The Day I caught the train (for the third time)

I'm on the night train, my third in six days. This soft sleeper is like lying on a pile of bricks rapped in some foam, so I'm glad I didn't tough it out and go for a hard sleeper. Once again I'm in with 3 Vietnamese people but this time they are friendly and chatty - and hopefully not prone to playing music on their mobile phones all night.

The last journey (back from Sapa) was not condusive to a god sleep. I think with those pesky kids and their music - and that was with an Ipod in and an eye mask on. I got off at the other end and was collared by a moto driver who eventually agreed to half his original suggested price and take me back for 20 000 dong (65p). I have since worked out that this was more than I needed to pay, but in my sleep deprived state at 4 am I just didnt care. The driver did all this having seen the card for my hostel (still the same one who "lost" my reservsation the first night, but I have to say its the only place so far I would give a 100% recomendation to - Drift Backpackers Hanoi everyone!) but then he proceded to ask directions from his friends at the gate and head off in the wrong direction. This left me hanging off the back of a motorbike trying to mime directions to the non english speaking driver with one hand and holding on with the other.

We eventually made it to the hostel and as I was promised I went to crash in the TV room. However for some reason at 4.55am at a hostel in Vietnam, there was an Aussie girl sitting on the internet. so with the light and noise she created, and the adrenaline still pumping from the bike ride, I didn't really sleep. She left - LEAVING THE LIGHT ON! - at 5.30 and I dropped off about 20 minutes later.


6.55am - " I cant find Inglorious Basterds! Where is it? I wanted to see that! Oh there it is! OH god this is really going to upset that guy isn't it?"

Well at first yes it did at first, but I had kind of expected it and I too quite fancied seeing that film, so I rolled over, pulled myself together and watched some of QT's new work. I also got chatting to the girl who woke me up. Turns out she was really nice - which is lucky as otherwise I may have had to kill her (Those who have seen a truly sleep deprived Eric will know that I'm only half kidding here :-P)We agreed once we checked in and got sorted out to go and do some sightseeing.

Now at this point I was given a key with a green fob. The rooms in the drift are colour coded. I was told I was on floor 4, but the green room is level 5. I walked into the unlocked green room, took the bed that matched my number, had a shower and went back down..... Turns out I was in the aqua room on floor 4. Oh well.

So somewhere in Hanoi there is a b52 in a pond that crashed during the war. It is IMPOSSIBLE to find. Locals don't know, taxis take you to the B52 museum (there's no pond there!) and not one of us (we found two equally baffled people on route) could find it. So after a second (and still baffling) trip to the Ho Chi Mihn Museum and to the army museum (more plane wrecks, but still no lake) I did something a little adventurous. As Hayley was fading fast and I wasn't far behind we agreed to share a moto home. For the most part this was fine.

There were however two moments of complete panic. The first was when another bike made a spirited attempt to ram us and I had to get my right leg out the road sharpish. The second was when our driver (realising he had made a wrong turn) whirled around and plowed the wrong way down the middle lane of a 3 lane road towards an oncoming bus....

(REAL) Taxi for Johnstone.....