This remains one of my favorite train mornings ever.
After a peaceful night’s sleep to the nonstop clickety-clack of the Reunification Express, the legendary train that runs the length of Vietnam between its two largest cities, I woke to this beautiful scene outside my window. As the sun slowly rose over the countryside, mist drifted across freshly watered rice paddies, giving the landscape an almost dreamlike quality.
Adding to the magic was the rhythmic sound of the train wheels rolling over the old non-welded rails, a sound once common across the world’s railways but now quickly fading into history. For a few quiet moments, everything came together perfectly: the soft morning light, the endless green fields, and the timeless rhythm of the train moving through rural Vietnam.