Fansipan Express Sapa Bus – All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go

I booked these guys through Sapa Sisters who use them as their bus transport option. The fare is cheaper and times suited us better than the really slow train. We met in Hanoi in the old quarter and were ferried out to the bus departure area. I say area as it was by the side of the road, so we stood there and got shooed away from a lady who was trying to run a restaurant where we were standing and we just generally stood in front of two buses not knowing which one we were to board. The guy who was helpful in spurts, looked stressed at the lack of action from his co-workers was my read. The bus left late and you do take your shoes off and they give you a plastic bag to carry your shoes on. The lay-down beds look okay on the photos but I’m nearly 6’2 and they max out comfort wise at about 6′. I did manage to turn on my side and had to push myself back up the chair regularly. I did manage to sleep on the way up. The bus does stop at 2 places, one toilet stop which is a bit annoying as you don’t get a chance to really sleep through, esp when there’s a toilet on the bus. Also when you arrive at Sapa, they just leave you on the bus. I found it a bit odd, but they are letting you sleep a little longer which in hindsight wasn’t a bad idea. When we asked the lady where to go she pointed down the road and so off into the mist we walked. The service was just there, nothing more. They do need to work on their customer service a little. I’m not a fussy traveller but we were a bit bemused. On the way back, the driver was okay, we all got colds from him as he coughed hard for 6 hours (as did another girl in the bus, so maybe it was her?) The return trip was in the evening and I’d worked out they stop at Lao Cai (after about 50mns) and then you stop again at a bigger bus-stop. The funny thing here is they placed a carton full of old and mis-matched sandals for you to use as shoes for your stop. None fitted me so as a system that is a bit weird and didn’t quite work. The driver initially wasn’t aware of our drop-off until I told him and we rearranged our luggage as a result (we stopped near the airport to catch a flight the next morning).
All in all, they need to improve their organisation skills, footwear system, add a dollop more of customer service and I think they would be punching a bit better. We travelled in the 3 seat wide bus, I might look to upgrade to the other one next time. Having not travelled with any other bus companies on this route I have no benchmark, but compared with other great Vietnam experiences we had, they just fell short. I hope they can fix a few issues and then they will be much better for it. The bus was in good condition.