Day 25, Mon 13 May - From the sights of Ha Noi to the Hoi An Train

A big day today and a reminder that we are not yet acclimatised for the weather in the south! Took our first Ha Noi local bus to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (well within a km of it) you can tell you are getting closer by the number of guards on the street! Managed to get the whistle blown at us several times.... No loitering in front of the Presidential Palace, do not walk on the footpath, and not too close to the Mausoleum!

   Russell with his Vietnamese wife in front of the Mausoleum 

We all agreed that we don't want to be a guard at the Mausoleum.  Luckily several of the sights to see were in the same area so we spent about an hour melting but enjoying the sights!  The One Pillar Pagoda, Ha Noi Museum and Tran Quoc - the oldest Buddhist Pagoda/Temple in Vietnam and situated halfway across the causeway on West Lake.  

   Buddhas at rest in the Tran Quoc Pagoda

   A short respite at the restaurant on West Lake watching the local fisherman.

Back to the Ha Noi Guesthouse to pick up the bags and say farewell to the fabulous team!

    Brent, Les, Khanh, Kim, Nga, Kim, Russell (Huyen not on duty)

On leaving in the taxi the two doorman were dispatched on their motorbike to see us safely to the station, on arrival they were getting our bags out before we even got out of the cab, they proceeded to lead us into the station, purchased a couple of passes for themselves ( or a small bribe, we're not sure) and escorted us past security, onto the platform, across the railway tracks to our train, onto our carriage, and right to the door of our sleeper cabin - all part of the service.... WOW!

   Our private escorts out of Ha Noi, they did get a good tip from our boys... They were happy.

Settled in to our sleeper on the SE19 train with a little note to selves that Vietnamese trains are not quite to the standard of Chinese, smaller and older, BUT the toilets are definitely better!

Very soon after the dining CART came by, Russell was a bit peckish and was going to go for some noodles and greens, then saw some hard boiled eggs and thought... EXCELLENT, nice and easy and filling, tried to convince us all to have some but no, we were ok.  Right says Russell I'll have two please.  The young man started to crack them, Russell says I can do it but no, young guy insisted....... CRACK!!  If you could have seen Russell's face........ OOOpppps he says, I think I have made a mistake!!!! As the greeny coloured liquid oozed out of the embryo egg Russell was a sight to behold.  The young food guy was not leaving until he had seen them consumed and all credit to the Big Man he ATE THEM!

   Delicious says Russell!  Yeah Right says the rest of the cabin guests.....

Settled in, played cards and got ready for a bumpy nights sleep.