Hanoi Travel Forum

Hi there,
I'll be arrving in Hanoi on the 30th JUne '08 9am, i have a few questions that i hope you guys could help me.

(1), can i get my tickets to lao cai when i arrive in hanoi? i'm planning to take train LC1 depart at 10.05pm to Lao Cai. I would like to take the hard seat class or the soft seat class. I thought of going to Hanoi train station directly on the same day that i would like to go to Lao Cai, will be there tickets left?? or should i do a reservation in advance?


(2), is there other ways to Ha Long Bay without going through travel agents? i would to stay overnight at the junk boat too. can i arrange it by myself when i get to hanoi or just for the sake of convinience i should go to the travel agent.


thanks!

1. Yes you can get your tickets to Lao Cai when you arrive in Hanoi; nobody can answer you if tickets are available when you reach the station. What I can tell you is that when we took the train, it looked full, so for precautionery measures, book in advance.

2. Yes you can but you have to know where you go and not get conned into paying for inferior boats. Is it worth the hassle ?

Victor

The Old Quarter of Hanoi is a beautiful area, and a great place to meet other backpackers. Go there and ask around about a good travel agent. My limited experience (5 weeks in Vietnam) has shown me that a place with a good reputation will treat you right, whereas the others can try to take advantage of you.

The other poster was right about the perils of finding your own boat - I did that, It was okay -but not great. The boat has a strong us-them feel separating the tourists from the staff.

There are many trains that go between Lao Cai and Hanoi: Ratraco, Tulico, Victoria Express, Livitrans, government train etc. Try to get a soft sleeper, as it will not be comfortable to sit 10 hours overnight. I think one way train (a soft sleeper) costs about US$20.

You can go to Ha Long town by bus from Gia Lam bus station in Hanoi, then find someone to share the boat with you. Another way is you buy a bus/boat ticket from Hanoi to Cat Ba island (via Hai Phong) at Hoang Long bus company (about US$9 one way) then take a boat from Cat Ba island to Ha Long bay.

Address of Hoang Long bus (the bus station is Luong Yen)

Hoang Long Transportation Co.,
28 Tran Nhat Duat st., Hanoi
Tel: 84-4-9282828
Or: Luong Yen bus station (Tel: 84-4-9875410)
Ticket: 84-4-9877225

Most of travellers book a 1-2-3 day tour so that things will be organized, but travelling on your own would be fun too.

thank you guys! its been very informatve to me!!!

My friends and I took a hard sleeper train to Sapa & back, & it was fine too. The mattress is comfy enough although the name is 'hard'. We also took soft sleepers to Hue.The difference between a hard sleeper cabin & soft sleeper is that the former has 3 levels of berths while the latter 2. So you get a little more head space in the soft sleeper cabin. The soft sleeper trains seem more geared towards tourists so the toilets are cleaner & service better.

Tickets for soft sleepers seem perpetually sold out so you need to buy maybe 3 days ahead if you intend to get them. I think the tour agents bulk-book them since they are very popular.

An honest tour agent you might want to ask to book your Sapa train tickets is Nhat Linh restaurant on the right hand of Lao Cai train station (if your back faces the station). Phone number: 020.835346 or mobile:0912.961056. Dont worry that the agent is Lao Cai & not at Hanoi. They have contacts & you will be told how the Hanoi contact will meet you.

We only found out about this honest agency accidentally when we were in Lao Cai (after visiting Sapa). We asked if they could book soft sleeper train tickets for us from Hanoi to Hue. They could & although apprehensive, we paid them on the spot. We were told a guy would show up at Hanoi train station an hour before departure time to hand us the tickets. We were also given his mobile number & we gave the agent ours too.

True enough, the next evening, the guy turned up at the train station.And yes, we got our soft sleeper berths.