Cambodia and Vietnam

A friend of mine made this little video of our travels through Cambodia and Vietnam in January this year. It is a collection of our videos and photos. Enjoy!

Cambodia and Vietnam on Vimeo

Overnight train to Sapa

You can book your train tickets to Sapa via online websites however it is a bit tricky finding a place to print these out and the tickets do take a little while to get sent to you via email. The easiest way (and slightly more expensive) is if a travel agency or your hostel can book this for you. They will book you onto the 'tourist trains'. Different companies own different cars on this train so depending on the company the price will vary. The more expensive cars I saw were owned by Victoria Railway Express and Sapa Adventure, if you had wanted to splurge a little bit. The difference is the quality of bedding, fixtures and condiments they leave you.

We went with a low to mid-range company, which was still pretty great. The beds were comfortable and it was only a 4 berth with A/C. There was also a TV, which wasn't turned on, and the cabins seemed relatively new. They also offered free bottles of water. There are also outlets on-board if you did need to charge anything. 

The train leaves Ga Hanoi and arrives into Lao Cai, which you then take a transfer bus or shuttle to the town of Sapa (about an hour to two hours drive away). The trains are labelled differently. We travelled on SPC3, which left Hanoi at 8.50pm and arrived into Lao Cai at 7.55am.  There are about 2 or 3 different train times to suit your schedule.

The cost of each train equates to roughly USD$30-40 each way. 

Our 4 berth cabin

The fancy train!

Overnight train from Hanoi to Sapa, and vice versa.

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to Hanoi by train

If you have the time I would definitely recommend taking the train from Saigon to Hanoi. You can use it to travel up the coast and stop along the way, or if you have a couple of days it does take 2 nights if you don't want to stop anywhere. It's a great way to see the beautiful coastline and countryside of Vietnam.

There are different room types on-board but the one we stayed in was a 6 berth cabin, hard beds and with A/C. This is the cheapest cabin type. Price also depends if you want the top, middle or bottom bunk. Price is cheaper the higher the bed.

The cost of this train from Saigon to Hanoi cost 1,356,000VND for the top berth (roughly USD$65) or 1,594,000VND for the middle bunk (roughly USD$76).

The beds are reasonably comfortable even though they say they are 'hard beds'. It comes with bedding (pillow and a blanket). The train leaves Ga Saigon at 11pm and arrives into Hanoi 2 days later at 5.30am. To purchase these tickets you just need to go to the train station itself. The lady that served us didn't speak much English but with a calendar, calculator, some diagrams and just hearing the two cities there were no problems. (However, initially we did think it was an overnight train so were surprised when we found out on board it was a 2 night train! That was the only thing that was hard to specify with the language barrier. It all turned out okay, though).

If you forgot to bring food on board there is a food and drink cart that goes through the train about twice a day. The food offered is traditionally Vietnamese but delicious nonetheless. This costed roughly 50,000VND so about USD$2.50 for the food and about the same or slightly less for drinks. Otherwise you can quickly run out when the train stops at a station as there are many stalls along the tracks. There's not much of a selection and it's best if you can get on the good side of the conductor as he'll keep an eye out for you to make sure you're back on board before they depart.

TIP: Taxi drivers will come ask to take you to your destination as soon as you step foot off the train. I recommend leaving the station and try to flag a cab outside or further away on the street. Make sure they are metered as well and if you can find a way to Google Map where you need to go, you can make sure that they're not just taking you for a ride!

Beaches of Vietnam

6 berth, hard beds, A/C

Little Hanoi Hostels/Hotels..HIGHLY RECOMMEND

I wanted to do a separate post just for this accommodation chain as I was extremely impressed by the service and standard of quality of this place. Not only were they highly accommodating and helpful but the quality of the rooms and the overall property was very clean, quite new and the decor had a homely feel to it, which is nice to come back to especially when you've been living a nomadic lifestyle for a while.

There are three Little Hanoi’s situated around the city of Hanoi; two hostels and one more boutique-style hotel or flashpacker closer to the heart of the city. We had just arrived into the city having spent two nights on a train travelling from Ho Chi Minh (Saigon). It was about 6am and all we wanted was a room to relax in for a little bit and a nice, hot shower. We had found Little Hanoi Hostel 2 via online search and after seeing some good reviews we decided we would try our luck here. Things didn’t look too promising when we turned up and the reception was closed and two of the staff members were sleeping on make-shift beds out of couch pillows on the floor of the restaurant adjoining the reception.

Entrance. Former name was Lucky Star Hotel.

Luckily internet was free so we managed to pass our time catching up with friends online until someone woke up. The reception staff didn’t officially start until about 7am but once they did it was all uphill from here onwards. We hadn’t made any reservations and were hoping dorm rooms were free. Unfortunately the lady at reception informed us that all dorm rooms were full for the night (cost of a dorm bed is about USD$7). She did mention that a private room for three cost only $27 but we had to wait until 9.30am to see if it was available. Due to our inconvenience (which there was none as we were the ones who had not made any bookings) she offered us and the other girls that had just arrived free cooked breakfast. After a delicious meal of bacon, eggs and a fresh baguette she informs us that the private room at this hostel was already booked however they had another property, Little Hanoi Diamond, about 10 minutes away that had a room free. This was a slight grade higher than Little Hanoi Hostel 2 so rooms are generally more expensive so not only did she offer us the same price of USD$27 per night at the new place but they also paid for our taxi to get us to the other hostel. She then proceeded to help us with booking our trip to Halong Bay and our train tickets to Sapa, which can sometimes be confusing to book if you don’t have anyone to help you.

Staff at the second hostel greeted us warmly upon arrival and was very knowledgeable about the area and where the best hot-spots were for anything you asked for. One of the receptionists who worked during the day managed to remember our names as well which I thought added a nice little touch to their service. We were never let down by this hostel chain. Staff was amazing, professional and reliable. They also use good providers for any activities you book through them and are at a decent price.

Our 3 person private room.

This is hands-down one of the best places I’ve stayed in so far in my travels. It's hard to explain just how smooth and easy-to-deal with this place was, you just have to experience it for yourself. I cannot rate this place highly enough.

If you are ever looking for a place to stay in Hanoi, I highly recommend staying at one of the Little Hanoi properties as I guarantee you will not be disappointed. 

Websites:

Little Hanoi Diamond

Little Hanoi Hostel