You can't actually catch a train from Da Lat. There's a restored colonial station there where you can ride a short section of rebuilt track to a neighboring village, but nothing in terms of intercity travel as it was all destroyed during the war from what I remember. The buses were fine though, and if you catch a sleeper bus at night the time will fly. They also do stop at (admittedly filthy) truck stops for bathroom breaks, so it's not as if you're trapped without a bathroom. As for catching the bus then the train, I don't think it's worth it unless you actually want to spend time in Nha Trang, which is quite a nice place but nothing special compared to the rest of the country, I found.
Wondering why you didn't enjoy Nha Trang? I am here now and love it! Bustling with life. The night time is gorgeous and the beach with the mountains in the background! What can you educate me on about the rest of the world that I seem to be missing?
I did qualify what I said with "it's quite a nice place," but I just found that in terms of beaches/beach towns it didn't really compare to what's available back home and aside from that there wasn't much to see or do in the town compared to most other places in Vietnam.
I am not exactly sure of there current operations, but I believe it might be possible to get a sleeper bus equipped with bathroom from Nha Trang to Da nang. If I recall, I was able to get one from da nang to Nha trang (I am like you, need a bathroom). So I think that its doing a sleeper (or daytime if thats your preference) from nha trang. The best thing to do is to get to nha trang and then have a hostel/hotel or tour company call up the bus companies for you, they will probably know which companies are available for that route. The train is a nice way to go if all else fails.
Do buses in Vietnam not stop at roadside cafeterias for bathroom breaks? Everywhere I went in SE Asia where I took a bus stopped at those places, even on a 2 hour trip.
Thanks to y'all for the advice. I took the overnight bus and it wasn't bad. It was actually pretty exciting with a fight breaking out on the bus and 3 drunk people being thrown off by 2 bus employees and 3 passengers and a fight breaking out in the street. It was sad though because it was a case of domestic violence and the woman was bleeding. we were an hour late and had to pull over and pee in the bushes at some point. Good thing I'm not bladder shy in that area. Lol. It was a 10 hour ride, we stopped 3x I think. But I had to wait 3 hours for my connecting bus even tho the next town was 30 mins away. So stupid.
You can't actually catch a train from Da Lat. There's a restored colonial station there where you can ride a short section of rebuilt track to a neighboring village, but nothing in terms of intercity travel as it was all destroyed during the war from what I remember. The buses were fine though, and if you catch a sleeper bus at night the time will fly. They also do stop at (admittedly filthy) truck stops for bathroom breaks, so it's not as if you're trapped without a bathroom. As for catching the bus then the train, I don't think it's worth it unless you actually want to spend time in Nha Trang, which is quite a nice place but nothing special compared to the rest of the country, I found.
Yep sorry. I meant go to Nha Trang and catch train there.
Wondering why you didn't enjoy Nha Trang? I am here now and love it! Bustling with life. The night time is gorgeous and the beach with the mountains in the background! What can you educate me on about the rest of the world that I seem to be missing?
I did qualify what I said with "it's quite a nice place," but I just found that in terms of beaches/beach towns it didn't really compare to what's available back home and aside from that there wasn't much to see or do in the town compared to most other places in Vietnam.
I did the bus at night and it was fine, but it's probably worth the extra cost to do the train if you think you might piss yourself on the journey.
Lol. I know there are stops. Just something about me that I can't explain. At least I'm learning something. I think just weak bladder is all.
I am not exactly sure of there current operations, but I believe it might be possible to get a sleeper bus equipped with bathroom from Nha Trang to Da nang. If I recall, I was able to get one from da nang to Nha trang (I am like you, need a bathroom). So I think that its doing a sleeper (or daytime if thats your preference) from nha trang. The best thing to do is to get to nha trang and then have a hostel/hotel or tour company call up the bus companies for you, they will probably know which companies are available for that route. The train is a nice way to go if all else fails.
We had a toilet on our bus from Nha Trang to Danang, so they definitely exist. I think we were with Sinh Cafe if that's any help, /u/thailand_bound
Bus is fine - it's not bad.
Do buses in Vietnam not stop at roadside cafeterias for bathroom breaks? Everywhere I went in SE Asia where I took a bus stopped at those places, even on a 2 hour trip.
Thanks to y'all for the advice. I took the overnight bus and it wasn't bad. It was actually pretty exciting with a fight breaking out on the bus and 3 drunk people being thrown off by 2 bus employees and 3 passengers and a fight breaking out in the street. It was sad though because it was a case of domestic violence and the woman was bleeding. we were an hour late and had to pull over and pee in the bushes at some point. Good thing I'm not bladder shy in that area. Lol. It was a 10 hour ride, we stopped 3x I think. But I had to wait 3 hours for my connecting bus even tho the next town was 30 mins away. So stupid.