From Hanoi to Guilin

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This blog is more about practical information for people who wants to do the journey.

There is a night train from Hanoi to Beijing that stop in Guilin, but there are only soft sleeper for 80$. So, I took a bus from Hanoi to Nanning for a price of 20 to 27$ (dependig on travel agency and day of travel). The bus left at 7:30 (Vietnamese time, GMT+7). At the border, I had to cross the border on foot and change bus. The Chinese bus arrived in Nanning at 16:00 (Chinese time, GMT+8). Both the vietnamese and the chinese buses where comfortable and far from full. Problably, the price is a bit higher than by local transport but the journey is hassle free.

The crossing of the border was easy and smooth. I read some report on Internet that the Lonely Planet was sometimes confiscated. Personally, nobody paid attention to my luggage nor asked any question about the books I had.

I arrived at the Bus station not far from the train station. There is a branch of the Bank of China nearby. If you're in a hurry go for the ATM, as exchanging cash US$ involve a lot of paperwork for you (3 forms to fill) and the employee. It is worse than in Vietnam or Laos (Yes, it's possible!). There are trains in the evening around 20h or 21h I think, but the counter of Southern China Airlines sells bus ticket and show a print document how to reach the bus station to Guilin using bus 6 or 52. I takes one hour to reach the bus station for Guilin. I took an extra 45 minutes to be sure, but it was not necessary (even at 17h when the traffic is dense). It's also possible to buy the ticket at the bus station. It's more crowded but you don't have to estimate the time of transfer.

Buses leave every 15 minutes from the station and are quite comfortable. Cost is 88 Yuan and include a bottle of water and some bread.
I arrive at 23h in Guylin. Someone showed me a leaflet for the Huali Hotel just near the bus station. The room costs 100 Yuan (though it's written 350 in the lobby) and are large and comfortable.

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Comments

[trevor graham]

helpful info
thanks for this practical info as i am returning to hanoi in november and considering a side trip to guilin..will be staying in hanoi at "elegance 2" in ma may st ( boutique hotel,3 stars,$35) and will let their professional travel desk handle all my transport....whrabbit

[Stephanie]

Hello, Do you think that i sould book the tikets before? I plane to go in china on31 march so hanoi to guilin like you hong kong beijin chengdu huanglong north yunnan ang go back to bangkok on 15 16 did i dream?without booking anything? Short budget? Thanks