After a slightly disappointing note at Hanoi, which
did not live up to my expectation, we headed up North West
towards Sapa, the remote hilly rice basket of
Vietnam. We took a train at the Hanoi station which
is very close to the old quarter, only a fifteen minute
drive by the tourist van.
Hanoi train station.
At the time of our boarding, the station seemed to be undergoing
construction with the construction material everywhere
and large part of the platform exposed and being uprooted.
The cabin we bought were a typical four bed chamber,
with a set of two beds bunker on each wall. The furnishing
of the room was quite old but functional and comfortable.
This was of course not the picture the Vietnam railways puts on
their web site. Toilets were functional, reasonably clean
and western, and had supply of water and toilet papers.
They are locked until the train starts to move and locked
again after the train arrives on destination.
There are occasional food carts going around the train
corridors selling snacks, water and other drinks.
The sellers speak no English, a little knowledge
of Vietnamese or an app that can translate would be
very handy. They leave you alone and do not like to interact
with the tourist that much, so if you are in dire need of
something, you might be bit out of luck.
Train ride from Hanoi to Sapa started on time and was supposed
to last five hours, it lasted eight. So if you had trekking
arrangements starting at Sapa, you might be better off
leaving some buffer. Ride itself was quite bumpy and I
felt tossed around the bed all night, but managed to catch
some sleep. There is not much in terms of view from outside
the window as the old houses are built very close and right
next to the train tracks, blocking everything. You will however,
see peoples' rooms directly. Occasionally you will come across
little lakes, rice fields and temples.
Train does not go up to Sapa, you basically get off at
Lao Cai, a station only a couple of kilometres from the
Chinese border. From there, we took a bus to Sapa.
Lao Cai itself resembles a little dusty towns found in
most South Asian countries and Nepal. It seems to have
reasonably well developed roads, and from the houses
and bill boards littered across the streets, looks like an
important regional centre.
Lao Cai CBD.
Once we started to near Sapa, the views changed drastically,
from dust and hustle of little towns giving way to
lush green rice fields and silhouette of mountains
start to appear in the horizon.
View of Sapa from the hotel restaurant.
We got really excited about the things to come!
did not live up to my expectation, we headed up North West
towards Sapa, the remote hilly rice basket of
Vietnam. We took a train at the Hanoi station which
is very close to the old quarter, only a fifteen minute
drive by the tourist van.
Hanoi train station.
At the time of our boarding, the station seemed to be undergoing
construction with the construction material everywhere
and large part of the platform exposed and being uprooted.
The cabin we bought were a typical four bed chamber,
with a set of two beds bunker on each wall. The furnishing
of the room was quite old but functional and comfortable.
This was of course not the picture the Vietnam railways puts on
their web site. Toilets were functional, reasonably clean
and western, and had supply of water and toilet papers.
They are locked until the train starts to move and locked
again after the train arrives on destination.
There are occasional food carts going around the train
corridors selling snacks, water and other drinks.
of Vietnamese or an app that can translate would be
very handy. They leave you alone and do not like to interact
with the tourist that much, so if you are in dire need of
something, you might be bit out of luck.
Train ride from Hanoi to Sapa started on time and was supposed
to last five hours, it lasted eight. So if you had trekking
arrangements starting at Sapa, you might be better off
leaving some buffer. Ride itself was quite bumpy and I
felt tossed around the bed all night, but managed to catch
some sleep. There is not much in terms of view from outside
the window as the old houses are built very close and right
next to the train tracks, blocking everything. You will however,
see peoples' rooms directly. Occasionally you will come across
little lakes, rice fields and temples.
Train does not go up to Sapa, you basically get off at
Lao Cai, a station only a couple of kilometres from the
Chinese border. From there, we took a bus to Sapa.
Lao Cai itself resembles a little dusty towns found in
most South Asian countries and Nepal. It seems to have
reasonably well developed roads, and from the houses
and bill boards littered across the streets, looks like an
important regional centre.
Lao Cai CBD.
Once we started to near Sapa, the views changed drastically,
from dust and hustle of little towns giving way to
lush green rice fields and silhouette of mountains
start to appear in the horizon.
View of Sapa from the hotel restaurant.
We got really excited about the things to come!
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