I checked into my hotel, showered, and spent an hour or so relaxing. Then I went out to get my train ticket. There was only one shop I could find that would book train tickets and they didn't seem to book the private tourist trains--only the public ones, and the times were awful. Basically I either left at 3AM or I arrived at 4AM. I checked online and found out the tourist trains could be booked at the train station, so I hopped on a cab. I got to the station and the lady at the ticket counter told me I had to go next door to book the Livitrans tickets--the tourist ones. Unforutnately, LIvitrans is also closed on Sundays. Why did today have to be Sunday--why! I relented and booked a the public train that arrived in Hanoi at 4AM. I met a guy from Denmark at the station who was having difficulty understanding the train schedule. I explained it to him and then we shared tales of torment related to us and the Vietnamese train system. We arranged to meet for drinks and pizza later in the day. I walked back to my hotel and watched some Supernatural. Then I went to the pizza joint early and had a few drinks at the bar until my new friend arrived. I don't remember his name, but he pretty much convinced me to go to Laos after I heard his stories. He was good company and I thought my adventure in Danang was quite a success despite how undertraveled it is, but it wasn't over yet. The next morning I got up with just enough time to trek down to Bread of Life and get biscuits and gravy. They were opened. There was one lady in there--a foreigner--Brittish, perhaps. Then another foreigner came out of the back--she was the owner. A portly lady of intimidating stature with hair like a permed mop. She was American, from all over the US but mostly the areas in the center. I commented that I had read they had biscuits and gravy but was unable to find it on the menu, but I emphasized that it wasn't that big of a deal since just about everything sounded amazing. She told me that they did in fact have biscuits and gravy, and that it just wasn't on the menu because it confuses people that are from Europe, who expect biscuits will be sweet. Well that makes sense. I was glad I asked. Then as I was ordering the biscuits and gravy, she told me they also have another even more secret menu item, the Southern Star--biscuits and gravy and scrambled eggs. Well boy howdy, that sounds perfect. These were the best biscuits and gravy hands down. The main reason is that the biscuits are more of a hybrid, biscuit and english muffin, meaning, she uses them to satisfy both words. They were denser and less buttery than a biscuit, but moister and more fluffy than an english muffin. It was perfect really. This really topped of my visit. Now I'm actually glad I decided to do the grueling 3 sleeper train journey instead of a 2 hour flight. It took some effort to move myself to the train station after this feast, but I made it and got on my final train. Unfortunately I was in a hard sleeper and on the top bunk--and the train left at 10 AM. This is easily, the worst combination of depature times and train classes/bed elevations possible. The 2nd class train cars are only beds. The top bunk is too tall to be able to sit up in. Nobody wants to lie down for 16 hours straight. I tried to watch episodes of Supernatural in my bed until my laptop battery died. Then I hung out in the dining car and drank verrry slowly. Next I tried to charge my laptop in the one outlet next to the sinks by the bathroom, but I had to stand near it just in case someone decided to make off with it. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either. I did make friends with a younger girl in the next compartment to mine who spoke pertty good English and I sat in her car, where she had the bottom bunk, and we chatted while an elder lady sat across and laughed at us randomly throughout.
The train arrived at about 4:30AM. I woke up with plenty of energy to get myself up and stay up. I exited the train to find lots of men offering taxis. This I thought wierd, as I hadn't actually exited the station yet, so I ignored them. There were lots more taxis outside the station, so I got the attention of one and showed him the card I had for the hostel I booked. It wasn't very far, but I was a bit worried when we got there because it was completely dark. I got out and yanked on the door--locked. Crap. What the heck. I yanked again and something moved inside. A guy was alseep at the desk. He opened the door up and I said that I had a reservation and proceeded to try and explain that I didn't care if the room was ready could I just come in and sit on the--he didn't care. All he heard was "can I check in". He said "No," and shut the door. Wow. At least my taxi was there--he didn't need me to ask, he knew I needed a place to stay, so he drove around the block, stopping at the next 5 or so guesthouses. Most weren't open--the ones that were were just the night watch people and they couldn't check me in. Finally we swung into hotel--a nice hotel. A 50 dollar a night hotel (which is lush for Vietnam). It was the only place that would let me check in so I took it. Then I gave the taxi drive money and he drove off with my change. I was going to let him keep most of the change as a tip anyway, but it wasn' t the most honest of ways for him to recieve it. I got into the room and crashed for a bit, then woke up and booked my flight to Laos. While I was booking it I went back and forth between pages, with flights to Japan, Laos, and Shanghai. I was a click away from going to either of these places. Finally I decided to do Laos--my flight was booked for the next morning. I gchatted Antonin and found out his work was a mere 3 blocks away from my hotel, so we met for a nice lunch on the street, some coffee, and then a nice walk around a more businessy part of Hanoi--way nicer than the backpacker area. It was a really nice way to end my trip in Vietnam, in the city I had started in, but with a much better impression than on my initial visit.
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