Taking The Train Back To Nha Trang

This couple were a ray of sunshine today. We sat with them on the train from Ho Chi Minh to Nha Trang.

I didn’t need to speak Vietnamese to tell that they were very playful together. Every so often she takes his hand.

We sat together for 7 hours. A few Vietnamese and English words were spoken, but not understood. There was a bit of nodding, shrugging and guessing.

The woman pushed a handful of coconut sweets across the table.

When the food trolly came we all ate. The meal was rice, a big chicken thigh, fried egg, cabbage and something else, with soy sauce 🤷🏻‍♀️ during this dinner, the man came back to the table with 4 beers and we all raised a glass.

The woman loved food; she ate every bit of food and spooned her husbands rice into her tray. When she saw I was leaving a little rice she looked confused 😅

Someone else got on the train with lotus root salad. Well, she ate that, too. She offered me some, but I declined, but it found it’s way onto my plate anyway.

Okay, I thought, I guess I’m trying this new food then. I was a bit worried I wouldn’t like it as I didn’t know what it was, but I put my game face on and tried it. Thankfully it was tasty, a bit like sweet potato.

📸 Pic of food on second pic.

At one of the stops 8 women got on the train and were shouting. I don’t know what exactly, but they had bags of large punnets of grapes so I guess it’s “grapes for sale” 😂 of course my new friend bought two of them, kept a punnet and shared another across the carriage.

I desperately wanted to get a picture of them. I felt weird asking, but the first phase of this trip has taught me one thing: if you don’t take a picture you don’t remember it.

They were happy to oblige. I realised that the woman can’t read, but the man can.

With a language barrier and illiteracy there wasn’t a lot she could “say”, but then, you can say a lot with food can’t you: I wish I could speak with you, I want to share a moment with you, I don’t want you to be hungry, are you comfortable? I like you. I want you to feel welcome in my country.

I’m not sure what the message was exactly, but I feel blessed to have received it. ❤️

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