Hanoi to Lao Cai - The Violette Train Express

July 4, 2016

The start of our Vietnam summer adventure.  With only a rough idea of some of the places we wanted to visit, and no real timeline, we began our backpacking adventure by flying from HCMC to Hanoi. We had a few hours before our train departed, so we took a short walk from the train station and enjoyed a nice dinner in Hanoi at the Ngon Villa Restaurant.

This was a buffet style restaurant with Vietnamese menu, so it was a great way to taste all the dishes we had always wanted to try.

We had heard a lot about Sapa and were excited to trek.  We were travelling  from Hanoi to Lao Cai aboard the Violette Train Express a cute engine that reminded us of what might have been the Hogwarts Express in a Harry Potter story. It wasn't the cheapest way to travel, but a great experience and for sure more comfortable than the bus. We left Hanoi at 22:00 and were to arrive in Lao Cai at 6:25 the next morning.

 On the platform getting ready to board the train.

Veronika, Viktor, Eva and I shared a cabin.

Purple pillows, water and a chocolate snacks.

Stepan and David shared their cabin with two guys from Singapore. And pretty much the rest of our railway car was occupied by French Canadians on summer holidays.  

After looking out the window and watching a lit up Hanoi pass by, we were rocked to sleep and woke up early the next morning as we were nearing Lao Cai.