BY TRAIN FROM HANOI TO HUÉ

If you are planning on traveling south to Hué you can either do that by bus or by train.


If you want to take the train you can either leave at 7.00pm or at 11pm.


You can get a seat or a bed (hard or soft).


The hard sleeper is comfy enough and you get a pillow and a blanket. Plus they wake you up in the morning just a few minutes before you get to destination.


The ride from Hanoi to Hué costs 1608 VDG for this particular option and if you take the 11.00pm train you'll be in Hué by 10.50 in the morning. Trains are punctual.


Here is a picture of the ticket.
Enjoy your ride!

HOTEL IN HANOI

I know I promised not to leave comments about my trip and therefore this won't be one.

But if you are looking for a central, friendly and very helpful stay in Hanoi this is your hotel: Hanoi Holiday Hotel, right in the busy old quarter.

Rooms are clean, have computer, TV, complementary water, fridge, all possible toiletry and air-con of course.

Breakfast is a good mix of Asian and western but most of all they'd do anything to make your stay more pleasant.

They keep your luggage two or three days while you happily go visit Halong Bay and when we came back the day after in the afternoon they offered us a room for free so we could shower and rest until the time we had to go to the station to catch our train.

This says it all!

Price is $30 per double room (breakfast included). I booked through www.agoda.com which has offered me all the best deal so far but otherwise you can probably get a cheaper price by going directly to their website www.hanoiholidayhotel.com

TAXI RIDE FROM HANOI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

How much is a taxi ride from Hanoi International Airport into Hanoi itself?
Taxi rides actually are regulated by an official fare which is signposted next to the taxi stand right outside the airport's exit.

The fare is 350.000 V Dongs ($16) for a 5 seat cab.

The problem is once you pass customs you'll be assaulted by a number of people trying to sell you their ride for at least $20.

And best of all if you ask at the tourist office booth they will tell you they can arrange a cab for you at $30.

So all you need to do is get out and make sure they apply the proper fare which is visibly signposted next to the taxi stand.

VIETNAM VISA ON ARRIVAL

So it is true, Vietnam's visa-on-arrival system does work.
For the ones who do not want to go through the process of having to send money and a passport photocopy to a Vietnam embassy near you, you have the option of applying online at one of the many agencies offering this service.
I used vietnam-visa and it worked just fine.
All you need to do is apply for an approval letter that they will send you within 4 days (or earlier if you are willing to pay a little more) and pay $21 by credit card.
This same approval letter is what you'll need to show at the specific "visa-on-arrival" office once you disembark before going through customs. There you will have to pay the extra $25 for the real visa (one entrance in the country, one month worth) and you are done.


This is what the visa-on-arrival looks like:

CHEAP DOMESTIC FLIGHTS IN VIETNAM

If you are not interested or need to skip parts of Vietnam because you don't have enough time you might want to consider buying a cheap domestic flight through one of the few low-cost airlines that serve the country.

I bought a one-way ticket from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) with JetStar for only €40 ($52).

There are several flights a day according to your needs.

Another useful low-cost company is Fly Vietnam

Pacific Airlines was taken over by Jetstar but this helpful website (www.jetcost.co.uk) will scan through any travel website you can think of (including edreams and lastminute) and will find you a low price solution to your travelling matter.

More expensive but serves the purpose is Vietnam Airlines

WHAT THIS BLOG IS FOR

As a contemporary traveller I realised how important it is to have updated information on the places you want to visit. The web offers uncountable possibilities of gathering news and tips on what you looking into. The problem is there are too many options and many of them are contradictory.

By the time I get back from travelling through South East Asia (Vietnam-Cambodia-Thailand) I will post as briefly as possible all useful information to face this very common route among contemporary travellers.

The blog will try to avoid commentary and will only post that sort of technical information we are always searching for when we prepare for our trips wishing to answer these very few questions: how much? where? how? with what company?

See you in March 2012!