You can’t sit up in the second class beds and there’s very limited space for luggage. It’s so unclear when the train is stopping what stop you’re at - it feels as if you oversleep you’ll miss your stop. People in the cabins also loud and inconsiderate.
Bus was clean, comfortable and as advertised. Bus driver got me where I was going ahead of schedule, and we're very polite. They even stopped at a spot for lunch for us and that was a nice touch. (Took the bus during the day)
This was our first train experience in Vietnam. We had a first class, 4 bunk cabin, and thankfully only 2 passengers. The bunks were a bit hard, with a pillow and thin blanket. The train was slow and stopped 2 hours in to our journey due to severe weather. We decided to abort the journey at that point and headed to the nearest airport.