Taking a motorcycle road trip in northern Vietnam involved making some choices. Bringing the motorcycle with us from Hanoi was one of them. The reason was simple: it seemed easier to have the motorcycle with us upon arrival in Lao Cai, the starting point of our journey, and to use it until our planned return to Hanoi.
This saved us from renting a motorbike in each town, and travelling by bus between each, thus missing out on being able to stop wherever we wanted to admire the scenery and meet the locals. Not for me.
In addition, it would have required making loops locally to be able to return the bike and would therefore have required too many days, which we did not have.
As I found little information and even less in French, here is a short summary of what you need to know to load your motorbike from Hanoi and thus start your trip from Lao Cai.
Put your motorcycle on the train via the rental agency or by yourself?
Since I knew which agency to use to rent the motorcycle, I asked them in passing if they could also book the train and, at the same time, take care of the motorcycle transfer.
Since the answer was yes, I didn't hesitate to give them the go-ahead. I went through the Flamingo Travel agency , which I had read good things about on an English-language blog.
Sure, it's cheaper to do it yourself. With the agency, it cost me $30 to put the motorbike on the train . But the advantage was that I only had to pick it up once I arrived in Lao Cai.
Once at the agency and the payment completed (I had only paid 30% for the motorcycle reservation, the train and the motorcycle to put on the train being to be paid on site), I was given the keys as well as the helmet (my wife having taken hers) and a receipt with the information of the motorcycle (model, registration plate).
Normally, once you arrive in Lao Cai, you have to show the receipt in question and you are good to go (in practice, I didn't even have to show it... They assume that if you have the keys, you are good to take the motorbike in question...)
If you do it yourself , it should only cost about $15; you need to ask the agency where you rent the motorcycle for the receipt in question establishing the information concerning the motorcycle.
Once you arrive at the station with your motorbike, you'll need to buy separate tickets for yourself and for the motorbike. Once you have your tickets, hand the motorbike over to an attendant, along with the ticket and receipt . Since the motorbike must travel empty, you'll need to siphon any remaining fuel. Remember to bring a small bottle to collect the fuel and return it upon arrival in Lao Cai.
In case it is the agency that takes care of it, it will therefore be empty on arrival, so you will have to push the motorbike to the nearest gas station (which is what I had to do...).
Our tickets cost us $33 per person for a berth (4 per cabin). It is specified that you must arrive at the company office about 30 minutes before departure (something like that), the Orient Express office is located between the main building (which faces the courtyard) and the waiting room (which is on the right side) at the back.
Once the train is ready and available, we can go and board. The motorcycle is loaded for us , so we don't have to worry about it.
Guys might take your train ticket to the platforms to guide you to your train... don't be fooled, these guys don't have uniforms and have nothing official, they will just ask you for a tip for having "kindly" guided you to the train (which is well signposted so impossible to miss...)
Keep in mind that generally (depending on the train company you choose), the motorcycle won't necessarily be loaded onto the same train . Therefore, you'll need to wait for it once you arrive.
To cite my own case, I wanted to travel with the Orient Express company (for all the information concerning the trains, I went to the Seat61.com website which is super complete and helped me make my choices), so we took the SP1 train, while the motorcycle arrived via the SP3.
As a result, we arrived in Lao Cai at 5:30 am, but the motorbike didn't arrive for another hour . Plenty of time for us to watch with amusement as the ticket inspectors smoked their opium pipes right next to us.
To summarize :
- Rent your motorbike through an agency in Hanoi (for me it was Flamingo Travel with a Honda Future X 125cc.
- Either the agency takes care of it (you will pay extra), or you ask for the receipt specifying that you are going to take the motorcycle on the train.
- Go to the station with your tickets (preferable to have in advance, taken for my part with Flamingo also but I almost used this site too: Vietnam Impressive, they speak French and can deliver the train tickets to your Hotel in Hanoi) and the receipt for the motorbike in your pocket, take a ticket for the motorbike.
- Make sure the bike has no gas in the tank (if you're going to put the bike in yourself) and hand it over to one of the guys at the station, showing your ticket for the bike.
- Spend a short night on the train of your choice.
- Once the train with the motorcycles arrives, you can normally pick it up directly, if asked, show the receipt. If the motorcycle arrives before you, it will be waiting for you in front of the platform.
For the station, we found it by asking the locals several times. A guy in a car even offered to take Jitima who was walking while I was pushing the motorbike… Well, in practice it’s not far from the station, it’s just 500 m.
Because I'm nice, here's a little map to help you find your way when you arrive in Lao Cai.
Does this all seem clear to you? Next step for us, Sapa!
