Vietnam — Ga Hà Nội (Hanoi Station), 120 Lê Duẩn, Hoàn Kiếm, Thành Phố Hà Nội, Hanoi, Vietnam — the Reunification Express
Getting my train tickets at tourist information
September 2015
During my visit to Vietnam, I had two real “adventures” lined up.
One of them wasn’t so much of an “adventure” as it was a visit to Ha Long Bay, which is a very touristy thing to do.
The second was, in my opinion, a real “adventure”, as it was to take the train from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) — the Reunification Express. A train journey was 35 hours, covering about 1700 km (ca. 1,050 miles).
When I mentioned to the hotel manager that I was taking the train from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, he gave me a look of concern and pity and then tried to talk me out of the trip. He said the journey was long and tedious, and flying would be much better. However, I have a thing about trains and given a choice between a train or a plane; I would always pick the train.
The first part of my “adventure” was finding Hanoi Train Station — Ga Hà Nội (Hanoi Station), 120 Lê Duẩn, Hoàn Kiếm, Thành Phố Hà Nội — and picking up my ticket. I knew that finding the station wouldn’t be a problem. What concerned me was the language issue and whether my ticket would be there. The booking of the ticket was surprisingly easy, and at the same time, worrying. Had I booked something?
To research the train journey, I used the excellent website The man in seat 61, which offered fantastic information, including timetables, about the trip. I booked the train ticket through baolau.vn, and although the site seemed legitimate, I felt uneasy about it. Was the site a rip-off? A scam? Would my ticket be there? Yes, I had a “voucher” from the site to take to the train station to collect my ticket, but would it all work?
I found the train station with no difficulties.
I walked in, and I found tourist information.
I asked about the ticket. I produced my “voucher”; a woman rummaged around in a tin and presented me with my ticket.
It could not have been easier.
I had worried about nothing.
It couldn’t have been easier. I’ve had more problems buying and picking up train tickets in Switzerland and the UK.
On the way back to my hotel, I came across what, I assumed, was the local train track from the station. A bit worrying. Hopefully, the track is not like that to Ho Chi Minh City.
Getting my train ticket for the Reunification Express from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) couldn’t have been easier. What helped the process was the excellent information at The man in seat 61, and even using baolau.vn was easy. The voucher system worked great, and I had no issues picking up my ticket at a noisy train station.
Foursquare: Hanoi Station
