How to go to Mu Cang Chai from Ho Chi Minh is often a popular question of those who are planning a trip to Mu Cang Chai distrist, in Yen Bai province, Vietnam. There are some ways to go to Mu Cang Chai as follows:
Option 1: Firstly, you can take a flight from Ho Chi Minh to Ha Noi, then take a bus from Noi Bai airport to Ha Noi city center. Next, take a Ha Noi – Mu Cang Chai bus which often departs from My Dinh bus station.
Option 2: Firstly, you can take a flight from Ho Chi Minh to Ha Noi, then take a direct bus which picks you up at the area near Noi Bai airport. So, it helps you save time and money to move to Ha Noi city center by bus.
Option 3: You can drive a car/ a motorbike by yourself to Mu Cang Chai, or take a train from Ho Chi Minh to Ha Noi, then take a bus from Ha Noi to Mu Cang Chai.
Option 4: After flying to Ha Noi from Ho Chi Minh, you can take a train from Ha Noi to Yen Bai city. It takes about 4 hours -5 hours by train, costing 110.000 VND -260.000 VND depending on a type of train. Next, take a local bus from Yen Bai city to Mu Cang Chai. This journey takes about 5 hours – 6 hours 30 minutes by local bus, costing 190.000 VND. The Yen Bai – Mu Cang Chai bus is very slow. It stops a lot on the way to pick -up passengers as well as receive and give goods/ packages to its customers.
In this article, I just focus on introducing option 2 because this is the most popular, convenient way that many travelers from Ho Chi Minh have done. In case you are in Ha Noi, you can easily take a direct bus to Mu Cang Chai which picks you up at My Dinh bus station in Ha Noi.
To get to Mu Cang Chai from Ho Chi Minh, first you need to book air tickets from Ho Chi Minh to Ha Noi, then book a bus picking you up at an area near Noi Bai airport.
Table of Contents
Booking air tickets from Ho Chi Minh to Ha Noi
To travel through Vietnam by air, you have some options to book air tickets via the following four domestic airlines. Depending on your demand, your budget, you can choose suitable flights.
Vietnam airlines
Vietnam airlines is a leading 4-star global airline and provides the highest quality of products and services. For a Vietnam airlines ticket, you already have free 12 kg hand-luggage and 23 kg checked baggage. When you press Search button to find your flight on its official website, the ticket prices have already included all fees, taxes, and payment processing fee.
To book air tickets of Vietnam airlines, you can download its application or buy air tickets on its website here.
Vietjetair
Vietjetair is one of low-cost airlines in Vietnam. Hand-luggage weight allowed is 7kg. Most Vietjetair tickets do not include checked baggage and taxes and fees. You need to choose tickets you want to see full prices. Besides, at the processing payment step, a payment processing fee will be added to your ticket price. It often costs 55.000 VND.
So, you can book the tickets via Vietjet air official website.
To check luggage allowance, please click here for more details.
Bamboo airways
Like Vietjetair, Bamboo airways is a low-cost airline in Vietnam. A luggage allowance of 7kg hand-luggage is applied for Economy Saver Max ticket type, the other prices already include 20 kg checked baggage. For more details of baggage allowance, please click here.
To book air tickets of Bamboo airways, please click here.
Pacific Airlines
Pacific airlines is the first low-cost airline in Vietnam. Vietnam Airlines currently holds 98% stake in Pacific Airlines. So, when booking air tickets in Vietnam airlines website, you can see under some cheap prices mentioned operated by Pacific airlines. With that notice, you are just allowed to carry 7kg hand luggage.
To book Pacific airlines tickets, please click here for more details.
Booking bus tickets from Ha Noi to Mu Cang Chai
During my trip to Northern Vietnam in October, I visited Ha Giang and Mu Cang Chai. My first destination was Ha Giang. So, after travelling to Ha Giang, I took a bus from Ha Giang to Yen Bai city, then took another bus to Mu Cang Chai. After that, I booked a direct bus from Mu Cang Chai to Ha Noi on the website vexere. Similarly, booking online bus tickets for Ha Noi – Mu Cang Chai route is the same as booking Mu Cang Chai – Ha Noi bus tickets.
In fact, I rarely booked online bus tickets before. I mostly booked bus tickets by going directly to a counter of bus company or via Hotline call because I was afraid of booking tickets via untrustworthy websites. But now, my mind changes when I tried to book some online bus tickets for the routes of Ha Noi – Ha Giang and Mu Cang Chai – Ha Noi on the website vexere.
My bus ticket for Mu Cang Chai – Ha Noi route
Besides, I can book these bus tickets cheaper than buying them directly or calling a hotline because I can use my discount codes I have on e-wallets used for payment methods of vexere website.
There are many types of payment method to pay for online bus tickets
You can pay for online bus tickets at convenient stores or supermarkets
My successful payment for buying 3 bus tickets using Promotion code in my VNPay e-wallet.
For Ha Noi – Mu Cang Chai route, there are not many buses during a day. When searching buses from Ha Noi to Mu Cang Chai on the website vexere, the result showed only 10-11 buses a day. Most of the buses depart from Ha Noi from 17:00 until 23:30. A one-way bus ticket costs 230.000 VND – 300.000 VND. It takes about 7 hours – 8 hours from Ha Noi to Mu Cang Chai.
The result of searching online Mu Cang Chai bus tickets on vexere website
Ha Noi – Mu Cang Chai bus timetables
Below are some detailed timetables of buses operating for Ha Noi – Mu Cang Chai route with departure time, pick-up points in Ha Noi and arrival time, drop-off points in Mu Cang Chai.
- Son Phuong bus (rated *4.9/5 )
19:00 Noi Bai Crossroad – 03:00 Agribank Mu Cang Chai
(This is a bus for Thai Nguyen – Lai Chau route, going through Mu Cang Chai town)
- Hung Thanh bus (My Dinh – Lai Chau route) (*4.8/5)
18:15 My Dinh bus station – 01:15 Agribank Mu Cang Chai
- Ha Trang bus (Lai Chau route) (*3.5/5)
17:00 My Dinh Bus Station – 18:15 Noi Bai Crossroad -23:00 Mu Cang Chai Town
- Gia Khanh bus (*2.4/5)
00:30 My Dinh Bus Station – 06:00 Mu Cang Chai Bus Station
- Hà Trang bus (Than Uyen – My Dinh route)
19:45 My Dinh Bus Station – 03:15 Agribank Mu Cang
- Cuong Lan bus (*2.1/5) (Mong Cai – Than Uyen route)
23:45 Ho Tung Mau – 07:15 Mu Cang Chai Bus Station
Mu Cang Chai – Ha Noi bus timetables
Similarly, the timetables of Mu Cang Chai – Ha Noi route are as follows:
- Hung Thanh bus (Hưng Thành bus -Lai Chau route)
21:30 Agribank Mu Cang Chai Branch – 04:30 My Dinh bus station
- Ha Trang bus (Lai Chau route)
09:00 Mu Cang Chai Town – 13:45 Noi Bai Crossroad -15:30 My Dinh Bus Station
- Gia Khanh bus
13:30 Mu Cang Chai Bus Station – 19:15 My Dinh Bus Station
- Son Phuong bus
21:00 Agribank Mu Cang Chai – 05:30 Noi Bai Crossroad
Choosing a pick-up point of Mu Cang Chai bus in Ha Noi
Buses which have a pick-up point near Noi Bai airport are more convenient for you when you fly from Ho Chi Minh and do not want to go to Ha Noi first.
Some pick-up points near Noi Bai airport where most buses stops are:
- Noi Bai Crossroad (Ngã tư Nội Bài) (4.8km from Noi Bai airport)
- Kim Anh crossroad (Ngã ba Kim Anh) (3km from Noi Bai airport)
Noi Bai Crossroad to catch a bus to Mu Cang Chai or cities in Northern Vietnam from Ha Noi
Some following buses which are rated more stars and have pick-up points near Noi Bai airport are:
- Son Phuong bus (*4.9/5)
- Ha Trang bus (*3.5/5)
Choosing a drop-off point in Mu Cang Chai
When booking online bus tickets, you are required to choosing a drop-off point for Ha Noi – Mu Cang Chai bus. If you can not locate where you want to drop-off, the easiest way is to choose the last stop of the bus. That is Mu Cang Chai bus station or somewhere in Mu Cang Chai town. Then, you can take a taxi or motorbike taxi to go to a hotel.
However, it is not sometimes easy when some buses stop somewhere in Yen Bai province. As you know, Mu Cang Chai is a district in Yen Bai province. So, when searching buses from Ha Noi to Mu Cang Chai on Hai Van bus website, the results of drop-off point are 117 halt station (Trạm nghỉ 117) and Km114 Van Phu (Km114 Văn Phú) in Yen Bai province. The distance between these drop-off points and Mu Cang Chai town is still 173km.
Therefore, to choose the most suitable drop-off point for Ha Noi – Mu Cang Chai route, knowing well districts, towns in Yen Bai province is very necessary for you. It shall help you to choose the suitable bus no matter you book bus tickets online or you catch a bus on the way.
Yen Bai province
Mu Cang Chai is a mountainous district in Yen Bai province, Northern Vietnam. There are some famous districts, towns in Yen Bai province as follows:
- Mu Cang Chai district:
It is famous for splendid rice terraces and it is also one of the world’ s top ten best paragliding sites.
Rice terraces in Mu Cang Chai
- Yen Bai city:
Yen Bai city is considered as a main transit city in Yen Bai province where there are a lot of buses or trains from other cities to Yen Bai city and vice versa. It has Yen Bai bus station. It is 173 km away from Mu Cang Chai, about 5 hours – 6 hours by bus.
- Van Chan district (Văn Chấn)
Van Chan district is 140km away from Mu Cang Chai and 50km from Yen Bai city. This district is famous for Bản Hốc hot spring which is 36 km from Văn Chấn district, and famous for Suoi Giang ancient snow shan tea.
- Tram Tau district (Trạm Tấu)
Tram Tau district is 136 km from Mu Cang Chai and 40km from Nghia Lo town. This district is famous for Tà Chì Nhù mountain which is the Yen Bai province ‘ s highest mountain of 2.979m. Located in in Xà Hồ ward, about 26km from Tram Tau district, this mountain is a favorite site of most tourists to see beautiful purple swertia flowers during October. Besides, Tram Tau district is also famous for Tram Tau natural hot springs, which is 30km from Nghia Lo town.
- Nghia Lo town (Nghĩa Lộ)
Nghia Lo town is 96 km from Mu Cang Chai, 10.1km from Bản Hốc hot springs, in Văn Chấn district and about 109 km from Yen Bai city.
- Tu Le town (Tú Lệ)
Located in Van Chan district, Tu Le town is about 49km from Mu Cang Chai, near Khau Pha pass. It is famous for hot springs at Le Champs Tú Lệ Resort Hot Spring & Spa and Tu Le fresh green rice. When visiting Tu Le town, you have an opportunity to discover the typical culture of H’mong and Thái ethinic minorities in Lìm Mông and Lìm Thái villages.
Knowing well distances between the places mentioned above will help you easily choose a drop-off point for Ha Noi – Mu Cang Chai route.
Among buses from Ha Noi to Mu Cang Chai, Hai Van bus is famous for high quality, safety, prestige, no passenger pick-up along the road. However, it is not convenient to take this bus to go to Mu Cang Chai because its only drop-off point in Yen Bai is just near Noi Bai – Lao Cai highway, in Yen Bai, where is about 173 km from Mu Cang Chai.
Therefore, the best way is to choose the buses which have drop-off points in Mu Cang Chai town or in Tu Le town if you book hotels in Tu Le for the first day in Mu Cang Chai.
Some notes for buses
- Most buses which stop in Mu Cang Chai town are buses running to Lai Chau city and going through Mu Cang Chai town. It means that Lai Chau city is the last destination of these buses.
- Besides, these buses can depart from Ha Noi or Thai Nguyen or Quang Ninh and their pick-up points can be in My Dinh bus station or Noi Bai crossroad.
So, don’t be confused when you are on a bus to Mu Cang Chai from Ha Noi, but you see a signboard in front of the bus mention Than Uyen – My Dinh, or Thai Nguyen – Lai Chau or Mong Cai – Than Uyen. These are routes to Lai Chau from Ha Noi, Thai Nguyen and Quang Ninh and these routes go through Mu Cang Chai town.
Ha Trang bus running Ha Noi – Lai Chau route, going through Mu Cang Chai town (Photo: on the internet)
Specifically, Than Uyen is a district in Lai Chau province.
Mong Cai is a city in Quang Ninh province.
My Dinh is a ward in Ha Noi city where the My Dinh bus station is located.
Bus ticket cancellation policy for Ha Noi – Mu Cang Chai route
Ticket cancellation is a thing that no one wants to do but in some urgent cases, you must do so.
So, during booking a Mu Cang Chai ticket bus, you should carefully read Ticket cancellation policy to cancel tickets free of charge before the time required. Some buses allow to cancel tickets free of charge 30 minutes – 2 days before the time of departure.
At your account on Vexere website, it’s very easy to manage your booked tickets at My tickets tab.
My tickets tab helps you manage all your tickets.
A refund will be credited to the account that you used to pay for online tickets. For example, I used my VNPAY e-wallet with promotion codes to buy Ha Noi- Ha Giang bus tickets. Because of sudden delay flight to Ha Noi, I had to cancel my tickets on 1 oct at my account on vexere website. On 4 Oct, the refund was credited to my e-wallet account. It’s very quick and convenient.
Refund of my cancelled tickets credited to my account at VNpay e-wallet 3 days after cancellation day
How to get to Noi Bai crossroad from Noi Bai airport to catch Mu Cang Chai buses
After arriving at Noi Bai airport from Ho Chi Minh, you need to go to the pick-up point to wait for your Ha Noi – Mu Cang Chai bus. If your pick-up point is Noi Bai crossroad or around there, the most convenient way is to get an electricity bus at the airport to go there. The distance between Noi Bai crossroad and Noi Bai airport is 5km, about 10 minutes by car.
At the airport, near an area for taking taxis, just turn right in the direction of going out of the airport, or you can ask the receptionist at the airport where the electrical bus (xe điện) is. The cost is 50.000 vnd/1 person.
In summary, no matter where you are, in Ho Chi Minh or Ha Noi, it can be easy for you to travel from Ho Chi Minh to Mu Cang Chai or from Ha Noi to Mu Cang Chai by booking bus tickets online on vexere website. With many buses operating from Ha Noi to Mu Cang Chai everyday with different time of departure, you will not be worried about choosing a bus suitable for your time.
