Trains should be the ultimate way to travel: inexpensive, eco-friendly, comfortable, with endless views of the countryside. So why aren't they?
A first-class cabin--it doesn't get any better. This was my prison for 15.5 hours. It has a loud air conditioner blasting freezing canned air mixed with cigarette smoke, durian, and whatever else is buzzing around your neighbor's cabin. It's ancient and never-been washed. The window is coated in filth, and anyway it's too small to comfortably look through. The beds aren't too bad, though the train itself constantly hurls bodies to and fro. And the cost was just barely cheaper than a plane ticket.
The views of rice paddies and shrimp farms were often strikingly beautiful, but hard to appreciate from across the hall.
All in all, a good test for claustrophobics and germiphobes. 
Filthy as it was, this was my favorite part of the train. An open window does wonders. I wanted to stick out my head, tongue waggling like a dog's, the whole trip. Going home, the flight from Da Nang to Saigon was worth every dong.
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