destinations such as Nha Trang, Hoi Ann, Da Nang, and Hue. “And the presence of several trainsets working the route means that you can choose to travel from point to point either by daylight, or after dark,” he added.
The reporter caught the SE2 train after making an online booking. He noted that onboard the carriages seemed clean, well organized, and were properly air conditioned.
“My hard sleeper turned out be a berth in a six-person cabin, with a thin mattress, a pillow, a sheet and a blanket. There was a light to read by, and a socket to recharge my phone, so not really hard at all,” he shared.
He revealed that the only disadvantage of train SE2 was that it stopped at the beach resort of Nha Trang at 4.15 a.m. whilst typically Vietnamese towns wake up at 5 a.m.
His next section was from Nha Trang to Da Nang on an overnight trip with another relatively early arrival. According to Eames, whereas Nha Trang had been fairly empty of tourists, Da Nang was full of visitors from Asia and Europe. Most notably, in the evening its river was patterned with lantern-lit sampans.
“I chose to do the next section of my journey, the three-hour ride from Danang to the former imperial capital of Hue, by daylight, because this is where the train struggles out along a steep peninsular, revealing glimpses one sandy bay after another – as yet uncolonised by tourism,” the reporter added.
The last section of the journey was the longest of those done overnight, a 14-hour journey all the way to Hanoi.
“By now I was well used to falling asleep on these trains. As a rule, the Reunification Express isn’t very express-like, jogging along instead at a steady pace, because to travel too fast would be to rattle and bang and make it hard to sleep,” he revealed.
The UK reporter shared that every overnight journey costed less than £40, saving her the price of an overnight hotel.
“I didn’t waste any precious daylight on essential travel, the Reunification Express had more than served its purpose,” he concluded.