2023-11-22 08:17:18
Every morning shortly before 8 a.m., the old woman stands on the Da Nang train platform and spreads her arms – as if she wanted to prevent the passengers coming towards her from boarding. Plastic bags full of provisions dangle from both of the Vietnamese woman’s hands. She wants to sell it, so it helps to stop the passengers and offer them the homemade snacks with a smile. For some she is successful with the scam.
The train is heading south. He is traveling on a stage of the so-called Reunification Express – this is what the Vietnamese call the 1,726 kilometer long, single-track, meter-gauge line that connects the capital Hanoi with Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, capital of South Vietnam. After the end of the Vietnam War, continuous train traffic between the two metropolises was resumed in 1976. If you drive the entire route and don’t get out along the way, you’ll be on the road for at least 32 hours.
Tickets are available in four classes: from the “Soft Sleeper” (an old-fashioned couchette with a four-bed compartment) to the “Hard Seat” (on unpadded bench seats in the open-plan compartment). There is also a rudimentary dining car on the reunification express.
Source: Infographic WELT
The train is a good way to get to know the country and its people. However, comfort is not offered even in the highest ticket category: only some of the couchette cars are air-conditioned, and you have to share the outhouses at the end of the car with your fellow passengers. The state railway Vietnam Railways describes it like this on its homepage: “It’s not the Orient Express.”
But there is the option of completing at least part of the route on the Reunification Route at Orient Express level. “The Vietage” is the name of the offer. This is a luxury carriage that can be booked separately and is coupled to a regular state train. Every morning he leaves Da Nang and arrives a good six hours later in the coastal town of Dieu Tri, from where he returns in the opposite direction in the evening.
Classy interior: The luxury wagon is decorated in a nostalgic Indochina style
Quelle: The Vietage
The name is a combination of “Vietnam” and “Heritage”. It fits perfectly: From the outside, the white carriage with red and blue stripes looks like the other state railway carriages in the train, and inside it offers a classy interior in a nostalgic Indochina style with lots of wood and rattan. If you look closely, you will of course see that the car has been repainted and has the golden lettering “The Vietage – Luxury Railway Carriage”.
The elegant staff defies the fluctuations
When you get in, the staff is ready at the door. The uniform is flawless: crisp white shirt, beige waistcoat, matching tie for the men, light gray elegance for the women. Plus a charming smile that appears self-confident. The luggage is taken from the guests and stowed away, then they are shown to the reserved seat.
Flawless: Light gray elegance is popular among female train crews
Quelle: Anantara Resorts
In total, the wagon offers twelve seats in a total of six cabins, each with two comfortable, opposite upholstered seats that can be folded out into a bed. A towel and velvet slippers lie in a basket underneath. If you want to isolate yourself, you can close the white curtain between the finely woven rattan walls.
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In the back of the carriage: an inviting bar, a modern toilet with a large sink and a small kitchen. A three-course lunch menu is freshly prepared and served at your seat on stylish tableware. The seafood salad with papaya, gently cooked Wagyu beef neck and passion fruit cream are excellent; There is also sparkling wine, wine, beer, tea, coffee and cocktails at no extra charge. Champagne, caviar and a cheese platter can also be ordered, but they cost extra. This on-board menu can easily compete with a five-star hotel.
At its finest: gourmet menu with wine accompaniment
Quelle: The Vietage
It is admirable how the staff manages to keep their balance in the constantly jerking wagon, which swings now and then to the right and now to the left. Many guests enthusiastically take photos on the trip and post them immediately, which is no problem because the WiFi in the “Vietage” is reliable and fast.
Rural Vietnam is passing by
In addition to the food, the landscape cinema is the second highlight of the train journey. First of all, life in the modern city of millions passes by the train window. During the Vietnam War, Da Nang became an air base for the US military and the largest naval base in South Vietnam. Back then, American soldiers vacationed on the 20-kilometer-long China Beach. Today, with its fine, powdery white sand, it is one of the most beautiful beaches in all of Vietnam.
Bar with a view: the “Vietage” carriage at the end of the train
Quelle: Anantara Resorts
At times the train rumbles past the beach, but most of the time the route runs away from the coast. Idyllic scenes of rural Vietnam are lined up one after the other: rice fields in which locals wearing the typical conical hat are planting new plants. Plump green all the way to the horizon, where mighty mountain ranges rise. Here and there water buffalo wallow in the mud. White herons stand frozen on river banks.
Sometimes the track runs so close to houses and farms that you can see the wok of a farmer cooking lunch on her terrace. At the same time, the cork pops in the train compartment: waiter Vinh perfectly serves an Australian sparkling wine.
Perfect service: a waiter at the bar of the luxury carriage “The Vietage”
Quelle: The Vietage
The Asian hotel chain Anantara developed the luxury car. The negotiations with the Vietnamese authorities and the construction of the wagons took four years. In 2020, “The Vietage” was finally able to get on track, but had to pause again due to Corona. He has been driving regularly again since 2022.
Its primary purpose is to offer hotel guests a comfortable transfer option between Da Nang (where the “Anantara Hoi An Resort” is located) and Dieu Tri (with the “Anantara Quy Nhon Villas” nearby). But you don’t have to be an Anantara guest to ride the “Vietage”, the train experience is open to everyone. Since it is in demand, reservations are required.
Only a few tourists continue to Ho Chi Minh City
The train arrives at Dieu Tri station surprisingly punctually, with the platform guarded by a serious-looking officer in an immaculate uniform. Almost all Westerners get off here. Only a few take the opportunity and rumble on by train to Ho Chi Minh City, which most Vietnamese have long since returned to calling Saigon – that was the name of the metropolis before the communists renamed it after the Vietnam War.
According to the timetable, the train still takes 13 hours to cover the 630 kilometers to Saigon. The alternative would be to drive on the north-south highway, which is full of fully loaded trucks, sleek SUVs and lots of buses. With a bus like this you can reach your destination more quickly, but passengers are regularly at risk of gasping on the route due to the truck drivers’ blatant overtaking maneuvers.
“The Reunification Express is much more relaxed than the bus for traveling from north to south through Vietnam, it only reaches 50 km/h,” says a passenger in Dieu Tri train station. However, the train name is misleading: “Reunification yes, Express no.”
Tips and information:
Getting there: Vietnam Airlines offers the only non-stop connections from Frankfurt to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. There are connecting connections to the two Vietnamese cities from several German airports, for example via Istanbul with Turkish Airlines or via Singapore with Singapore Airlines.
Rides on the Reunification Express: Schedules and ticket information for the regular Reunification Express that runs between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (32-35 hours): vietnam-railway.com – Tickets can also be booked online here, seats from 64 US dollars (equivalent to 60 euros), couchette cars from 86 dollars (81 euros). The luxury wagon “TheVietage” is in use on the Da Nang–Dieu Tri section. Tickets from 300 dollars (281 euros) including menu, drinks and shoulder massage, thevietagetrain.com. “The Vietage” can also be booked as part of a package with two nights at the “Anantara Hoi An Resort”, from 491 euros (anantara.com).
Organizer trips by train: Diamir Erlebnisreisen has a 13-day tour across Vietnam with six different train stages including the reunification express (without “The Vietage”) from 2180 euros in its program, (diamir.de/vietnam/privatreise/viezug). Tischler Reisen offers a travel module with four nights in Anantara resorts and a train journey with the “Vietage” from 1330 euros (tischler-reisen.de).
Further information: Vietnam Tourism Authority: vietnam.travel
Participation in the trip was supported by Anantara Resorts and Turkish Airlines. Our standards of transparency and journalistic independence can be found at axelspringer.com/de/werte/downloads.
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