Dong Hoi ----> Hanoi

A few weeks ago I was in Vietnam. This is a train I rode from Dong Hoi to Hanoi. The thing I loved about Vietnam is that a person can pretty much do whatever the hell they want. The interesting thing to consider is that Vietnam is Communist. People generally associate communism with loads and loads of government imposed rules. Nope. Not here. *Note that I'm hanging out the window of this train taking photos... most likely with a cigarette in my mouth and a beer in my free hand. One might ask what type of chaos this sort of lawlessness creates? It isn't lawless, people just aren't stupid (me and my head hanging out of the train window being the exception). I survived, and I consider myself to be a responsible passenger. Now if that tunnel ripped my head off what do I think they should do? Well, they should drop my carcass off at the next stop and then talk about how much of an idiot I was for hanging my brain out the window of a moving train. Next stop! So what does it all mean. I don't know, I just hate being told what to do all the time. In that sense, it was a very refreshing train ride.

FLASH FORWARD--------->

Portland to Pasco via Amtrak... United States of America. The conductor must have spent the first hour and a half of the 4 hour ride intermittently laying out a shitload of rules for each passenger to obey. Now I ride Amtrak a lot, and it seems they've re-written their rules and regulations handbook. Tons of rules!! --Put your cell phones on vibrate - don't talk loud - sit here - don't sit there - don't come to the cafe car until we tell you to - don't smoke - don't drink alcohol unless we sold it to you for an outrageously inflated price - don't sit in the viewing car too long - etc. etc. etc...... These aren't rules. Most of the rules I heard were basically telling passengers to not be assholes. Maybe they should just have one rule DON"T BE AN ASSHOLE, ENJOY THE RIDE... BUT NOT TOO MUCH. WE WANT ALL OUR PASSENGERS TO DISEMBARK WITH THEIR HEADS -Amtrak Management

I don't know what the point of all this is. No point. Maybe the point is that Amtrak is hauling around a bunch of sissies. Maybe we live in a country full of sissies that happen to ride Amtrak occasionally. Whichever, I prefer the Communist train.