global citizen

Hanoi…

Hanoi and Halong Bay…

Dalat, Hue & Nha Trang…

Ho Chi Minh City & the Cu Chi Tunnels…

• See the Vietnam Wikitravel page
• To cross the roads in Vietnam, slowly walk into the traffic allowing it to flow around you – if you move too fast or hesitate, it’ll confuse the drivers. I hired a scooter for 75,000 Vietnam Dong per day, but you may not share my death wish.
• The quickest overland route between Hanoi in the north, and Ho Chi Minh City in the south, is by train and it takes over 17 hours. Most tourists take the bus and stop along the way. If you’ve only a couple of weeks, consider sticking to either the north or south. Hanoi is a good base for visiting the attractions up north, and is generally preferred to the south.

It’s a great adventure and according my calculations, you’ll save 0.84 acres of forest by not flying! There are three main legs of the journey which should take around 30 hours
1) Hong Kong to Guangzhou
2) Guangzhou to Nanning
3) Nanning to Hanoi

You don’t need to book anything, but try to arrive at the Guangzhou and Nanning at least two hours before departure. Remember that travel during New Year or Golden Week is likely to be impossible considering.

Print some currency converters from oanda.com

1) Hong Kong to Guangzhou

• Take the special Guangzhou train from Hong Hom KCR station (next to Tsim Sha Tsui). The immigration process can take over an hour. Ensure you have your HK ID on hand.
• There are cash points on the China side of the station.

2) Guangzhou to Nanning

Below are the schedules at the time of writing…

• Leave Guangzhou 7:05, Arrive Nanning 18:54
• Leave Guangzhou 14:30, Arrive Nanning 1:45
• Leave Guangzhou 16:02 Arrive Nanning 5:50

• The latter is the one to aim for – there will be a counter catering to ‘foreign tourists’.