PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

Day 6, March 27^th

WOW!  Mom and dad finally got a taste of the tougher side of backpacking.  It certainly had its upside, but it was not easy at all.

Our new travel buddy.

Not too long after we settled in to our room in car #12 and plowed through our KFC bucket-o-chicken meal our suite mate joined us.  Older gentleman, 50’s, Chinese and didn’t speak a bit of English.  He was really polite and all was good.  But, like most of the people we saw, he smoked.  Actually, just about everyone on the train smoked, which sucked, because there was no way to open windows.  The train had a haze of smoke during the entire trip.  30 hours.  Add to that the fact that the beds were extremely uncomfortable and our suite mate snored louder and longer than mom and dad combined, there was no sleep to be had.  One of the upsides of taking the train was that we got to see the China countryside.  It is beautiful.  Green.  Lush.  Mountainous. 

 Day 8, March 29^th

China from the window of a train.

We were scheduled to arrive in Nanning, China at 11:30 pm.  With times and schedules constantly changing, there was no way to know for sure when the next train or bus would be leaving for the Vietnam border.  We had no plans on arrival.  We arrived in Nanning after 1 am, 2 hours late.  No way we get a train or bus at this time.  We walked out of the train station and in the middle of the night I posted mom and dad up on a bench next to all of the homeless people and I left them so I could go find information.  I checked for the next train or bus and none were to be had.  Well, at least that is what I think, they didn’t speak English and all I got were headshakes.  Plan B-ish.  Hotel room for the night.  I go back to mom and dad and they are still alive.  That’s cool.  I tell them the scoop on the travel and the hotel idea.  At 2 in the morning mom says, “Too cool!”  Dad is either dead tired or really going with the flow, he is calm.  I leave them again.  Secure a hotel, grab my kids and we get to the room.  They shower and crawl in bed and are out within seconds.  I’m staying awake all night cause I don’t want to miss the bus.  Now I really know how mom and dad felt traveling with kids.  Connecting in Kuwait on a trip back from Saudi Arabia when I was a kid, mom had to stay awake all night while my sisters and I slept so we wouldn’t miss the flight out the next morning.

Dad climbing down from his bunk.

At 5 am I leave them sleeping and head out to find the next step.  The town is barely awake and I’m getting lots of stares.  I couldn’t find the bus station.  I asked everyone.  No one speaks English.  One person draws a rough map of somewhere and it still doesn’t help.  It’s getting late and I need to go get the kids up.  On the way back I pick up some breakfast from the street vendors.

When I get back the kids are already up and getting ready. They are such good kids.  Mom seems a bit nervous.  She says to me, “You know Kevin, finally, for the first time in my life I feel safer with you nearby.”  Thanks, mom?

Off we go.  We arrive at this place I thought might be the right bus station at 7:40 am.  The bus for Vietnam leaves at 8 am.  We boarded at 7:50am.  It’s all good.

After a 30 hours train ride and only a few hours of sleep for them, I packed them on an 8 hour bus ride to Hanoi, Vietnam.  Unfortunately, the bus ride took a lot longer than it had to.  In this region it always does.  The bus companies either contract with eating locations along their route or they own the eating establishments.  The bus stops several times and stays too long. 

The busses to Vietnam

Three hours to the border, get off the bus, golf cart ride to Chinese customs office, another golf cart ride to the Vietnamese immigration office, a final golf cart ride to the new bus on the Vietnamese side, another three hour bus ride and we are in Hanoi.

As I mentioned before, this was tough, but it had an upside.  Our initial intentions were to take the express train from Beijing to Hanoi.  That would have cost about $350 - $450 per person.  We ended up spending $147 per person.  The $200 per person we saved can easily cover the cost of eating for the rest of the trip.

Vietnam from the window of a bus.

We didn’t go to a bus station in Hanoi.  It seemed as though we were just dropped off on the street.  Immediately we are surrounded by a ton of taxis and we don’t even have any Vietnam Dong yet.  Dong is Vietnamese money.  I locate and ATM, secure some funds and get the smallest taxi known to man.  About as spacious as a Mini Coop.  I don’t care, my head is killing me at this point.  We cram in and go.

When we got to the Old Quarter we couldn’t find our hotel.  The three of us packing our stuff around in heavy traffic trying to find this hotel.  Chaotic.  I find a restaurant and leave the kids again to find a place.  Turns out the hotel we wanted had closed and reopened somewhere else.  I find the new one and report back.  Mom asks, “Do we get a senior citizen discount at the hotel?”  My head is about to explode.  I don’t even have a response to that.  “Kevin, you really need to start asking about that.  Your dad and I qualify.”  Uh huh.

We check in, I drop my stuff on the bed and collapse.  China to Vietnam, done.

Needing aspirinly yours,

The Parent

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