The BIZARRE 12 Hour Sleeper Train That You CAN'T SLEEP On...

Tonight, we are back in Vietnam to take a very cool train journey to China that I've wanted to make for many years. We will travel between Hanoi and Nanning in this super comfortable classic Chinese sleeper coach for this 12 hour trip. There is some stunning scenery along the route, but it's not all fun and games as there is an obscenely timed border crossing. But what do you say we go and experience it all together? The journey starts in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, which is home to around 9 million people. I love visiting here as it's an urban chaos of interesting architecture, history, great food and scooters everywhere. Also, you're never more than a few steps away from a relaxing $5 massage parlour. OK, let's head to the station. I booked a Grab taxi to make the 5km trip from central Hanoi to Gia Lam station in the east of the city on the opposite bank of the Red River. This journey can take up to 30 minutes depending on traffic and I would plan to arrive at least 90 minutes before departure. The road leading to the station was also blocked off this evening, so I needed to walk the final few minutes. This is Hanoi's second busiest train station, where all the trains to the northern cities of Lao Cai and Sapa depart, as well as our train to China. It's very small to be honest, with few facilities inside except for a seated waiting area and staff ticket office. You are going to want to come here a few days before you want to travel to secure a ticket, or book online as I did. You will then need to collect a physical ticket and have your passport and or visa checked at the station. Just over an hour before scheduled departure time I noticed the train being shunted into position. It is formed of these smart, dark green Chinese Type 25G long distance sleeper coaches. Before the boarding formalities commence, let's check out tonight's route on board train T8702. We depart Hanoi and head north east before arriving at the border in the early hours of tomorrow morning where both entry and exit checks take place. We then continue on to Nanning in Guangxi province arriving mid-morning tomorrow. Around 50 minutes before departure time all passengers are summoned to this smaller waiting room where almost immediately the ticket checking process starts. I have no idea what the confusion with my passport or visa was but after a couple of minutes of consultation I was allowed to pass. They seem to have parked the train all the way down the far end of the platform for some reason. It's a good 3 or 4 minute walk but it is mostly flat and level. One thing that really confused me about this train was the sheer amount of staff. There was at least 3 or 4 at every coach. Our train tonight is formed of 1 generator coach and 7 passenger coaches, all of which comprise of 4 berth soft sleeper accommodation. This is similar to Soviet coupé compartments. Once at the door to my coach, another ticket and passport check is carried out. That's three so far since I've arrived at the station. No level boarding or accessible facilities are available at all on this train. I was then handed this card to my compartment. It wasn't to lock it, it was more for ID as to where I should be. And then I am free to wander down and settle into room 4, which comprises beds 13 to 16. I'm in bed 13 tonight, a lower bunk. My first impressions are very good, but we will check it out in more detail once we are on the move. We still have over half an hour before departure, so let's head to the front of the train to have a look. We will be hauled as far as the border by this Vietnam Railways D14E diesel locomotive. These have a top speed of 100kmh and a power output of 1400kW. They are standard gauge which is quite uncommon in Vietnam as the vast majority of the network is meter gauge. The tracks from Hanoi to the Chinese border are in fact dual standard and metre gauges to allow all rolling stock to be used domestically. However, these coaches are standard gauge to allow cross-border interoperability into China. You might be surprised by just how much of your personal information is available online. I certainly was. Data brokers collect and build profiles containing things like your name, address, phone number and other personal details and that information can potentially be used for things like profiling, identity theft and scams. Incogni helps remove your personal information from data broker sites and handles the removal process for you. Their removal engine automatically sends requests to more than 420 data broker sites and keeps repeating those requests over time. 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There is only one type of accommodation on the whole train, that being the soft sleeper four berth room that I am in tonight. Ticket prices are fixed for one berth at 1,069,000 Viet Namese Dong or 275 Chinese Yuan if you buy direct from the railways, which is honestly an absolute bargain. Most people may find it easier to book through a third-party reseller such as 1-2-Go or Klook, as the user interface is much easier to use and international credit and debit cards are accepted, however they do charge a commission of around 15%. Tickets go on sale 15 days before travel. There are no child discounts, however under-4s who don't require their own bed travel free of charge. There is also no official way to book solo or reduced occupancy so you may be sharing with strangers and there is also no gender separation. If there is availability when booking and there are four of you travelling then you will be allocated a private room for your group. Twice a week this train extends all the way to Beijing which takes 36 hours in total. Shortly after departure another ticket, passport and visa check is carried out by the carriage attendant who spoke good English. He was filling in a list, so I guess this was advance notice for the Chinese immigration tomorrow morning. In the meantime, let's check out the room. Here is the ID card I was issued upon boarding, with my bed number listed. The compartments can be locked, but from the inside only. The main room light switch and call bell can be found just inside the door. At the window are both a privacy netting and also thick blackout curtains. The beds themselves are pretty good with everything very clean and made up before my arrival. The seat base slash mattress was well padded and there was a foam topper as well. Two fluffy pillows and a thick and soft duvet were also provided. Fold down steps are available by the door to access the top bunks which are the same as the bottom ones. Luggage can be stored under the bottom bunks or in the large space which runs above the corridor. There are also personal reading lights available along with coat hooks and hangers to store your clothes. A fixed table is present which includes a metal tray, some fake flowers and a box of tissues. Underneath this is the room's only power socket which takes a few different plug types and the announcement volume control switch next to this. There is also a litter bin down here. No wi-fi is available on board at all. Overall it's a pretty standard sleeper train coupe or couchette room but very well kitted out to provide some extra comforts. It was also exceptionally clean and in great condition throughout. At both ends of every coach you will find a toilet. One is squat style and in this one someone had left me a gift. But there is also a western style one at the opposite end. The water worked but no soap was provided. Toilet roll was available but no hand towels or dryer. The toilet is vacuum style and worked just fine. It was also reasonably clean. Just outside you will find a communal wash area which did have soap on this occasion. If you want to do your teeth here though, bring bottled water. There is no dining car but a hot water dispenser can be found in each carriage to allow you to make up your own pot noodles or hot drinks. And remember to bring some snacks and water to tide you over until the morning. And as there is only one type of accommodation on board, that's the train tour complete. It is now around 10:10 pm and we are arriving at Bac Giang where I will try and get some sleep. I need to be up in about two and a half hours time for the Vietnam exit immigration checks at Dong Dang station. The carriage attendant knocks on all compartment doors about 10 minutes before we arrive at just before 1am. The opposite direction service is waiting on the adjacent platform on the final stretch of its journey to Hanoi. You must alight and take all your belongings off the train with you to clear the customs and passport checks. The locomotive is also changed here for a Chinese DF-4D which we will see up close when we arrive in Nanning later this morning. This was really fast and efficient and I was off the train for no more than 15 minutes in total. The next turn is 4.30 Beijing time. 4.30 Beijing time? Yes, I will tell you. The time will go ahead by one hour when we cross into China so that means we have around two more hours from now before the China entry checks. I have crossed this border once before in the daytime and it is absolutely stunning with dense forests, deep gorges and high limestone cliffs towering all around. I had a little nap before I'm awoken by another knock on the door and it it is now 4.20am as we arrive in Pingxiang. Again, everyone must alight with all their luggage and I thought I would get a head start and stand by the door to try and beat the rush. I even filled out my electronic entry card in advance. Chinese immigrations are very strict with filming so I can't show you what happened inside, so let's fast forward an hour or so to when I am back on the train and out of the rain and I will explain. All foreigners were herded off to one side and then all our IDs were examined and bags thoroughly inspected. My guy was especially interested in my Jack Reacher book for some reason. We were then sent through a nuclear radiation detector and stamped into the country shortly after. I managed to get about another two hours or so sleep before getting up to enjoy the stunning train window views of the Zhuo River which we follow for quite a while. This river flows from northern Vietnam for 539 kilometers before joining with the Yu River at Nanning before they eventually empty into the South China Sea from the Pearl River Delta. There were also many impressive limestone karsts which lined the route, towering above both the railway line and rice paddies below. It's just a shame the weather isn't a bit brighter. The ride quality of the train is pretty good, but we weren't going much above 80kmh any time I checked. We are now arriving in Chongzhou, our final intermediate stop on today's journey. I think they must have added some seated coaches to our train at the border to accommodate all these new passengers. This fifth-tier city has a population of around 2.5 million, making it a similar size to Budapest, Hungary, or Bucharest, Romania. But I bet you've never heard of it before today, right? Okay, fast forward a few hours and we are now joined by the 250kmh capable line from Kunming. This is part of China's impressive high-speed railway network, which covers 51,500km as of October 2026. 90% of this is capable of supporting running speeds of 350kmh and above. The network now reaches 95% of Chinese cities with a population over 500,000 and 33 out of the 34 provincial regions. The scale is mind-blowing with over 70% of all the world's high-speed railway line now being in China. Anyway, as this epic trip is now drawing to a close, let me take a moment to summarise this overnight journey from Hanoi, Vietnam to Nanning, China in a soft sleeper compartment. From a comfort point of view, I can't fault the train. The coaches are very clean and the beds and bedding are wonderful. My carriage attendant was also super friendly and spoke pretty good English. I enjoyed the overall experience and I am glad that I have done it, but the timings of the border crossings are absolutely savage. They really don't allow you to get much sleep at all. The whole magic of the night train should be to allow you to settle down in one place, get an uninterrupted sleep and wake up somewhere completely new, totally refreshed. You just can't do that on this train, unfortunately. Would you take this train to travel from Vietnam to China, or do you value your beauty sleep too much? Anyway, we're arriving Nanning right on time at 10.06am. Chinese trains are always very punctual in my experience. From here you can connect to basically anywhere on China's high speed network. I was heading off to Hong Kong on the direct Once Daily train which departs from Nanning East in 75 minutes time. This is an easy 10 minute train trip across the city. Have you been on any Chinese sleeper trains before? If so, which ones and on which routes? What was your experience like? Let me know in the comments below. Don't forget to subscribe. Thanks for watching to the end and I'll see you in the next video.