'''Lao Cai''' is a town in northern Vietnam. It is on the border with China, adjacent to Hekou.

Get in

There are several night trains each day from and to Hanoi (about 9h, ca. 20$ for a soft sleeper depending on the train).

Buses run from Kunming and other cities in Yunnan (China) to Hekou from where it is only a short walk over the border to Lao Cai. The border is open from 7am to 5pm (8am to 6pm Chinese time).

Get around

Minibuses to Sapa can be found on the other end of the first bridge after the border but also driving around town on the search for more passengers. A minibus to Sapa costs around 25'000d and leaves only when full. Watch out for the motorbike touts outside the exit. They will attempt to get you to pay anything up to 150'000d to get to Sapa, and are very persistent indeed. Sit down and they will sit around you staring until you make a deal. Walk away and they will tail you at walking pace on their bikes.

See

Everything you will see is either water or land. The place is a dry old mainland.

Do

Money

There are a couple of ATMs in Lao Cai. The Techcom Bank has ATMs on the square of the train station as well as close to the border. However, they accept only some international cards. There is one ATM accepting all international cards but it's neither close to the border nor to the railway station. Motorbike drivers usually know it and will drive you there (one-way 10'000d)

As soon as you leave the immigration building you will be approached by money changers. They usually offer poorer exchange rates than the bank. There are two banks just next to the border and a third one just at the other end of the first bridge, though these are all annoyingly closed at weekends. Banks in Hanoi will also readily exchange your RMB for Dongs.

Buy

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Contact

Get out

Hanoi

Trains run from the train station in Lao Cai to Hanoi - with the option of an overnight sleeper. This will however put you in Hanoi rather early with the only company being a million motorcycle and taxi touts. So its generally a good idea to have a plan as to where you'll be heading to on arrival to avoid being scammed. Prices for a soft sleeper ticket are around 300,000 dong, lower classes are cheaper. Check http://www.seat61.com/Vietnam.htm for up to date information on prices.

There is also a bus service to Hanoi costing 89,000 dong.

Sapa

Minibuses run from outside the train station straight up the mountain. This should cost you somewhere in the vicinity of 25,000 - 30,000 dong. If arriving by train (usually at around 5am - 6am) watch out for minibus scams asking for 200,000 dong upwards. Generally they can still be bargained down (despite much disgust from whoever is so kindly scamming you).

Yunnan Province, China

Only a short walk outside of the center of town, is the border crossing to Hekou in China. From here you can catch an onward bus through to Kunming for around Y120.

  • Bac Ha