Xin chao!: LAO CAI CITY

LAO CAI CITY

Lao Cai province shares borders with: Ha Giang province in the East, Lai Chau province in the West, Yen Bai province in the South, Yunnan province of China in the North. The Vietnam – China Hekhou international border gate is just about 5km from Lao Cai city center.

Most tourists come to Lao Cai city by night train from Hanoi (345km). If you leave Hanoi at 9:00 - 10:00PM, you will arrive in Lao Cai city in early morning, about 5:00AM. Then they will take the local bus in front of the train station to Sapa town or Bac Ha town.

There's not really much to see in the city. If you need to overnight here, see the hotel/guesthouse list near train station and new bus station on Phan Dinh Phung street of the city. Room rate start at 8USD with private room, air-condition, hot shower, Tivi, wifi...

Below are List of hotels near train station; Getting there (and Sapa); Lao Cai city - Yunnan of China

A/ List of hotel/guesthouse
1/ (My pick) Hoa Hoa guesthouse
Address: 33 Phan Dinh Phung street

Tel: 0914 696 796 - 0979 239 238

Room rate: 170,000VND (8USD)

Overview: Basic clean room with air-condition, hot shower, cable Tivi, wifi

Pictures:

Pics: vietnamguidebook

2/ Huyen Thien hotel
Address: 64B Phan Dinh Phung street

Tel: 0203 836 075 - 0912 794 508

Email: huyenthienlaocai@gmail.com

Room rate: 15USD

Overview: Basic large room, air-condition, hot shower, Tivi, a small restaurant, English speaking staff

Pictures:

Pics: vietnamguidebook

3/ 520 hotel
Address: Phan Dinh Phung street

Tel: 0203 836 563 - 0915 188 340

Email: nkmv1016@yahoo.com

Room rate: 170,000VND (8USD)

Overview: Basic large room with air-condition, hot shower, Tivi

Pictures:

Pics: vietnamguidebook

Quick lunch/dinner
Small local eatery: Cao Tin
Address: 29 Phan Dinh Phung street
Tel: 0164 741 3356
Overview: Lunch/dinner. Offer beef noodle soup. My meal: Vietnamese steamed rice with fried fish, fried egg, fried vegetable, soup with just only 35,000VND (almost 2USD)

Pics: vietnamguidebook

Those look for a small restaurant serving Western dishes, come to the Huyen Thien hotel (64B Phan Dinh Phung street)

B/ Getting there (and Sapa)

Hanoi - Lao Cai

Most tourists take night sleeping train departing from Tran Quy Cap train station of Hanoi and arriving in Lao Cai train station of Lao Cai city in early morning.

Departure: 9:00PM - 9:30PM - 10:10PM

Arrive: 4:00 - 5:00AM

Price: 194,000VND (Air-conditioned soft seating) and 485,000VND (Air-conditioned soft sleeping)

A motorbike drive from Hanoi's Old Quarter to Tran Quy Cap train station costs about 35,000VND

Lao Cai - Sapa

In early morning, there are many local buses in front of the Lao Cai train station taking tourists to Sapa town
Travel distance: 38km
Travel time: about 1 hour
Price: 50,000VND

Lao Cai train station

* By bus (Hanoi - Lao Cai - Sapa)

Depart from My Dinh bus station of Hanoi in the evening and arrive in Sapa bus station in morning

Famous bus operator is Hai Van

Tel in Ha Noi: 04 38 71 71 71

Depart from My Dinh of Hanoi at 8:30PM and arrive in Sapa bus station at about 7:00AM

Tel in Sapa: 0915 67 2020

Depart from Sapa at 6:00PM and arrive in Hanoi at about 5:00AM

Price: 300,000VND (A/C sleeping bus)

Sao Viet sleeping bus

Tel in Ha Noi: 04 3668 6358

Depart from My Dinh of Hanoi at 8:30PM and arrive in its office opposite Sapa bus station at about 7:00AM

Tel in Sapa: 0203 638 638

Depart from Sapa at 6:00PM and arrive in Hanoi at about 5:00AM

Price: 300,000VND (A/C sleeping bus)

Sapa bus station

Pic: vietnamguidebook

Hai Van sleeping bus

Pic: vietnamguidebook

Sao Viet sleeping bus

Pic: vietnamguidebook

C/ Lao Cai city - Yunnan of China

In May 2011, I went to Yunnan, China by this way. It was a great journey and I spent almost 1 month in Yunnan: Yuan Yang terraced rice fields, Kunming city, Dali ancient city, Lijiang ancient town, Shangrila ancient town and Lugu lake - the kingdom of Women.

Another 1 month in Guilin and Yangshuo of Guangxi province, Guangzhou city, Chaozhou city, Shanghai city, Hangzhou city, Suzhou city, Huangshan and Hongcun village, Beijing city.

If you need travel info for these destinations, just feel free to drop me a line: tung.thanh.ly@gmail.com

Hekhou border check point