American reporter travels across Vietnam by train, praises the scenery as 'absolutely wonderful'

Natalie B. Compton is a travel reporter for The Washington Post. This summer, she traveled to explore Vietnam. But instead of choosing a plane, Natalie decided to take a train to fully enjoy the scenery of the 'S-shaped land'.

The Washington Post reporter first visited Vietnam in 2016 but still had many regrets. On her first trip back to Asia since the pandemic, Natalie wanted to explore this magical land in a completely different way. So instead of booking a short flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, she booked two overnight trains over three days.

While in Japan or Western European countries, trains can be considered the most efficient means of transportation, in Southeast Asian countries, cheap flights dominate. Therefore, this experience made Natalie very much look forward to. Traveling by train allows her to see with her own eyes the vast fields of the Vietnamese countryside, the not-so-famous provinces, enjoy local food or simply reduce a little bit of carbon emissions into the environment. The American female reporter’s first trip from Ho Chi Minh City to Hue lasted 22 hours and 44 minutes on the Thong Nhat Express train. For $64, she bought a bunk bed ticket in a four-person cabin. Throughout the journey, staff with trolleys regularly move to the compartments to sell coffee, snacks and meals such as rice drumsticks, soup and porridge for breakfast to passengers. The train also stops occasionally for passengers to get off the train and buy snacks from the stalls at the station.

After a night in a hotel and a day in Hue, Natalie headed to Hanoi on the Lotus Express, a more scenic sleeper train. The journey took 15 hours and cost $72. The carriage was nearly identical to the Reunification Express, but with Wi-Fi, much thicker mattresses, more decorations, a complimentary glass of wine, a snack bag, and more tourists.

What impressed the reporter the most was the moment she woke up early in the morning when the train passed through dense forests, then came to timber yards, goose farms, vast fields of ripe rice, herds of buffalo resting in the lagoon, fishing boats and the endless coastline. This "absolutely wonderful" scene was exactly what Natalie expected before the trip. All of this would not be visible to every tourist if traveling by plane.

Although there are still many inconveniences such as no Wifi, private bathroom, having to use shared toilets or noisy fellow passengers, according to Natalie, the experience of traveling by train across Vietnam is completely worth experiencing for tourists who want to explore more about the 'S-shaped land'.

vietnamnet.vn