Night train to Lao Cai

We left Hanoi Railway Station at 10pm aboard the Victoria Express, bound for Sapa.  The station looks quite imposing from the street, but once inside we found ourselves crossing a number of tracks in the dark until we eventually reached our train.  Although our carriage was relatively luxurious, the other carriages looked fairly uninviting, and that’s when it dawned on me that the Victoria Express probably only referred to our carriage.  The cabin was clean and the toilets were clean, so that made us all very happy.  The cabin that the four of us shared was a tight squeeze, but that just added to the fun.  Ian and I made our way up into the top bunks and didn’t come down again until the morning.  There was plenty of headroom up there, though not much wriggle room.  The train rocked gently back and forth in a rhythm and I think my sleep was okay, though I was told in the morning that my snoring was loud.  We woke in the morning to a view of green rice fields, small farms and high mountains.