Subway in Beijing

If you know you’re going to be staying in Beijing for a week or two and will definitely be travelling all over the city, getting a subway card is the most economical option. There’s a down payment of roughly $10 to get the card itself and you top up with the amount you’d like to use for travel.  The money you pay to get the card is refundable whenever you are ready to leave Beijing.

Please note that the card services at train stations DO NOT offer the refund for this card. However, any other normal subway stops will offer the refund back on these cards.

This is the easiest way to travel around Beijing and each trip from memory only cost us under a dollar each way. The trains are very frequent and run on time. It also saves you time waiting in the queue to buy a paper ticket each time you travel, and if you know the population of China, or just in Beijing itself, it can take a loooong time! The card can easily be topped up but unless you have a Chinese bank card you can only do this at their service kiosks rather than at one of their machines.

The one annoying thing is when buying the card it is helpful to have someone who can speak Mandarin or Cantonese because finding a kiosk server who can speak English is very rare. Sometimes you will be lucky enough to meet a friendly local standing in line behind you who is bilingual and will help you out. However, when refilling your card you can get away with either sign language, basic English or just handing over your card with the correct amount you want to add.

Just download a subway map of Beijing when you get free Wi-Fi at your accommodation and you’re good to go!

East coast travel- Busan to Gangneung

If you have a week free and want to see the best of the East coast of South Korea, here is a small itinerary you can follow.

1) Busan
- Haeundae Beach
- Gwangalli Beach (Gwangalli Bridge, Beached bar for those New Zealanders)
- Haedong Yonggungsa Temple
- Beomosa Temple

Accommodation: Ice Motel (Haeundae), Friends Guesthouse (Gwangalli), Pobi Guesthosue (Haeundae).



Busan to Gyeongju: there are two options. You can get a train from Haeundae Station to Gyeongju Central station for about 5,600 won. Otherwise, from Nopo Bus Terminal (end of the orange line,Line 1) you can take a bus that costs about 4,800 won and the drive takes about an hour and 20 minutes.



2) Gyeongju
- Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple (Entrance fee 4,000 each. From the bus terminal take bus 10 or 11 to Bulguksa, comes roughly every 30 minutess. Across from this bus stop take bus 12 to the Grotto, comes roughly every hour.)
- Daerungwon burial mounds (1,500 won entrance fee)
- Anapji Pond (1,500 won entrance fee)

Accommodation: Homo-Nomad Guesthouse. Close to Daerungwon and Anapji, about 10 - 20 min walk away but further away from downtown Gyeongju. Owner speaks good English and is very helpful.



Gyeongju to Gangneung: There is only one 'direct' train a day that leaves 11:06 and arrives 17:17 into Gangneung. The cost for this is 21,700 won. Otherwise there are 3 buses a day and is coastal. However, the cost for this is about 35,000 won and takes about 7 hours, 20 minutes give or take.

Gangneung to Jukdo Beach (Yangyang):  Take a bus from Gangneung to Jumunjin (2,100 won) and then from the station look for a green intercity bus number 322. This will take you towards Jukdo and costs about 1,650 won. Get off when you hear Inguri Elementary (잉구초등학교: Ingu Chodeung Hakgyo) or you can get off at the night 1 or 2 stops.

Accommodation:  Blue Coast (one of the few surf shops and hostels in this area).

The waves here are seasonal and are usually more often during Autumn and Winter.

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