The Train to Qui Nhon

April 20, 2009, 9:15 am
Filed under: vietnam

It's amazing how little and how much things change in Vietnam in the nine years that I've been living or making visits here.

Take the train for instance. I hadn't taken a train trip in Vietnam in 4-5 years so was looking for excuse to get out of town again. I booked a ticket on the overnight hard sleeper. While the counter now had a ticket machine and customers were asked to get a number, the several people who arrived at the same time or later than me were still pushing their way to the front of the line and slipping their ticket to the ticket agent. She made no notice of what order the customers' numbers came in, reliably serving the pushiest customers first.

The train still looked like a relic from the past, even though the name "Golden Train" was inscribed on the side. My berth was still made up of six basic wooden surfaces with straw mats and floral polyester pillows. The people I shared my berth with were friendly and inquisitive as always. The train still lunged and jerked, and slowed to a standstill as we approached each stop.

But now, the train agent handed out a free bottle of water and wet napkin to each passenger. And when we arrived at each stop, the agent announced our arrival over the intercom – welcoming us to each new city and translating this to English for tourists. When we arrived 30 minutes late to one stop, the agent even apologized to the passengers for the inconvenience. Afterwards, he played a recording of a British woman's voice, describing the cultural and historical significance of each city, followed by traditional Vietnamese music.

The coastal city of Qui Nhon is another perfect example of the change that is taking place in Vietnam. It's a city at the peak of change. A two-year old boulevard and public park follows the city's long stretch of beach. It's a development plan that has been in the works for approximately 15 years, according to our host Barbara, a New Zealander who moved here years ago and opened Barbara's Kiwi Cafe and dorm.

In the past few years, the local government began to resettle much of the fishing community along this coastline, to several resettlement villages in the surrounding areas. Remnants of their former homes can still be seen – piles of broken bricks and concrete line the park behind the beach. These families were compensated, but how much I'm not sure.

And of those homes which were spared, a few looked as if they were sawed in half and others face the ocean with their backs. These families haven't saved the money to renovate their homes yet, but are probably grateful that their homes lay just outside the development zone.

It seems that most of Qui Nhon's inhabitants are benefiting from these changes. A walk along the beach before sunset is still the time when the entire city seems to descend on the beach. Shirtless boys playing soccer, girlfriends chatting and laughing, children racing each other on bikes a wee too big, and couples enjoying mango and shaved ice shakes. What was once a dirty shore and haphazard collection of fishermen homes has become a scenic backdrop for nightly rituals on the beach.

Note: By the way, if you're planning to visit Qui Nhon, dorm rooms at Barbara's Kiwi Cafe are very basic and warm, but extremely cheap – $3 USD as of this writing. Plus, Barbara and her staff are quite helpful. Whatever you do, don't stay at the Lan Anh Guesthouse, which is attached but a completely separate entity. I had heard the owners and staff were rude. This was confirmed when they tried to tack on inane charges to my moto rental.