Day 43: 21/7/13
(This was finished in April 2014 so may not be 100% accurate!)
We didn't have to do anything today until check out so we had a well-deserved sleep in!! I thought I might get up a bit earlier but I was just too tired!
We checked out and most people were checking out at the same time so about 11 of us went for lunch. We went to a cafe that the guide had recommended which was good. The owner was also a photographer so while you were waiting for your food they brought out books of photos for you to pick some to buy! Of course we gave in and bought a few!!
All we did then was go to the supermarket for snacks. That was an interesting experience actually. They sealed our handbags before we could go in. Then when we were in there they had funny baskets that Hannah was wheeling around with her and when we took a photo they let a roar at us to stop!! When we bought our stuff they had to stamp our receipt to let us out of the place! Crazy security!!
We were going to be on the train all evening and night so we were told to get dinner so the only other thing we did today was order a take-away. Lots of people went for pizza but I thought cold rice would be better than cold pizza! At this stage I can't imagine a day without rice!!
So within three hours we had bought lunch, dinner and snacks!! Food was our only agenda today! We met in the lobby then to go on the train which was to leave at 4:30 and to take 13 hours. It was delayed leaving which suited us fine because it meant that we would arrive at a reasonable hour of the day tomorrow!! We probably got on at about half five I'd say. We were sharing with Steff and Hannah this time which we were delighted with! Both of us had had the smelly cabin for a turn, so we were going to ask to be together, but we didn't get a chance. We were delighted when the guide called out all our names together! Later, he told us he had tried to do something nice for us- I think because the girls had been so sick!
We stayed in our cabin most of the night and ate our food and chatted! Khoa came in chatting for a little while. I had asked him to tell me some stories that they tell children so he went telling a big long legend. It took him longer than normal as he said he'd never told it in English. It was quite similar to the Prodigal son story, which he knew aswell. It involved an eagle and a goat and a brother getting jealous over the other brother having a good goat! He was fascinated with the fact that most schools in Ireland are Catholic and we get them ready for the Sacraments. I had been wondering aswell if they take Christian names for their confirmation and they do. They take one when they are baptised and another for their confirmation. His are Jack and Paul. He hadn't heard the English words for confession, communion and confirmation before so he spent ages practicing them. Obviously he doesn't get many guests that are interested in Vietnamese Catholicism! The sacraments all seem to happen around the same age they do at home. He laughed at the idea of taking a pledge for your confirmation though! He said that once you are confirmed you can be a god-parent. I think he called it a holy parent. I think what he was hinting at was that when you are confirmed you are treated like an adult, so perhaps you can drink?! Women don't really drink anyway, so it would be just the men.
We were told that there was a group meeting in the cabin next door at 8pm for some activities. The guide had a box with him that we questioned if it was for the activities but he said that he just had to deliver a parcel to his friend in Hanoi! Of course he was lying- he pulled out the box and inside were the contents of mojitos for everyone!! He had fresh mint that he crushed up, a full bottle of Bacardi, and whatever other drink you need, a jug, glasses, and even plastic gloves to do the mixing!! He said he doesn't do it for every group- but every guide says that!!
He was a bit unfortunate though as One of our guys got really drunk. He had been out later than everyone last night and ended up sleeping on a roundabout and getting his watch stolen. When he woke up he went back to the hotel for a bit of a sleep and then started drinking again so that he would fall asleep on the train. He brought a bottle of baileys with him and ended up drinking the whole thing within 25 minutes. So at this stage he was really drink and loud- telling everyone to F off- which is bad but extremely bad in the Vietnamese culture! We had a woman then who had had plenty of drinks aswell telling him she'd b**** slap him if he didn't shut up! We were well blessed!
With our guide there's 17 in the group. There's another intrepid group too and whatever mixing up went on, it ended up that our drunk guy was supposed to be in a room with people from the other group- they didn't want someone that drunk though. So our drunk woman said she would sleep in there, but that caused even more problems because two of our group didnt want him to sleep in their cabin!! They are not big fans of drunkenness, but it didn't make too much difference because about 20 minutes later he passed out asleep. They sorted it out anyway- a few people swapped and then everyone was relatively happy!
It was a pity that all that crap went on though as it ruined the whole mojitos as a group moment!! Even the guide tried to calm down the drunk guy at one stage and mentioned that he should go to sleep. The drunk shouted back that he wasn't going to effin sleep with him because he was too effin small!! They don't speak like that over here so he made a quick retreat! Everyone was fairly quiet, not knowning what to say and we all went to our separate cabins as soon as we were finished our drinks. It was a pity as we had had such fun with stories and songs on the first train, we could have done it again if people hadnt drank too much!
When we went back to our own room, we chatted a bit and played some cards. We played snap, old maid, rummy, go fish, bulls*** and attempted 25. Noone else had played it before and I definitely need to brush up on it. The guide played some snap with us and thought it was great craic to slam hands in the table!
Around 10 we settled down to bed. On the beds you are supposed to sleep with your head near the window, but I had my luggage down there at the end of my bed so I slept the other way. We had the door locked, but you could still see out a little crack. I was just looking through it, looking at nothing really, when I spotted a girl and guy from our group kissing in the corridor! That woke us all up fairly quickly and we were like spies trying to get four heads geeking out the tiny gap!! It was highly entertaining and it took us ages to go to sleep after that!
We were chatting for a bit. Steph and Hannah were full of 'would you rather' questions. One of them was whether you would prefer to die by strangling or drowning and I said strangling definitely because it would be quicker! They said not necessarily and I said if you had a good strangler I'd go with strangling! They seemed to think that was the funniest thing they ever heard and were in convulsions!!