My second train trip in Vietnam…six hours from Da Nang to Dong Hoi. Given it was mid-day and the trip relatively short, I opted for a seat instead of a berth. Random thoughts and shots…
The car is dirty and has a stale odour of chicken soup I hear loud gagging noises and see a young woman coming down the aisle, dangerously close to vomiting.
I am seated across from two porters one of whom is going through the other’s hair with tweezers.
Even the grimy windows cannot take away from the lush green landscape…vines and massive tropical leaves blanketing rolling hills that drop gently to deserted beaches and the sea..
My seat mate’s elbow is stuck into my arm like a piece of wood.
All but the very poorest of houses in towns and villages along the way have identical huge pots of bright yellow flowers adorning their entrances.
I am working on becoming friends with the baby boy in the seat in front of me. So far I’m failing but he has shown some interest in peekaboo! 
I don’t think it’s my imagination that in addition to rice field after rice field, I am seeing more and more graveyards as we head farther north. There was heavy fighting here during the American war.
I ask the man next to me to remove his body from my seat space. He complies, and bids me a cheerful good-bye when he disembarks.