What Vietnam’s first luxury train carriage is like to ride – a soothing, at times surreal, journey between Da Nang and Quy Nhon
- The Vietage targets guests staying at Anantara resorts at either end of the trip, is priced at US$350 for a one-way ticket, and includes a massage
- The six-hour journey in a beautifully reconditioned carriage offers endless bucolic scenes of rural Vietnamese life that kept one traveller glued to the window
A massage is a profoundly personal experience, as another human kneads and pummels, stretches and soothes those mysterious knots in our shoulders and back.
It can therefore be disconcerting to glance up from your moment of blissful escape to be confronted by 50 curious faces looking back at you. When those people are all on mopeds, and are joined by an equally curious water buffalo standing to the side of a dusty road, the feeling is all the more surreal.
The episode comes on board The Vietage, a luxury train carriage that is pulled slowly between the Vietnamese coastal cities of Da Nang and Quy Nhon. Launched in 2020, The Vietage was on hiatus during the coronavirus pandemic, getting back on track, so to speak, this April.
Open to all, the carriage is targeted at guests staying at Anantara resorts at either end of the trip (US$350 for a one-way ticket), and my experience starts as I’m whisked to Da Nang station in a BMW from The Anantara Hoi An, a riverside retreat in the lantern-filled town that has become one of southeast Asia’s most popular destinations. Popular, that is, until you-know-what intervened.
In early May, returning to the merchant town’s ancient alleyways, temples, bridges and shophouses was remarkable, as they were almost entirely devoid of international visitors. Tables were easy to find at the best banh mi spots – “Madame Khanh, The Banh Mi Queen” has always won my vote, not least for her not-so-modest marketing – while fragrant, steaming bowls of cao lau braised pork noodles were served up in no time.
