Reminiscing About Circus Living on an Overnight Train to Saigon
Greetings, wandering friends!
Recently I embarked on a memorable 19-hour train trek down Vietnam's skinny coast from Da Nang to Saigon. Settling into my bunk as the locomotive chugged south, I strangely found myself recalling fondly my days touring with the circus, sleeping aboard trains not so different from this one. Swaying through the darkness, old stories and smiles resurfaced.
I arrived at the station eager for adventure just before 2pm, boarding my assigned car and cozy berth (Train 8, seat 24 on the SE1) as the train prepared for departure. Arranging my bags and getting comfortable, I felt that familiar anticipation stirring from my vanished circus days - engines rumbling, anticipating new landscapes and chance encounters ahead.
Over aa few months I got to tour with Ringling Brothers circus, our mile-long train packing hundreds of performers, crew and animals. We rolled city to city, shows and friendships blending together in fond memories soundtracked by steel wheels singing. Long train nights brought camaraderie, tall tales, and mild mischief to pass idle hours.
Even this modest Vietnamese sleeper sparked nostalgia. Exploring cars after departure reminded me of visiting circus pals in other bunks as we traversed remote landscapes. I swapped travel stories with the friendly dining car staff ate some local delicacies at their suggestion, reminiscent of cooking exotic communal meals together on Ringling’s Dining Express with new international recruits.
Rest was challenging between bumps and noisy neighbors. But minor discomforts fade quicker than golden moments sightseeing up in the engineer's cab as rivers and villages drifted past. Like the circus, train travel breeds community from shared longing for motion and discovery.
Have you enjoyed overnight rail journeys?
Share your memoirs below! However non-glamorous day-to-day realities got, that magical community on steel wheels flows through my veins still. Who knows what fellow vagabond spirits you’ll encounter or what liberation awaits down the line?
I already ache for the next whistle beckoning me off into the great unknown once more!
