VN Trip-Day4-Train trip to Hue

Because there were no seat left on any of the 6 flights (in 2 days period) on Vietnam Airline, we took an overnight trip with the Unification Express Train from Hanoi to Hue. It was to be a 12 hour overnight trip, traveling at 35mph, with many stops. Even though it was air conditioned, blowing mostly humid air, and sheets, blankets and pillows were provided, it's no Orient Express.
The stations is given a predetermined number of tickets to sell, after which the train is "full". This meant that the entire carriages can be both booked out and empty, and others are crammed with people. Never one to leave a niche unexploited, the conductors run a tidy business selling upgrades for 1 1/2 times the published price, splitting the proceeds among themselves.
For the 3 of us, we bought all 4 soft berth tickets. The train was loud but it was one of the best sleep that I had. I shared a room with my brother and dad and my father snored so loud. He could sleep anywhere. When the train was moving, it droned out my father's snoring, which helped me sleep. The train swayed from side to side while it's moving.
My father did not want to take the train because he had heard stories about people getting robbed on the train. Sometimes, rocks were thrown at the window to break it and they would just yank your luggage from your room. One of his friend told him that it was not so bad anymore. I did notice that the window in our room had only one pane left from the two-panes window.
Out of all the research I had done, no one had prepare me for this surprise. My brother came back from the restroom and told me it was a SQUATTER!!!
Well, I don't want to get too personal here. But here is the deal. There is a low window in the restroom with the bottom portion slightly frosted. You don't want to use the restroom while the train is not moving because there are houses right up to the train track or better yet, people waiting to cross the train tracks. But if you want to use while the train is moving, good luck trying to keep your pants and yourself from falling in while the train is swaying when it's moving! There are bars for you to hold onto while you're swaying and squatting. LOL!
Just when you think you've heard it all. Did I mention already that there is ONLY 1 train track connecting Saigon to Hanoi? But what about the two trains heading from opposite directions, you ask. Here is the real kicker. The train without priority has to give way, by pulling off onto a little side track and waits. As each train goes through a station, it picks up a heavy looped cable with a hand-written note attached to it. The note describe the speed and the distance of the oncoming train. The engineers do some quick calculations, check their ratty old photocopied schedules, and decide which track they have time to pull off onto. Radios, anyone?