The hard berth was hard, but bearable. No bruises, but not a lot of sleep either. Arrive in Hanoi at 6am to a dark train station and a mist of rain -- the first since I've been here. I found a decent motobike driver who took me to the right place for the agreed upon price, no hassles.
That's one down. The hotel was not as nice as described in the Rough Guide, but the bed was big and I had already hauled my luggage up the four flights. Yes, another fourth floor walkup. At least I'll still be able to make it up my stairs when I get home.
The first thing I did was crawl into bed and try to get some rest, but the highway directly under my window, which I had failed to notice upon first inspection of the room, was coming alive and making the possibility of sleep seem out of reach. Sigh. But the room did have cable television with a movie channel that was playing Return of the Swamp Thing starring Heather Locklear. If there's anything that can drown out the blaring bus horns from an elevated highway and put a weary traveler to sleep...
