I tower like a skyscraper amid the group. The thought of those unyielding slats against my already t

"HARD SEAT," the woman writes in block letters and pushes my notepad back across the counter. No, that's impossible. sta student travel "Soft sleeper," I scrawl below by way of correction. She has obviously misunderstood me.
But she hasn't - sleeper sta student travel tickets have sold out. I will have to sit upright and uncushioned for the nine-hour journey tonight from Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, to the north-west town of Lao Cai. Having had my heart set on a sleeper, I am now devastated.
Sleeper trains are scheduled to leave first so the waiting room rapidly drains of tourists. Just before 10pm, those of us remaining are finally allowed to cross the tracks to our train, far away on the furthest platform.
I tower like a skyscraper amid the group. The thought of those unyielding slats against my already tired back makes me want to weep. Cruelly, we are forced to wait while a departing sleeper crosses our path.
Yet, as I gaze enviously in the windows of each internally lit compartment, something within me shifts sta student travel like a shunting locomotive. Inside the sleeper train are tourists peering out into the night, as though longingly, at the crowd of locals they'd travelled so far to be with - the crowd of which I am a part. My own train fills quickly. I'm aware of being stared at as I take my allocated seat beside the aisle and huddle under my flimsy woollen sta student travel shawl - it's winter, and so much colder than I'd expected.
I wake at dawn when the food trolley passes. The woman who slept against me is no longer there. I say "Lao Cai" to another woman sitting nearby and point in the direction the train is moving, raising my voice and shoulders in a hopeful gesture. She reassures me that I haven't missed the stop by saying "Lao Cai" and pointing to herself.
People get on the train selling food from baskets and I buy some green parcels. The woman who takes my money shows me how to rip back the leaves to eat the sweet, sticky contents. I share them with the two men opposite, who have also travelled all night.