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This is a standard-gauge Chinese sleeper train that runs all the way from Nanning to Hanoi. The timetable is as follows (but always double-check locally, reports suggest they‘ve changed it yet again, and it now leaves Nanning at 18:45 and Hanoi at 22:40)
Gia Lam station is 6km from Hanoi Main station, across the river.
Map showing Gia Lam station (look for Ga Gia Lam on the right, ‘Ga‘ is from the French ‘gare‘ meaning station)
Fare for soft sleeper: In Nanning, it‘s currently RMB 229, which is around £23 or $37. In Hanoi, it was reduced in summer 2009 to the dong equivalent of 32 Swiss francs, around £20 or $30. Distance 396km.
How to buy tickets: Tickets are sold in Nanning at the station reservations office counter 16 and at Hanoi Main Station counter 10. Tickets are also sold in Hanoi by Vietnam Hanoi Railways Tourist Company (Travel Agency - 152 Le Duan Street, Hanoi, email sales@trainticketdeliver.com or call (84-4) 62861019. In Hanoi, you‘ll need to show your passport and Chinese visa when buying tickets.
Getting a Chinese visa in Hanoi: You‘ll need a visa to enter China, and indeed you will need to show your Chinese visa at Hanoi station when buying your train ticket to Beijing. It‘s reported that the Chinese embassy in Hanoi will not now issue visas for anyone who is not a Vietnamese citizen or resident (this may well be a new policy for 2010). So either get your visa in your home country before you leave, or arrange your Chinese visa in Hanoi through a suitable travel agency such as www.hanoibackpackershostel.com.
Traveller Anton Vidgen reports from a Nanning-Hanoi train journey in January 2009: "We purchased tickets in Nanning at counter 16 and departed the same day at 18:15. Soft sleeper cost RMB 334 each. There is a comfortable waiting room to the far left of the station if you are facing the main clock. The train only had about 20 passengers in total (exclusively soft sleeper) so ticket availability did not seem to be an issue. We arrived in Pinxiang around 20:00 and customs only took 45 mins. We then arrived in Dong Dang at 23:30 and customs again only took 45 mins.
Our Vietnam visas became active on the next day so we were worried officials would cause a fuss, but we had no problems. We re-boarded the same comfortable Chinese train which finally arrived in Hanoi around 5:30am."
Nanning-Hanoi by daytime bus: If the train is full or you prefer daytime travel, there are several daily buses between Nanning & Hanoi, using modern coaches. Buses reportedly leave Nanning bus station at 08:30. 09:00 & 09:30, journey time 7-8 hours, fare around RMB 150 (£15 or $25). The scenery is reported as well worth the trip!
quoted from /www.seat61.com
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