Booked Train Ticket to Sapa
May 7th, 2005
We planned to do a day trip to Sapa, by ourselves. That’s mean we needed to buy the train tickets to Lao Cai, the gateway city to Sapa. The problem was we were unable to buy the tickets ourselves. I visited Vietnam Railways website, there is no way to buy the train tickets online. Before we departed, I emailed a few travel cafes and tour agents in Hanoi, and they quoted me some prices that ranging from USD $3 commission to USD $20 for one soft sleeper train ticket to Lao Cai. I think it’s quite expensive.
Initially I thought of asking Alan to help us to buy the train tickets, as he is going to buy the train tickets tomorrow anyway. But after worried that we might troubled his travel plan as we have to meet him again to get the train tickets, we decided to ask the Thanh Vinh Tourist Hotel to buy for us the train tickets instead. Luc started the price at USD $15 each, we bargained down to USD $14 each. I thought it’s reasonable, as even if we bought the train tickets ourselves, it would cost about USD $12. So they’re going to get us 2 lower berth (I specifically asked for lower floor, and they trustworthyly got it for us, other than return train due to change of timing) soft sleeper train ticket to Lao Cai on 8th May 2005 on 10:10 pm (LC1) and back to Hanoi on 9th May 2005 on 8:50 pm (SP2) (they initially bought us the train that departs on 7:00 pm (LC2) due to lower price, but we insisted on getting the later train).
Related Travel Diaries and Guides
- Final Travel Plan
- Vietnam Railways Tickets
- Finally Buy the Train Tickets to Kuala Lumpur Sentral
- Change in Travel Plan again
- Train from Lao Cai to Hanoi
- Temporary Travel Plan
- Bag Keeping in Hanoi
- Bus from Lao Cai to Sapa
- Odd Seat
- Vietnam Railways Train to Lao Cai (Sapa)
[…] We initially been bought tickets for train LC2, which departs from Lao Cai at 7 pm. We thought it’s too early, so requested it to be changed to a later train. So we boarded SP2 train that departs at 8:50 pm. This SP2 train is more expensive express train service (Luc wanted USD $1 more, but I refused to pay, instead asked him to treat it as a refund for the below par standard of Halong Bay tour). The SP (SP1/SP2) train is more expensive. It’s widely displayed around travel agencies and tour agents in Hanoi as it has a more nicely looking locomotive. So I had quite an expectation for the quality of service and cabin. But it turned out to my disappointment. The bread was less tasty and the mineral water was smaller bottle (Yes, soft sleeper berth comes with a bread and a bottle of water free, everything else extra charge). Beside, the bed was not properly covered. On the positive side is there was personal lamp at each berth, and the wash room was much better than the train we took when coming to Lao Cai, which at times it was locked. […]