MAKING TRACKS IN VIETNAM

Appealing as Quy Nhon is as an under-the-radar Vietnamese beach destination, Anantara is betting that the journey there can be just as enticing. The Bangkok-based hotel brand, which opened an all-villa resort on the city’s outskirts in late 2018, has just launched a custom-designed train carriage that plies the tracks between Da Nang and Quy Nhon on a six-hour journey through the Vietnamese countryside.

Pulled by a Vietnam Railways locomotive, the sleek-lined rail car features six seating booths, each with rattan partitions and two large lounge chairs arranged on either side of a large window that frames the passing villages, paddy fields, beaches, and jungle-covered mountains of Vietnam’s southcentral coast. Should one tire of the views, The Vietage features a bar for passengers to socialize and enjoy a free flow of local craft beers and wines; another area of the carriage has been set aside as a wellness space where therapists deliver head-and-shoulder massages on the go.

These are included in the cost of the ticket (US$185 one way), as is a three-course meal of FrenchVietnamese dishes that showcase local ingredients. Savory options range from braised Wagyu beef neck to a Quy Nhon seafood salad, while desserts include strawberries sourced from the highlands around Da Lat, passion fruit tart, and crème brûlée made with premium Dong Nai chocolate. Additionally, indulgent bites like local caviar and a selection of fine cheeses are available for prepurchase.

It all makes for a languid and scenic passage to Quy Nhon, where guests of the Anantara Quy Nhon Villas will be met at the train station for the 30-minute drive to the resort’s beachfront grounds. Of course, one could just fly straight in from Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. But where’s the fun in that? ( thevietagetrain.com).