Conclusions, observations and things

There are some interesting similarities and comparisons to make between Vietnam and Australia. For example; There is good to excellent Wifi everywhere in Vietnam and it’s free, whereas in Australia, we are struggling to get “copper to the node”.  Everywhere you go all you have to do is ask for the password and bingo you’re away, Bandwidth?, more than enough to stream video! Australia…… even in large regional centres, stuff all or maybe 3Mb/s. Prepaid Mobile – unlimited data + free calls and $100 SMS for 360,000 VD/month (A$20)!, meanwhile in Aus, $100/month for 10Gb (17,300,000VD)
Road networks, all hotmix, signposted, drained, maintained, and at least as well illuminated as Australian roads. Constant works and upgrades in Vietnam on major roads, people just show up and start fixing things. I was halfway up a mountain, in the rain, in the middle of nowhere, and people turned up with brushcutters strapped to their backs and started conducting weed maintenance.
Major infrastructure: Vietnam has, and continues to invest in in long term infrastructure upgrades and on-going projects. Australia: continues to sell off public works and departments for short term profit, no long term vision evident.  It also sells off farmland and natural resources for the same short term gain and so falls short of national (federal) income, thereby failing to have sufficient monies to improve infrastructure or support primary industries without seeking private or foreign investment.
A very large proportion of the population appears to be employed in one way or another. While I sat and enjoyed a beer while waiting for a train, a pair of ladies pushing a bright orange trolley (oversize wheelbarrow) showed up and started sweeping away leaves to beautify the foreshore. This was at 5:30 on a Monday afternoon and they were by no means looking to knock off for the day.
Literacy levels appear quite high in Vietnam and though I am eminently unqualified to draw conclusions, I would venture that the the avearage Vietnamese was more literate than the average American and probably Australian as well. This not to say that many of the people in remote and rural areas well educated, many would be among the first or second generation to have access to have an education. I say this because the grasp of currency exchange and interpretation of text is excellent, even, and perhaps especially, amongst teens and young adults (hospitality and retail staff), not to mention linguistic ability. Most Australian kids I know have trouble with spelling and grammar in English, let alone those utilising those concepts in a foreign dialect.

Ethnic stereotypes.

Well it turns out I like cheese on everything, Parmesan especially, cause I’m a round eye.  I asked for what I thought were chicken bites with rice, actually fish, the vendor smiled and covered the lot with Parmesan. Might have been alright on chicken(?) but deifinitely wrong on fish. I have no doubt it was well intended but pretty sure the purveyor had no idea of the taste conflict about to ensue. In any case, some of the best sticky parmesan fish rice ever!

Helmets

While it is illegal to ride a motorised conveyance without a helmet, these helmets offer about the same protection as an Ice Cream bucket with a cushion stuffed in it. They are very stylish though, complete with peaks and Hello Kitty decals and a little moulded, upside down V for your ponytail. Bicycles however require no such helmet regulations (a guilty little pleasure I indulged in frequently). I

Traffic

I’d been given lots of advice and horror stories regarding the traffic situation in Vietnam but I have to say that with a couple of exceptions, mostly of my own doing, riding here has been a breeze. Sure there are close passes, but the entire populace is used to it and they do provide enough room. Up in the north and in the rural regions even when the traffic was heavy, there was always enough room, you just had to pay attention. In Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), it was next level! Just a Sea of humanity on the move, I’ve never had as much fun on a bike in a city. It’s like being in a huge Peloton, just stick with the motorbikes and scooters a move along with the flow. If you want to change lanes or direction, you drift across to where you need to be. The average speed in the city acheived by the bikes, scooters and most of the cars is only about 20 kph, you just have a fixie or single speed. While there is lots of honking, and I mean lots, it is just a way of letting other road users know that you’re there, in fact it’s quite polite. Meanwhile in Aus, there would be gridlock if the same system was employed, and road rage would be at an all time high, around the clock.

Food & Drink

The food is excellent, cheap and plentiful. You would really struggle to hungry here, there are street vendors everywhere. You can buy a wholesome meal, Noodle soup, baguette with veg and egg or meat or both for 10 a 20,000 VD (A$0.70 – A$1.50). A 5 star meal in a restaurant, around A$30.00.

Wine is expensive and I was in too much of a hurry to try any of the local vino. Spirits are cheap about A$2.00 for a basic spirit plus a mixer (A$1.70/can avg.). I rode past mile after mile of stills producing only two different types of spirit, a clear one and a yellow one. While many of them had their own label, the bottles were all the same size and shape (except for some which were in Gatorade bottles, not kidding). I must admit that while I tempted to stop and try some I chickened out.

Beer aficionados will be sorely disappointed, there is not a great deal of choice. Tiger, Larue, Bia Saigon, Bia Ha Noi, Corona, Becks, Uda, Steinlager and Fosters (Shudder). So mostly Lager or swill. These vary in price from 35 – 55,000 VD ($2-3.00).

There are some street brews, these are quite literally brewed straight into a keg and sold the next day. These are of very dubious quality and range from 2 – 5,000 VD, about 12 to 4o cents, a great way to meet nursing staff and quite probably the Police.

Motor Vehicles

Scooters and motorbikes are everywhere, although motorbikes, as we in Australia know them, are in a huge minority. They are quite cheap, a new Suzuki 125 scooter is around A$2,000 and second hand bikes are, as you’d expect even cheaper again. There are quite a lot of electric bikes, although more closely resemble motor scooters, and many of the ones I saw, while very fast, were covering sizeable distances.

Cars on the other hand are very expensive as everything is imported. A Mazda 6, considered a Luxury car, is around 1,500,000,000 VD or A$86,000 depending on options.!! There are cheap cars, I got into a Taxi, some version of a Kia not found in Australia, and foolishly sat in the front seat. I nearly pushed the driver out the other door, and I’m not big by Western standards, and had to relocate to the back with the front seat all the way forward.

There’s no such thing as a second hand car here, there simply aren’t enough of them and most are still quite new as Vietnam has not had private motor cars for very long.

You can hire both cars and motor bikes although I didn’t really pay any attention to this.

Bicycles (as seen ridden by the populace). 

Sadly, for me at least, there aren’t many bicycles out there and most of them are simple affairs. Very pragmatic step through affairs within one gear and a chain guard, a type of drum brake on the rear and a very agricultural single pivot arrangement on the front, if the was indeed a front brake at all. I did see a few road bikes in Nha Trang and a a smattering of single speed bikes in shops on the roadside all ove the country, although I didn’t actually see anyone on one until I hit Saigon. There were also some, and I’m using the term loosely here, mountain bikes about as well, although you’d have to cast your mind back about 20 years to get a frame of reference.

Communism

There are Communist buildings, party HQ type things draped in flags, banners stretched over the road and statues/memorials everywhere. There are also, in the smaller cities and rural towns at least, klaxons up on poles and light posts that blare propaganda at regular intervals. This goes largely ignored by all, me included as I didn’t understand any of it 😎. There is also, despite the Marxist regime an underlying capitalist nature to everything, everybody is out to make a buck and you can bet that it doesn’t all make it into the public coffers. There is also an obvious have/have not element as well and while it’s not a defined class system, some people very obviously live better than others, putting a lie to the communist manifesto. That being said however, the country does seem to prosperous and well run and I’ll be the first to admit that 2 weeks moseying around on a bicycle doesn’t qualify me as an expert. I can’t help but think somehow the Vietnamese have got it right, a mix between two political systems that seems to work. Perhaps they are more Socialist than Communist. The people in the South seem to think that the  Roth is oppressive and that they have more freedom in the South. The people I met in the North had no such concept and seemed to quite happy with their lot.

Final thoughts……?

I recommend a trip here to anyone. No matter what you are up for, there is something here to push your hot button. Just don’t expect European sophistication, you’re in Asia. I overheard many Europeans and Americans bleating about how things weren’t like they were at home, blah, blah, blah. Seriously, stay the fuck at home then! The whole point of travel is to broaden your experience and frames of reference. That’ll never happen if everywhere you go is as Sanitized as where you came from.

Take a risk, live a little, you’ll be better for it.

I know I am 😃

The Russian Gold Coast in the South China Sea.

Nha Trang turned out to be not at all what I expected. Hanoi being the capital was always going to busy, chaotic, hectic, noisy, vibrant, a city. Yet the people were for the main part charming, friendly, welcoming and eager to ensure you enjoyed yourself. Hue was even more friendly and perhaps a bit more tourist oriented, it had all the same qualities of Hanoi, just on a smaller scale. 

While Da Nang was definitely a tourist trap, there was no pretence towards anything else. They new what they had and were happy to share it with anyone, for a price, and it was a lovely spot, not over priced and while there weren’t as many English speakers as Hanoi, they were patient, eager to understand and help out wherever possible. 

The towns and villages throughout the central highlands were all charming and the people either absolutely indifferent, the exception, or pleased just to see a new face and happy to assist if required. 

Nha Trang however, was quite jaded. It seemed that many people were ambivalent at best, almost hostile at worst. It was hard not to see the Russian influence here, in the main CBD every menu I saw and shop sign (service menu), I passed was in Viet, Russian (Cyrillic), and then maybe English, including the Hotel I stayed in.

 I even had one encounter where the local was addressing me in Russian and it took several seconds for both of us to work it out to our mutual amusement.  At times I wondered why I had bothered to come here as it was at odds with everything else I had so far encountered. Don’t get me wrong, there are still some lovely people here and I’m sure the city has much to offer, but it seemed that you would only be best catered to if you wore you wallet on your sleeve and only frequented the rich of town. This was a little sad given this a beautiful place, a stunning beach, no surf just a shore dump, Islands in the bay and a foreshore to rival many of the worlds best. 

Still it’s not all bad, there are several nice spots to stop and enjoy the scenery. 

To Kon Túm and beyond ..

I woke to a clear sky and freshening breezes and now faced some decisions on the road as to how much further I conceivably thought I could go and where go/no-go point would be. I had come nearly 400 km in the last 4 days and still had approximately 480 km to go to Nha Trang 4 days to do it in. This didn’t leave me any safety margin should anything go wrong and still left some pretty big days in front of me, not least of which would be getting back over the mountain range and down to the coast. 

Still, spirits buoyed by a good nights sleep and a good feed, Bahń (bun or Baguette) with Chinese sausage and Egg, I set off just after 8 am.  The breeze was a cross-tailwind to begin with and a slight downhill tilt was a great way to get the legs moving again. It occurred to me as I rode along that the balance of the ride profile from yesterday’s optimistic plan still had to be covered just to get to Kon Túm. I had covered 1770 ish meters out of 2300+ and was still about 60 km short and while Kon Túm was at a lower elevation than Ngoc Hoi, it wasn’t by much. 

Every time the road went down, there was a rise at the other end, sometimes a quite significant rise and as I kept going, that tailwind spun around to firstly become a crosswind then a headwind. It was turning out to be a tough morning and efforts of the previous days were starting to take their toll.  Did get some relief at times and recorded some pretty fast stints but each time the road went up it got harder and harder to maintain anything like a good average. 

At around the 60 km mark with the outskirts of Kon Túm rolling under my wheels I made the decision to stop and try to get a bus to Nha Trang. I had never worked so hard to go downhill. 

482 meters of elevation gain to drop down just over 100, I’m glad I didn’t try to push through las night. It would have ended with me sobbing in the fetal position on the side of the road. 

Kon Tum

The day started out bright and clear, all trace of the heavy rain the previous night was gone, leaving the sky a cloudless blue. There was a strong wind blowing which was a cross-tailwind as I set off. The days profile was allegedly downhill as I was to finish at a lower elevation than where I started. 

The ride started out swimmingly with a nice downhill roll to get things going and while I was a little sore from the las two days, as I got the legs turning over I started to feel better. There was a nagging doubt in my mind however as I still recalled how much elevation was still left over from the profile I didn’t finish the day before. My fears were soon realised as every little descent had an ascent on the other end of it, some of them significantly greater than that which I’d come down. There was a nagging doubt in my mind however as I still recalled how much elevation was still left over for the profile I didn’t finish the day before. To add insult to injury, the wind had swung towards the South and was now a cross-headwind. 

I had been mulling over what I was to do today as far as destinations went as I was going to come up short of my planned ride destination of Nha Trang in 4 days time as I still had almost 500 km when I set out this morning. The wind ended up being my undoing, or perhaps my saviour. I made the decision to stop at Kon Tum and try to get a bus to Nha Trang and save myself some torment. This was supposed to be a holiday after all. 

I’d arrived at a little before 11 am and went looking for the bus station. The bus to Nha Trang was an overnight affair which didn’t leave until 6 pm so I had some time to kill. I got a room for a few hours so I could shower, then went and got myself a hair cut. This was quite entertaining as I didn’t speak a word of Vietnamese and the Hairdresser not one of English. A pantomime ensued and I somehow ended up getting the full treatment. I paid some pretty stupid prices for haircuts before today, but I’ve never received anything like this. Hair and beard trim, shave, eyebrows trimmed, manicure, pedicure and some exploratory surgery into my ear canals. The price you ask? 100,000 VD or just under A$6.00!

The bus timetable was either a work of fiction or just very loosely interpreted. I’d arrived just after 5pm to get The Dr. loaded  safely on the bus and was sat waiting for nearly an hour next to the wrong bus while the right bus was still on its way. The Staff at the bus depot were very patient with all my questions, which they didn’t understand, and my pointing and gesticulating, which they mostly did, and eventually put The Dr. safely onboard in his own stowage, which was just as well because his fare was more than my own. 

At 6:30 we at last set off onto the night on a “sleeper coach” which an entirely new thing to me. Three rows, two isles and double rows with the seats fully reclining and your feet tucked into a sort of cubbyhole. 
Outwardly this sounds like it should be a relaxing way to travel and ordinarily you’d be right, however the bus drivers love of honking his horn meant this was far from relaxing. Couple that with there not really being anywhere to put anything save the cubbyhole at your feet and the almost constant smoking by either the Driver or his assistant and it’s safe to say I didn’t get much rest. This proved evident when we entered Nha Trang I was keeping an eye on where we were and when they finally remembered to let me off, I got up and left my phone where you see it in the photo above. 

The bus had trundled off into the night before I realised my error And it dawned on me I had no way to contact them to let them know. Thoroughly pissed at my stupidity I set off in search of my hotel. An hour later despite having been to the correct address three times and being put on a bum steer twice I finally managed to check in. The problem being that the hotel was called Lotus Village and the actual place is called something else entirely. The night clerk, it was just after 5 am, spoke just enough English to check me in but not enough to help with phone dilemma, so I headed upstairs for a shower and to wait till I might find someone who could. 

… and I thought yesterday was tough

I woke in Kham Dúc to a rainy sky and cool conditions. Not ideal for riding but a welcome change from the heat of yesterday, max Temp 37.5C. 

I am procrastinating about setting out. The first 50 km are almost entirely uphill with 2 climbs topping out around 1000 metres. I’m currently at about 400 meters but am going to lose quite a bit of that straight away. The elevation profile for today has over 2300 meters of climbing and is 170 km long. The bright side is that once over the second big Mountain, it’s pretty much downhill to Kon Tùm. (With undulations 😏). 

At a place called Cåu Dák Chè somewhere up the mountain and after almost 1000 metres of climbing I stopped for some much needed refreshments. I was greeted by two Canadian guys on motorbikes one whom said “I mean this in the nicest possible way, but you must be out of your fucking mind”. I was beginning to think he had a point. Parts of this climb have been brutal, long sections of 10%+ and I’m not ashamed to admit, at some points I had to walk up. 

The weather has not been kind for photos, intermittent drizzle interspersed with light rain. It also doesn’t help that I’ve been riding in the clouds this morning. 

At further past my lunch stop I fanally crested the first of the two peaks I had to climb today and was greater with clearing blue skies and 10% decline signs 😃🎉🎉 About halfway down this first descent I passed a Semi that had rolled on the was down the hill. It was pretty recent and was left sprawling over the Armco, the drivers side completely crushed. It was quite sobering and my initial exhilaration was tempered somewhat. Another kilometre or so further down was the shell of a burnt out bus that had been coming up the hill. 

The transition across to the next climb was short lived and it seemed as the roads builders had been in even more of a hurry to get to the top than they had been on the previous one. 1336 meters of elevation gain and 52.7 km later I crested the second mountain, this had taken me about 4 hours at an average of just 13 kph. 170 km for the day now looked very optimistic.  

The tailwind coupled with the overall descent helped, but the climbing had taken its toll, every little pinch now felt like mountain and at 110 km as I rolled into Ngoc Hoi I decided I’d had enough. It was almost 4pm and the brooding sky did not bode well for further riding. 

I’ll just leave the stats here. 

Going uphill has never been so much fun …

The ride out of Hoi An along the river  was so captivating I missed the turn and rode about 5 km in the wrong direction before I realised my error. I could’ve kept going and it would’ve taken me to the same place but the route was 17 km longer. So in fact I’d only saved myself 7 km as it turned out and I’ve no idea whether it might have been a better route or not. 

I eventually found my way onto Highway 1, this was the on ramp, and started south paying much more attention to my route, stopping several times to double check. The planned route would take me up into the mountains along the side of a river and while I knew I would have to gain quite abbot of elevation, I figured I had over 100 km to do it in. 

By the time I had gotten onto the road that would take me up to the Ho Chi Minh Highway the local schools had let the Kids out for lunch which they have at home it would seem. I passed hundreds of them over about 60 km and they would take turns in yelling Hello and waving at me, then giggling when I waved and said hello back. As I started to get further up into the hills, the kids would yell from their houses, l’d never had so much fun going uphill. 

The river I’d been following was actually part of a Hydroelectric system, with several dams starting to appear. This didn’t bode well for my casual ride through the hills as I was at the bottom of the Dam system. 

It at kilometre 100, 99.8 actually, that all my illusions were shattered by a little red & yellow triangular sign which had a black wedge with this – 10% – written above it. A quick check of my elevation gained told me I still had nearly 600 metres to climb. 

I stopped a bit further on to bust out the big guns. This is what passes for Red Bull over here, it has no fizz and a slightly bitter taste, packs quite a punch though. 

The road kept going up in 10% chunks with a bit of flatter stuff and the occasional small descent. 

WARNING ⚠️ Thought police, Nanny State lovers and wowsers look away now. 

Ok normality resumes. 

After finding a hotel and having a shower I sat to this….

… chicken & rice and pork with sautéed vegetables, a Tiger and a bottle of water, the whole lot for about $10. 

Dang Da Nang, that’s impressive!

The descent off the top of Hai Van was incredible. Smooth hotmix with nicely banked corners, infinitely better than the other side. It Was marred only by a guy in a truck who decided to overtake a bus coming up the hill towards me. He either didn’t see me, didn’t care or didn’t realise how fast I was going. I’m so glad I had disc brakes or there’d have been quite a brown stripe down the road. 

The rest of the run in was fairly unremarkable but I did get a lot of attention. People would tide up next to me on their scooters , slow down and wait for eye contact then start waving, giving thumbs up or simply say hello hello. I never experienced anything like it and the pain in the legs just melts away and is replaced with a smile. 

I stayed at The Star hotel in Da Nang and I was a little disappointed, it wasn’t bad, but just a series of little let downs that kids spoiled they show. 

I did however find a great spot for Dinner and sat down to this..

Marinated beef cubes in onion and tomato sauce, a side of rice and a Larue Bia. 

I got up early the next morning and went exploring. 

Hidden in the mist overlooking Da Nang Bay stands a massive Bhudda. At a height of 67m, the lotus base’ diameter is 35m, equivalent to a 30-storey building. The little round shape on the beach is a coracle. I didn’t think they’d been used since biblical times but well, there you go. They were everywhere on the beach and in the water. 

It sits in th middle of a Pagoda complex an Is surrounded by other great sculptures and not so tiny Bozai trees. 

This guy’s my favourite, the DILIGAF Bhudda. 

On my way out I bumped in to these two awesome guys from Saigon, this guy and his mate behind the camera. They have ridden from Saigon to Da Nang in just six days, nearly 1000 km. 

After a brief “chat”, I don’t speak Vietnamese and didn’t have a word of English between them, I set off down the coast into a moderate headwind. My next stop Marble Mountain(s) a 5 limestone and marble mountains jutting up out of an otherwise flat landscape. I had been told about this place by an old guy in Hue, but I was not prepared for what I found. 

The cave was a scene of fierce fighting between US troops and the Viet Cong, although it’s hard to tell now, it was always a shrine and I’m guessing the marble floor is a recent addition. 

The scope of the endeavours here mind blowing given that most of it carved out of Mountain itself. 

For Top Gear afficionados, this is where James May’s statue came from. There is an entire industry of marble sculptors and carvers of precious stone. 

Hoi An is a beautiful old town and the centre of the Silk Trade. The Old Town really shows it’s French influence and is almost entirely one big market. 

….and a Hue we go!

Quietly berating myself I set off around 8:30 with about 125 km in front of me. 

I’d decided to visit a Historic Pagoda, the Pagoda of the Celestial Lady, a Bhuddist Temple. 

The Bell which the Dragon is holding up is said to weigh 3285 kg and can be heard 10 km away. 

This was on the way out of town, but in the wrong direction but a further detour past the Minh Mang Tomb would see me heading back in the right direction. This added the extra 20 or so Km but as I was here it’d be foolish not to see some it. 

We’ll miss I did, rode straight past the thing and didn’t even see a sign. 

Soon after this my phone rang, it was Lily from the Impressive Hotel (yes that’s what it’s called), with some very welcome news. Yes, like  numpty I had left them in the safe, now all we had to do was workout how together them to me. I thought she might be able to send to Saigon and she said she’d look into it. 

At about the 60 km mark I stopped for some lunch, I must of ridden past hundreds of places selling food by this stage and I couldn’t tell you why I stopped where I did. Perhaps it was the chairs were approaching normal size (most of the seating is small plastic stools more suited to 5 y.o. Children). I ordered Bó Chà which turns out to be noodle soup with spiced minced chicken balls. There also appeared to be something else floating in the soup. I did try it …

 … but then I heard Marks voice in head. “….if you don’t know what it is, don’t eat it.”

It was during this meal that Lily rang back and asked where I was going next, I told her Da Nang and the Hoi An the following day. She then asked what hotel I would be in so that she could tell the bus company (?). I said I didn’t know but would book one and let her know, which I then did. 

Feeling chuffed I set off again fuelled up and eager to tackle the Hai Van Pass. The detour however had addled my calculations as I thought I was the foot of the climb but was in fact still some 20+ km away. 

It was a very hazy day and while I could just make out mountains in the distance it was hard to tell how far they were. 

Suddenly the Pass Wass right there, I was on it before I knew it  10 km up then a downhill run into Da Nang. About a third of the way up and after passing several signs that alleged 8% when it was barely 5% my phone rang again. It was Lily, who managed to organise one of the guests that were going to Hoi An to ferry my stuff down. What a freaking legend!

My elation was short lived as the climb got tougher and tougher. The average gradient I now know is 5.4% but the final 4 km are in excess of 9% with a few section well into double figures. To add to the difficulty a strong Southerly was howling over the top and straight into my face for the final 800 metres. 

At the top I was cooked, I sculled four 500 ml bottles of water, poured one over my head and filled two bidons to the complete amazement of the guy selling them. 

Whilst I wasn’t under any illusions of getting KOM on Strava on this climb, it would be interesting to do it again on my sub 8kg Colnago instead of a +23kg commuting bike (sorry Dr.)

Hue oil beef hooked

The Train from Hanoi was delayed and so any plans I had been entertaining regarding riding to Da Nang today stayed on the train. A quick consult on TripAdvisor found me a lovely hotel. 

First time out on the bike in Vietnam and I’m glad I spent sometime getting a feel for the traffic in Hanoi. There are vehicles everywhere you look, heading in every direction. The trick is to move with purpose and commitment and every one else just seem to move around you. 

This pearl of wisdom revealed itself at my first “roundabout”, not like we’re used to in Australia, more like an intersection/marketplace that ended up getting a garden in the middle of it. You could easily play a game of football in the middle of it. I just took a deep breath and went for it and somehow made it across the flow of traffic to the third exit. 

After making safely to my hotel, La Perle Hue, which is excellent, I discovered that a couple of items missing. Namely my Garmin and worst of all, my Car key. I thought that perhaps they’d fallen out of my bag on the train as other things more useful, (cash, credit cards, phone, etc.) were still where I’d left them. The other thing that occurred to me was that in my endeavours at security and safety I might have left them in the safe in my room in Hanoi, now over 600 km away! I called the hotel and asked them to check, Lily said she’d call back after having a look. 

I decided to have a bit of a look around that evening, should’ve gone sooner but go no sleep on the train and crashed on the bed for a couple of hours. Hue is an amazing town, vibrant colourful and very proud of being the Ancient Capital of Vietnam. 

When I hadn’t heard back from her by the next day, panic was starting to set in. I asked the .receptionist at La Perle to check if there was a lost and found at the railway. The answer some minutes later was that the train in question was now in Saigon and whatever may or may not have been on the train was long gone. 

Choo Choo, my kingdom for a p.. piece of toilet paper.

Well after an amazing meal and a couple of equally incredible beers at Le Petite Bruxelles I boarded the SE19 Train to Hue. 

I had been warned that there would be a shortage and that I should probably take some with me, but foolishly I neglected to pick some up when purchasing my other toiletries. This made for a relatively uncomfortable night with my thoughts wandering through all the potential sources of TP and where I might find some on a train. 

As dawn broke behind a foggy sky, yes actual atmospheric moisture induced fog, we pulled into Dong Hoi. My hunt was back on. 

Success! Just as we rolled out of the station I managed to find a conductor who grasped my meaning immediately and bestowed upon me Princely gift, a tiny roll of TP.