we chose the fanxipan express.
do take note of the following:
1) one cabin have 4 beds. each bed cost USD40. so if you are travelling in a group of 4, not an issue. if you are travelling in a pair, and want to have some privacy, you can buy all the 4 beds so that you can have one cabin for yourself, which means each person must pay USD80. if you are a solo traveller, then you #GG, because you either share the cabin with 3 strangers, or you pay USD160 for the whole cabin. if i am the solo traveller i will choose the former.
2) the train station is in a mess, with no proper signs guiding you to the correct train. so it will be better if you have a local to bring you personally to your own cabin. normally the agency that you buy tickets from will help to arrange a guy to do that. if you are totally on your own, then please be careful because you may get scammed. i have a friend who passed her ticket receipt to a local, then the local ran off with the receipt and arrived with her train tickets, but asked for 200,000 dong (about 13 sing dollars) then he will hand over the train tickets.
3) make yourself as tired as possible before going into the train. for example don't take nap, don't drink coffee, go drink a few cups of rice wine, etc. so that you can sleep soundly on the train even if the train was a bit rocky and noisy. i slept very well from hanoi to sapa, but did not sleep that well from sapa to hanoi.
ok that's about it, presenting to you the pics of the train!
