Broken sleep
This particular train journey gave birth to one of my worst night’s sleep I’ve ever had. It was very difficult to get comfy, and even harder to sleep because of the bright lights all night. Despite the night train in China being somewhat unsanitary, it was dark and actually comfortable. In Nha Trang I had bought a sleep mask for this very occasion, and it was thanks to that I got any sleep at all. After the 7-hour train ride, we arrived in the unheard of city called Thanh Hoa.
I was meeting my couch surfing host at the train station, he would escort us to his home. It was already baking hot, early in the morning. We stood around for him for 30 minutes or so, I was messaging frequently as I didn’t know if we had the right entrance. Eventually, we heard a very camp ‘hello’ come from the left of us. We looked round to see our host, Tu, walking towards us with a great, hulking man behind him. It was very surreal to see this young 29-year-old student be accompanied by a tall 50-year-old German teacher. I was very confused from the outset of how this pair came to meet. For my first experience of couch surfing, click here.
To our free apartment
We all introduced ourselves before setting off for the apartment. The reason his friend came along was because Tu needed another bike to give us a lift to the apartment across Thanh Hoa. Mat and I didn’t really know which one was a better option, but I ended up with Chris, the German fellow. To say it was a tense ride is an understatement. Not only did I experience the most intense ab workout due to my heavy bag on my back, but I also had to contend with staying alive on the back of his bike. He was furious with most drivers, whittling on about how poor their driving was (which is mostly true).
We arrived at the apartment about 5 minutes after Mat. Tu showed us through the block of flats he lived in. I couldn’t believe how run down it was, it looked like it had been abandoned for 20 years. We dropped our bags in the room to be ours for the night. It was dusty as hell, with some sort of shrine to his/someone’s relatives. Plus, Mat and I had a double bed between us, but no mattress, just solid wood. The pair of us went down to the kitchen for breakfast, this was made up of Guava (tasted unripe) and some sugared porridge soup. Every room we went in was in a state of disrepair, no wonder hardly anyone else lives here.
A walk in the city
Tu and Chris really were an interesting pair, I had no idea what was going on. Chris went back to his hotel, and Tu showed Mat and I around Thanh Hoa a bit. In reality, he showed us to his sister’s homestay, and then to hotel where Chris was staying. We somewhat intruded upon Chris in his room, to his surprise. Mat and I felt a little uncomfortable, so we waited outside in the corridor. Eventually, Tu and Chris came out and we started walking towards a market. Chris had a joint problem in his hip/leg, so when Tu told him where we were going (a few miles away), Chris turned around and went back to the hotel. This was like some sort of comedy show from my perspective.
We decided to ditch the market and go back to prepare lunch. Mat and I helped to prepare the lunch and tidy up a bit. This was fine, and we got on with our tasks happily. Along with some fish, we had vegetables and some sort of tofu/pastry with meat inside, one for me, Tu, and Mat, since Chris was vegetarian. However, Chris didn’t know this, so after he’d started eating it, he asked Tu what was in it. I remember he was vegetarian and I started laughing quietly. Then Mat clocked on he was vegetarian, and the pair of us were trying so damned hard not to laugh out. I think the pair of us went dizzy, and tears were streaming from our eyes. It had to be one of the funniest moments so far, it was unbelievably hilarious.
Going solo
Lunch was actually okay, there was plenty to choose from and it filled us up. Chris left for his hotel, whilst the 3 of us went for a nap (in separate beds). When we woke up, Tu had gone to do some tutoring, so instead we spoke to Tu’s friend who had come over. She was a tour guide in Ninh Binh, and since we were heading there next, we asked her for some advice or tips. After we finished speaking to her, Mat and I got a local bus to the centre of the Thanh Hoa. We arrived at a large shopping centre where Tu was going to meet us. Thankfully he wasn’t coming as his friend was ill (sacrifices had to be made). I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I just couldn’t enjoy myself with him around.
Mat and I had a pretty decent time in the shopping centre, this included having some food at a fast food chain. When we went outside it was dark, but it was still kind of early, so we took a walk down the street for a dessert shop. Luckily, the last shop on the street was a cake shop. This shop had a huge variety of cakes, including some very exotic and decorated cakes, for special occasions. Mat and I decided to have an entire large birthday cake for ourselves, and it only cost several pounds.
I like cake
We waited upstairs for the cake, and everyone else was here for birthdays or other special occasions. Meanwhile, we just wanted pudding, and our cake came with party hats and other birthday cake gear. Now I felt a bit fat knowing this was meant to be for loads of people. I got over that feeling quickly as I dug into the cake. It was a delicious came to be fair, well worth the several pounds we spent on it. After we had demolished the cake, we didn’t stop there. Instead of calling it quits, we decided to have a smoothie each too. In for a penny, in for a pound.
It was starting to get late, and we were getting up early for a market tomorrow morning. Tu reminded me of this by text as well, so we headed back. The buses in Thanh Hoa didn’t run this late, so we had to walk for a few miles to get back. We didn’t mind though as it was a decent walk, and got to see some of the city and people by night.
