Train in Vietnam
Vietnam Railway is a state - owned company, it was built by the French during the 1880s when the French run the Colonial system in Vietnam and Indochina
The main railway line was built from Saigon to Hanoi for the distance of 1,600Km.
Traveling in Vietnam by train is a great experience, however it is a quite slow trip, you can have some overnight train, instead of staying at hotel, but you will not see the landscape on the way at night time.
A hard seat carriage with no air-conditioner, just only fan
There are many trains operated per day, but they stop over in different train stations of provinces. The train journey is a very slow option for passengers at the period of 30 - 40 hours for this distance of 1,600Km. All the cabins are upgraded for the country's transport competition. But The train company does not give any contribution to Vietnam insfrastructure.
You can have cabin of 4 passengers, or cabin of 6 passengers with air-con and soft berths, if you like the local experience for a short trip , the hard seat will be an adventure. But there 's no air - con carriage train for hard seats. The local just use this one for a short distance of travel.
There are many better train cabins for the trip from Hanoi to Lao Cai on your visit to Sapa. Because the cabins are renovated with better interiors and more comfortable mattress.
- The train from Hanoi to Lao Cai for your visit to Sapa is very good one, you can have soft berths, there's cabin of 2 berths and 4 berth. You you want to have a private cabin, you should pay extra to have your own cabin without sharing with others.
- The other trains for other trips are quite poor, of course you can have soft berth and aircon cabin. But very poor interior. If you expect to have a luxury cabin, this is not your choice.
Note: All the trains have toilet at each carriage (outside cabin, not en suite), you must share this toilet with all passengers on the same carriage. The train stops at differents local stations on the way, if you get off at your station, the loud speaker will hep you with English speaking instruction. Don't get panic or worried about getting off at a wrong station.!
Soft berths cabin with air-con, train to Lao Cai, Sapa