Train Tickets

Try Vega Travel. I booked my tix with them. Ask for Royal train.

Hi Rexxed

The weekend is market days in and around Sa Pa
The trains are packed going up on friday nights full of westerners and vietnamese tourists going up for the markets
Same applies on Sunday night coming back to Hanoi
Doubt very much if you would get tickets on the same day for travel that night especially if it was friday night

Vietnamstay is an excellent site to buy tickets from online
You will pay more but you will get the tickets.

Hard seats are just as safe as soft seats

Monday is a great day in Sa Pa , they have all but gone

Cheers

I went with Hanspan and had a wonderful time. I did a 3 night homestay down in the Valley.

If you want to go alone, I think you still should buy your train tickets through a travel agency. I have heard that the travel agencies book most of the sleeper tickets and thus you probably will not be able to buy direct from the railway.

Thanks for all the replies! I believe I should be booking the train tickets with one of the travel agencies soon. Perhaps ODC travel?

I'm just wondering, the travel agencies charge about US$22 to US$25 for a soft sleeper. However, when I checked the Vietnam railway's website, a soft sleeper cost only 225000 VND? Why the big difference? If the difference is for helping us book the tickets, isn't it a little too much?

In addition, is it safe for me to photocopy my credit card and mail it to the travel agencies? It seems that most of them operate that way. I'm rather worried about security of my credit card. Is the 'standard' way of booking tours with vietnam tour agencies?

Thanks!

Hi Rexxed

The difference is they are a business and they are not doing this travel business for fun. They are trying to run a profitable business like anywhere .
All The sleeper carriages ( different companies ) are not the same standard
The sleeper carriages do vary in quality and on the railway site you are booking their carriages so that would have a bearing on the price differential.

Same as when you bought your airline ticket , prices can vary enormously for the same thing

Again its peace of mind but if you want to wander down to the station and have the experience of buying your own ticket and save a few bucks thats fine .
Tulico has an office inside the station and you can buy Ratraco tickets at the Mango Hotel ( right hand side of the station as you approach it ) near the enclosed ATM.

Our experiences with Vietnamstay were excellent.
Unless your bank can produced a signed purchase docket you are not responsible for any transactions that appear on your statement.

Cheers

i went to sapa and just booked a tour so got train tickets that way, very easy.
but when we got on the train, the girl in the bunk below left to chat on her phone and another american girl came with a 'guide' who tried to put her on the already occupied bunk below, he picked up the stuff and tried to put it on my bed, myself and the italian couple shouted at him to stop and the american girl seemed a bit bemused. turned out he was a thief pretending to be a guide, just grabbed the american girl's ticket and then robbed money from the purse on the bunk below me. audacious, 4 of us there and he does it in front of us. he created enough confusion to disctract us.
so be careful of anyone trying to 'show you to your berth' or anyone coming into your cabin who shouldn't be there.
also, the authorities were less than helpful, they refused to believe it had happened, just said 'i don't think so, you didn't lose your money on the train'