Trains......or NOT

Our fearless H2H:2 group.

It was an exciting time Wednesday morning as we all congregated at the train station to say farewell to our bicycles and send them up to Hanoi. Nick set everything up in advance, and it seemed like it would be a seamless operation. After being here over a year I am very aware of the fact that nothing here ever goes as planned. Our group was being bounced around from place to place until Nick and Phong finally stepped in with their Vietnamese skills. We discovered that NO trains are heading to Hanoi at the moment.

Happy group

Earlier this week a massive storm caused huge flooding in the central part of the country. The storm killed 30 people trapped on a bus, wiped away hundreds of thousands of homes, and has blocked key roads and rail way links. Any train heading up out of Saigon is full of supplies and aid for the flood victims, and there is no room for bicycles. Before we panicked, we called Jet Star and confirmed that by paying a little bit extra we can box up our bikes and fly them as luggage... Crisis averted! This is just the first of many obstacles that we will come across, but wont stop us from getting back to HCMC!!!!
-Abigail

Sad group