Just some feed back from the border crossing at Pingxiang(China)/Dong Dang(VN) since there have been conflicting messages out there.
Bought bus tickets from Nanning-Hanoi www.seat61.com/Vietnam.htm in Nanning at the south bus station (take number 6 bus from Nanning train station,it's the last stop). It left at 08.30 the following morning and cost 133 RMB. The bus was excellent, had AC and we were given a bottle of water and a can of soup. The bus stopped a couple of meters from the border. We then took a open mini bus (belonging to the bus company) to the Chinese border exit which took about three hours. From the Chinese border exit we took another mini bus to the Vietnamese border. Since we were Norwegian we got a 15 days visa on arrival www.myvietnamvisa.com/ (also for people from Sweden, Denmark and Finland), no problem. When we got out from the passport control a another excellent bus was waiting for us and it went straight to Hanoi taking about four hours. Got another water bottle.
The bus had one stop before getting into Hanoi. Here you can buy food and exchange money with an OK rate.
Don't know if these tickets can be bought at travel agents in Nanning, but it was no problem getting them at the bus station.
Send your feedback or queries to been.there@guardian.co.uk
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