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UNDER THE SUN
I LOVE TRAIN MOTION; I LOVE TRAIN JOURNEYS IN FAR FLUNG PLACES. HUE TO HANOI - SLEEPER. IT'S DARK OUTSIDE; WE PULL INTO AN ANONYMOUS STATION. ONE OF ONLY TWO STOPS ON THE WAY TO HANOI. THE PLATFORM IS DARK AND MOODY, HUMID AND HOT. RAILWAY MEN HUNCH DOWN IN LITTLE GROUPS, SMOKING, LAUGHING. FREIGHT CARRIAGES LITTER THE SPARE TRACKS. SOME ORANGE LIGHT BUT MOSTLY FLUORESCENT BATHES THE STATION. MAKES ME THINK OF ADAM IN JOHN STEINBECK'S 'EAST OF EDEN': AFTER LEAVING THE ARMY ADAM TRAVELS HOMELESS FOR TWO YEARS - MOVING FROM TOWN TO TOWN ON THE FREIGHT TRAINS ACROSS AMERICA, LONELY, NOT KNOWING HOW TO GO HOME. I FEEL SHUT OFF FROM THE WORLD THESE LAST TWO WEEKS. VIETNAM HAS BEEN TOUGH AND IT'S BEEN SEVEN MONTHS OF CONSTANT TRAVEL. I'M NOT LONELY OR HOMESICK, NOTHING LIKE THAT. NO MOBILE NO INTERNET, JUST ME AND PAUL THEROUX (IS THAT HIS REAL NAME?) THERE SEEMS NO WAY TO MAKE BONDS WITH VIETNAMESE WITHOUT THERE BEING A FINANCIAL MOTIVE; A DAILY BOMBARDMENT OF PROUD PEOPLE SCRAPING OUT A LIVING.
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