cost of train to Sapa

I am intending to take a train to Sapa at the end of March, currently leaning towards the King Express. How much should it cost? I found an internet posting that said the 2-berth cabin is 60USD and the 4-berth cabin is 30USD. Is that correct and if so, is that one way or round trip?

Also, the Hanoi hotel wanted to charge 70 USD and when I quoted the rate I saw online he agreed to lower it but complained about how he has to buy thru another agent so only makes a very small commission. He did eventually agree to lower the price to 65 USD.

Finally, everyone on this forum says to book the entire 4-berth cabin. Has anyone shared a cabin and if so what was their experience? My husband insists it can%26#39;t be much different than the togetherness of a trans-pacific flight and thinks it%26#39;s a waste to buy the other two empty bunks. Thoughts?

cost of train to Sapa

We shared with two young Swedish girls who were travelling with their family of six on the way to Lao Cai, and on the way back we shared with two retired French ladies. While we weren%26#39;t quite up to the familiarity of changing into our jammies for the sleep (you spend most of the time sleeping) we wore comfortable clothes we didn%26#39;t mind sleeping in so it was all good. We had some interesting conversations and I still have the mud map I drew of Australia to show the French ladies where we were from, with the map of France they drew next to it to reciprocate :-)

The seats are too expensive for anyone but tourists and rich locals so I wouldn%26#39;t worry too much about who you might share with, unless you have a real thing about privacy.

cost of train to Sapa

Have just returned to OZ and travelled on train to Sapa with my sister. We booked 2 berths in a 4 berth cabin (Business class) and ended up sharing the cabin with a family of 4!! the 2 children were in their late teens and the trip was very uncomfortable.

The carriage we were in had no other tourists,but was full with locals returning to Lao Cai after TET.If you get a 4 berth make sure you book Deluxe class, otherwise I hope you have good bladder control as the toilet in business is out of the question. Even though it was an experience and a half I would definitely book a 4 berth for 2 if had to do it again.

Hi We have just booked Livitrans for $128 for use of a 4 berth for just the 2 of us, we tried to book a VIP 2 berth but couldn%26#39;t get one so the hotel we booked through suggested this alternative. Give or take a few $ it was about the same as going to Livitrans direct so we were happy to use the hotel as they were so helpful. I had read bad reports about sharing and apparently the journey is not great.