Alexandra Karplus, an American, spent two nights sleeping on the train and commented that it was “the best sleep” during her 7-day trip to Vietnam.
Alezanda Karplus was born in New York, USA, and settled in Singapore for 14 years. She has traveled many places but has only been on the train twice in India and the US. Karplus’s two children, 5 and 8 years old, have never taken a night train.
When Karplus’s husband came up with the idea of traveling to Vietnam and taking the night train Hanoi – Sa Pa, the female tourist agreed immediately. “I was excited to try something different,” she said. The whole family immediately booked a flight from Singapore to Hanoi for 131 USD per person and arrived in Vietnam in the last week of October, when their two children were out of school.
The first night, the family of 4 slept in Hanoi and boarded the train to Sa Pa at 10pm the next day. Karplus assessed that boarding a train in Vietnam is “very simple”. They just need to give their tickets to the staff standing in front of each carriage to check and be guided to their seats, which is a cabin with 2 bunk beds. Female tourist bought 4 beds for 155 USD.
Karplus was pleased to see the cabin was clean, with white sheets and cotton ceiling blankets. On the table there are 4 bananas, cakes, tea bags, wet towels, toothbrushes and bottled water. The children liked to sleep on the upper bunk, so she and her husband chose to sleep on the lower bunk.
The bed length is shorter than the height of Karplus’s husband. Male tourists must rest their feet on a shopping bag. However, lying on the train is still “more comfortable than any airplane seat”. The facilities on the ship are better than what female tourists expected. The toilet is more spacious than on the plane, with toilet paper, soap and a clean sink.
Karplus looked at Hanoi fading away through the window. The train passed by a house, she saw a woman sitting and watching TV. In another house, she saw a couple sitting on the balcony sipping tea.
The swaying motion of the ship caused the family of four to quickly fall asleep. Karplus slept soundly all night and woke up when the alarm went off at 5:30. The train began to have staff pushing carts to sell coffee and food to passengers. At about 6am, the train arrives at Lao Cai station. From here, they boarded a shuttle bus with 12 other people to go to Sa Pa.
There are two ways to travel from Hanoi to Sa Pa: by train and by car. Karplus chose to take the train even though it took 4 hours longer, but she considered it safer. “There have been many car accidents over the years,” she said. The Karplus family slept 4 nights at a hotel and homestay in Sa Pa. She said they had unforgettable experiences but “still found sleeping on the train more comfortable”. Karplus also said that the two nights she slept on the train were the two best nights she slept during her trip to Vietnam.
During this trip, the train street in Hanoi and the scenery in Sa Pa town were both deducted points by Karplus. She was disappointed because when she arrived in Sa Pa, there were only giant billboards, concrete buildings and many sellers trying to invite them to buy souvenirs. The famous Cat Cat village was also not appreciated by her because it was “more like an amusement park”.
She also did not appreciate the train street and considered it not a safe place to explore with children. “Drinks are served in sleazy shops located half a meter from the tracks,” she said.
When the train is about to pass, the train street becomes more vibrant, according to Karplus’s observations. An elderly woman from one of the nearby shops ran down the tracks, shouting at everyone to keep their distance. The woman even helped a nearby tourist pick up the sunglasses they dropped just seconds before the train passed.
Witnessing this scene, the American female tourist “understood why the Vietnamese government tried to prevent tourists from visiting”. If she had known in advance the risks of the trip Karplus would not have visited. However, her two children really liked the chaotic scene here.