A tough path to Hanoi, my home away from home

Going by train from Nanning (China) to Hanoi (Vietnam) didn’t exactly make for the smoothest border crossing of the trip. But once I had arrived, I could proudly say that after taking 19 different trains and a bus, I had made it all the way to Southeast Asia, without taking one single airplane! And after all of that, Hanoi was the perfect place for me to take a little break from travelling.

Worst border crossing so far

The train to Hanoi, standing in Nanning railway station in China

The train ride started off really well. Daylight was fading over a beautiful scenery of limestone mountains. When the night set in, a bright moon started shining quietly over their silhouettes. Witnessing this poetic sight while listening to some of my favourite music, I felt so peaceful and happy that I almost cried. It was perfect.

Then we reached the border.

I was not aware of the fact that all the passengers were leaving the train, until one of the Chinese boys in my compartment came back and told me I had to get off with my luggage, like everybody else. That confused me, because during my previous border crossings, passengers stayed on the train and border officials would come on board to do the necessary bag and passport checks there. Well, so much for being an experienced train traveller.

So I left the comfy bed I had tucked myself into, took all of my luggage and joined the queue full of Chinese passengers (Chinese queues followed me until the very border of the country!) inside the building where my passport eventually got stamped. It took a while and I was slightly annoyed but I told myself I would soon find that comfy bed again. I somehow assumed that the Vietnamese side of the border wasn’t going to cause too much trouble.

Little did I know.

At the Vietnamese border, we were summoned to get off the train again. And again, we had to take all of our bags with us – only to find out they were not even getting checked. We chaotically entered a building where we had to give our passport to the officials standing there, and then wait outside. No queue, no structure. And when you don’t structure a Chinese crowd, it is certainly not going to structure itself. Oh no, it turns into an impatient, shapeless mass of people.

After a while, one of the Vietnamese officials came back with a certain amount of passports in his hand. What happened next, was the most inefficient border procedure I have ever seen. One after one, the guy started reading the names out loud. And one after one, those names were repeated by somebody in the front of the crowd, shouting them towards the back, after which the corresponding Chinese person would work their way through the ever so thick mass of people, in order to collect their passport.

For the next 45 minutes, I was anxiously waiting for the Vietnamese official to fail reading my name out correctly. The list of Chinese names seemed endless. I ended up being one of the very last passengers still standing. The Vietnamese official handed me my passport directly without even trying to read my name; there was no doubt by then whom that lone European passport belonged to.

Hanoi, my home away from home

After getting a short first taste of the Vietnamese capital two years ago, I was really happy to be back. Sure, the traffic in Hanoi is a bit crazy with scooters everywhere, but I adapted surprisingly well. I just loved wandering through the ravishing streets of the Old Quarter, where trendy bars and inviting restaurants alternate with intriguing shops and street food places; where small temples suddenly appear along the sidewalk; and where tourists, expats and locals mingle into a buzzing community of temporary and permanent residents.

And, very importantly, the food. The food is delicious!!! Street food, restaurant food, snacks, desserts… As sad I was to leave Chinese cuisine behind me, I was delighted when I rediscovered just how amazing the Vietnamese dishes are.

Hoan Kiem Lake, in the center of Hanoi

And so I lingered in my beloved Hanoi for several days, gathering energy for my soon to follow Vietnamese adventures.