Train from Phan Thiet to Ho Chi Minh City

We had called the train station a couple of days earlier with the intention of buying tickets to HCMC but were told to just do it at the station when we get there as this would be easier and the would be plenty of space on the train. Well, not quite the case as we soon found out. We rocked up at the station, got to the ticket counter and casually asked for two train tickets to HCMC - and not just any seats, I specifically asked for the nicer softer seats in the air conditioned carriage. The response: "Train full."

Ah....pickle...

"Really? No seats at all?"
"Train full"
Looked like we weren't getting any seats, let alone the nice soft ones in the cool carriage. Dan had gotten his ticket a few days earlier, and even his wasn't in the cool van with the soft seats but in the non A/C section with hard wooden benches so it made sense now that it was sold out.
"Are there any buses?"
She makes a quick phone call and says "Bus full"

At the train station, Phan Thiet, Vietnam

Potential problem material here, as we really needed to get to HCMC because we were due to travel to Phnom Penh the next day (also tickets we had yet to sort out, so good luck with that) to keep our schedule. Alicia suggested we could rent a car and drive and I thought we could possibly take the night train - so we still had avenues we could explore - but before admitting defeat Alicia took one last shot at getting us on this train by pleading with the ticket lady to see if there was anything else she could do. In this one last desperate attempt to get on the train, as if by miracle a conductor who had heard us appeared behind me holding a little red plastic children's chair, pointing at it, then at me, and then at the train. SHE COULD GET US ON THE TRAIN! We may have to sit in the carriage with the chicken and cattle but we were getting on that train!

On the train - note foldup chair

Dan was with us this whole time, with his pre-purchased ticket feeling a bit sorry for us when it was looking more and more likely that we'd be driving around Vietnam in a rental trying to figure out which way was what.

We didn't have to sit with the chicken, nor did it look like we were the only ones who had gotten our tickets the illicit way. Along the corridors and stairs of the train there were people in all corners sitting on fold up or plastic chairs, stairs, or on the floor and in doorways. Another way for the conductor to make a dollar or two (or a hundred) for themselves. I was just happy to get on the train, but it sure was a big bonus to end up in the air conditioned carriage with our soft, padded, comfortable fold up chairs for a mere $7. We did feel a bit sorry for Dan and his $13 pre-purchased ticket sitting on his hard wooden bench at the back of the train in 30 degree heat.