Train Driver Record Hanoi to Ninh Bahn

one-note samba for railway travel

I love riding the train. I love looking at the other sides of buildings, having a sense of motion while at the same time leisurely sipping a coffee or tea (or beer), and zipping by carelessly while people outside live their regular lives. Where are they going? What are they doing? Are they thinking about me, and wondering "where is he going?" (all the way to Ninh Binh station); "what is he doing" (drinking a little coffee or tea (or beer)); "what's he writing?" (this). ?

Today's video is a nice long train ride through Vietnam, and the feeling is very "screensaver". If you're at a job and your computer has 2 monitors, this is a great one, because it's mellow and reliable and two and a half hours long and if you dig it then I bet there's hundreds of hours of videos just like this. You can't really sit and watch this the way you'd sit and watch Four Weddings And A Funeral (for instance), it isn't that engaging. But it is nice to have on in the background, something to glance at while you're composing your thoughts.

Also you could let it play on your phone while you do a task, and tell yourself "no Instagram until we get to Trình Xuyên station".

The audio on this is mostly the click clack of the tracks, which is relaxing, and the train's delightful steam whistle, which gets honked quote alot when the train is moving through a town and gets precipitously less delightful in a short period of time. You can mute the audio if you want but I recommend just turning the audio down and playing some music in another tab. As I write this I'm listening to jazz backing tracks, and it's really nice. The train horn doesn't have a lot of range but it's fun to imagine that the conductor is trying to play along with the band. I feel like the train horn is contributing something musically interesting more than seems probable. Here's a personal favorite tune of mine, minus the lead instrument: [Along Came Bud, 5:31]. For more like this search "Jazz Backing Tracks", or "Jazz Play Along". For more Thelonious Monk here's [Live Zurich 1964, 1:35:42]. To play your own selection of music just consult your own personal downloads folder. Lots of modern music owes a tremendous debt to the train and there's a lot that will work.

If you're watching this at night and want one with lower light and much less honking (but not no honking), this is a good one from the same channel: [Train Driver Record Yen Bai - Hanoi]. This one's four and a half hours long and the sun sets about two hours and forty minutes in. For a good nighttime jazz record, here's [John Coltrane - Stardust LP].

Peace everyone :)

If someone sent this to you because you love long train rides or monotonous honking sounds, you may enjoy other things I write as well. This is Pleasant Realms, an email newsletter about mostly nonstressful YouTube videos.