China Travel Forum

[Nicholas]

Dear Friends,
I live in Singapore and I've plan go to Kunming from Hanoi.Please tell me if there is a night train from Hanoi to Kunming. If so, what is the train schedule and train fare. Thanks. Nicholas

[kamal]

There is one train between Kunming and Hanoi, two each week.
Departure (Beijing time): 2:25
Arrival: 10:30 next day
If the train is unavailable, you can take the open bus.
Hanoi to Vietnam port old street: about 10 hours, and $6-8. And do remember to take the bus of the travel company not the one of the local!
And then take bus from China Hekou Train Station if through the Pass. To Kunming, about RMB100 and around 12 hours for the berth.
From the Chinese Port to the Station of Hekou, it would only take 3 minutes, and easily to find if ask help from others.
have a good tour

[sam]

I'm headed to China in about a week, but while parsing through the 2001 Bradt guide for Yunnan, the bit about the train to Hanoi captured my imagination:
"A must for train buffs, this old French line extends all the way from Kunming to the Vietnamese capital. The narrow-guage line chugs through eye-catching countryside, temperate to sub-tropical, stopping at small colonial style stations whose yellow and ochre stucco walls seem timeless."
It's my understanding, from doing a search, that this line to Hanoi is no longer open due to a mudslide in 2003/2004? No matter to me, since I don't think I have time to get a visa.
I think I read that someone said the line is still open, but it's no longer a day-long trip, but three separate ones. Can anyone tell me if this is stil worth attempting while staying on the China side? What kind of stops do I have to look forward to?
Cheers!

[hosh]

this train has stopped at 2003,but you can take bus from Kunming to Hekou,and then from Hekou to Hanoi