How I got to Hanoi with no train ticket
“What do you mean that’s not a ticket?” I asked as I was told “No ticky no exit” at the train station in Hanoi, “No ticky no exit” came the response. The piece of paper I held in my hand had got me through the security at the entrance to the train station in Lao Cai and had got me directed to a bed on the train by one of the attendants, but apparently it wasn’t good enough for this woman when I arrived at 5am. Confused and annoyed I ran back to the train trying to find a conductor, I had paid $18 for the ticket and there was no way I was prepared to pay for another to get out of the station. Walking along the platform I found one attendant with a pile of tickets asking if anyone wanted to buy one, I explained my situation and he just walked off. Thankfully the next attendant I came across was more helpful and at least pretended to make a phone call, telling me to go to the other exit. I thanked her and headed to the west exit where I was once more met with “No ticky no exit”. After several minutes of pleading she got fed up and waved me through. I reckon it must happen all the time.
How I found myself without a ticket in Hanoi
From Sapa, the easiest way to get to Hanoi is by train from Lao Cai. Several trains run each day and every one of the travel agencies and hotels in Sapa sells tickets for them. There is also a non tourist train, but finding a ticket for that without actually going to Lao Cai and buying the ticket yourself is not possible, the travel agencies want you on the tourist trains. To make matters worse, there is no fixed price for the trains. There are several options for each type of seat and each type of sleeper. This is due to a number of companies, mostly hotels, owning carriages on the trains and each dealing with their own ticket issuing for them.
I bought my ticket in Sapa and wasn’t aware that it wasn’t a real ticket yet. All I knew was that I was getting picked up at my hotel by a minibus which would take me to Lao Cai in time for the train. When we got off the minibus in Lao Cai, ten minutes before the train was due to depart I was told to follow a young man that had met us as we got off. I followed and he took me to the train. I was waved through the security when I showed my temporary ticket and was allowed on the train with it too. I didn’t think there would be any problems after that, surely the difficult part would be getting on the train?!
The conductor came round to check tickets and all was apparently fine with mine, he checked and didn’t say a word. I slept all the way to Hanoi and only then did I discover that there was a problem.
How to avoid ending up in Hanoi without a ticket
Buy your ticket from a recommended travel agency or hotel. I sought out a hard sleeper at a lower price than my hotel was offering and I paid the price through the inconvenience experienced in Hanoi.
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We just did this trip too and were amazed that you had to produce a ticket at 4.30am in the morning!
We were lucky enough to stumble across the Sapa Tourism office, though (across from the market) and the guy there offered to sell us the tourist train tickets (which we declined, they charge so much more for essentially the same thing). He then told us to go to the Vietnamese Railways Ticketing Office – just down the road, in Sapa – where we bought ordinary train tickets for 315 000 dong, just 15000 more than from the ticketing office in Hanoi.
All in all, a good deal, and there was hardly anyone on the train because all the tourists were on the tourist train!
Lucky! I looked for the ticketing office but couldn't find it.