Travelling to Sapa from Hanoi on ET Pumpkin Train

We are booked on the ET Pumpkin Train to Sapa in a Deluxe Cabin Soft Sleeper next Friday night. Has anybody travelled this way before and if so, what are the cabins like and are there any double cabins or do we have to share a cabin for 4 people?

Look forward to your responses

Thanks

Travelling to Sapa from Hanoi on ET Pumpkin Train

Hi There,most of the Cabin on Train to Sapa are okay. I was on royal train and book the whole cabin so it would be only me and my partner, if you prefer private space and avoid to be in a deck with 4 people inside. It%26#39;s relatively quiet nice journey. On the Royal Train cabin was very clean, and comfort. From Hanoi Train Station make sure to be careful with people who try to be the station staff and pretend to bring you to your cabin, they all want money by guiding you to your cabin and normall you have to pay alot to then otherwise they will not let you go up to your cabin. Just reject their offer and say you can find your own way to your cabin, it%26#39;s easy actually by following the sign board. Have a nice stay at Sapa!

Travelling to Sapa from Hanoi on ET Pumpkin Train

We took the train to Sa Pa (no idea which one though; they%26#39;re all just a bunch of carriages connected to the same engine) in a 4-berth, sharing with two nice young Swedish girls on the way out and two equally nice retired French ladies on the way back. In both cases we had fun and interesting conversations, much more interesting than sitting talking to ourselves :-). Considering that these trips are quite expensive for locals and comparatively expensive for backpackers, you are only likely to be sharing with fellow foreign tourists. We were quoted more than double the fare for a 4-berth to be in a 2-berth ($US37 pp one way for 4-berth; $US85pp one way for a 2 berth) and personally I would rather spend the money on something more fun :-)

Agree with York Foodie, my son and I caught the train and cannot recall which carriage as they all look the same and we were in a 4 berth cabin. Going to Sapa we shared with two Australians and on the way back 2 French tourists so the conversation flowed well mainly around travel.

There are lots of other tourists in the cabins all sharing with each other and it adds to the camaraderie on the train sharing stories etc.

I initially looked at booking just a twin cabin but in hindsight it made no difference being in a shared cabin as everyone headed off to bed not long after the train leaves and with an early arrival in both locations not much time in the morning.

Would recommend taking water, even though you get a bottle the nights were really hot (June) and it was nice to have some extra.

Not sure about the deluxe rating either as the cabins are fairly basic with a bathroom at each end of the carriage.