I was so exited to take the overnight train, I have taken sleeper buses but not trains. I have heard some horror stories though so my expectations were not too high. Keep reading to find out more about the journey, I include some tips at the end.
We originally booked a 2 berth cabin but we were contacted and told it was no longer available and we would be upgraded to a 4 berth with no extra cost. Even better, an extra two beds to chill out on, we did not mind. The cost of this was 3,653,996 VND / $153 / €144 per person, it is expensive compared to other options but we wanted a comfortable journey.
We went to Mango Hotel and at 9:30pm we were called to board the train. We were escorted out the back of the hotel and onto the train. The train departed at 10pm so make sure you are there early!
The Cabin
The four berth was nice and was exactly what we expected, it was spacious for two people but would have been crammed with four. They gave us enough food for four people – 4 bottles of coke, 4 waters, 4 waffles and 4 breakfast packs containing a croissant, banana and milk along with tea, coffee and wet wipes. It was nice to be given food! Unfortunately I have to eat a gluten free diet so I did not eat anything but my boyfriend enjoyed it!
The bed was comfortable enough to get a few hours sleep, there is a thin mattress, pillow and sleeping bag but as you can imagine it is very loud and frequently stops suddenly so it is difficult to fall asleep. We discovered about 2 hours into the journey we had a few ants, small cockroaches and bed bugs in our cabin but we came prepared with bug spray which managed the ants but not the other creepy crawly guests. I hate insects so this was the most difficult element of the journey but as time went on I got so tired I ended up sleeping anyway. We did keep the lights on to keep the bugs at a minimum. It is all part of the experience.
The Bathroom
There are 2 types of toilet on the train, a regular toilet that you would find in Western parts of the world and then a squatting one. I was so thankful for the regular kind as the train is very rickety so that experience would not have been fun. The toilet was also a lot cleaner than most train toilets I have come across but the window did not go up so if you can time it that you are not on the toilet at a train stop.
Wifi
We were given a wifi password but within 2 minutes of leaving Hanoi it dropped and never resurfaced. However, the route has a strong 4g signal that allowed me to stay connected. The journey is long and I would highly advise bringing lots of entertainment options. I busied myself making Instagram reels and then regretted not bringing any movies with me.
When the sun rises the views are amazing, mountains, rice paddies, the ocean, cute towns and houses. If you are coming from Hanoi then make sure to leave your cabin and check the views from left of the train.
Tips to survive the 15 hours.
I felt so safe on the train, safer than I do on an overnight bus. It is definitely an experience and I would do this again, if you are taking this train here are a few tips:
- Wear a face mask to the bathroom. The smell in the bathroom gets rancid as the nights goes on so to avoid feeling sick a mask makes it more tolerable.
- Take some toilet roll/tissue to the bathroom.
- There is a hot water dispenser at the end of the carriage so you can take a pot noodle for a nice snack.
- Take bug spray with you, this was such a lifesaver and kept the number of bugs to a minimum
- Wear headphones to block out the noise of the train, if you have noise cancelling headphone. all the better. I just had regular ones but listened to a sleep podcast that really relaxed me.
- Make sure you have mobile data if you plan to work or just use the internet as the train wifi did not work when we were using it.
- Bring LOTS of entertainment, it gets very boring.
- They stop for about 10 minutes at a station that sells loads of snacks, so bring cash if you are likely to get hungry
