Not a Good Morning Vietnam
Trip Start
Sep 19, 2002
1
86
129
Trip End
Sep 22, 2003
Hanoi,
Vietnam
Monday, May 5, 2003
5th May - Got picked up at our guesthouse at 6.00pm and were taken about 400 yards to wait for the big bus that was to leave at 6.30pm. Boarded the bus and it was not the promised double decker but we seemed to have plenty of room even though our seats were the only ones that wouldn't recline. 10 minutes later we stopped to pick up some locals and their goods - masses of plastic and woven mats. After a while we stopped to pick up some more locals and their large rice cookers and packaged quilts. One guy brought on some cats in a sack that stank(only way we knew they were cats was by the meowing from the sack) but driver thankfully wouldn't allow them on. By this point the aisle was totally full of stuff so you couldn't move out of your seat. It was now about 8.00pm when we suddenly realised that we were back in the centre of Vientiane where we had started! Apparently they had forgotten 2 other backpackers who had to be virtually lifted to their seats cos they couldn't use the aisle. We then started out on the same route as before picking up a few more people (yes more!) even though there wasn't enough seats. After about 20 minutes someone wanted a pee so the bus stopped and people climbed out the windows to relieve themselves by the road. 30 minutes later we stopped for the driver to have dinner which took nearly an hour. At last we hit the road for a sensible length of time. The journey was interesting as the Laos people seem to have a death wish at night by walking and riding in the middle of the road with no lights miles from anywhere. At about 3.30am as we neared the border to Vietnam the bus stopped again as the border didn't open til 8.00am. We attempted to get some sleep on the stationary bus before setting off again at 7.00am. 10 minutes down the road we stopped again as a huge tree had fallen and was blocking the road. It took them about an hour to use a truck to drag the tree out of the way and we eventually reached the border at 8.30am.
The process of leaving Laos took about an hour as the guards plowed through the paperwork. We then found our bus had gone ahead and so had to walk the 500m through no-mans land to Vietnam. We then had to fill in loads of forms and buy some sort of ticket which we still don't know what they were for - you never know maybe we will win a bowl of noodles or something in the raffle. We then added our passports to the pile of many and waited. Eventually the guards did what ever they do and returned our passports for a small fee of $1. Getting into Vietnam had taken another hour.
At last we were legally in Vietnam and we were at long last able to say "GOOD MORNING VIETNAAAAAAAAM" as we had been waiting to do for 18 months. The scenery almost seemed to change immediately and the mountainous scenery was breathtaking. We arrived at a bus station in the town of Vinh at about 12.15pm where we stopped for lunch. As soon as we sat down food was plonked in front of us and as much as we asked how much it was the staff didn't seem to understand. When we came to leave of course their communication skills sprang to life and they charged us $2 for some manky food and the smallest bottle of pepsi in the world. They even complained when people tried to give them slightly ripped dollar notes. The bus then continued to the town of Nin Binh. This journey was one of contrasts. On the one hand the scenery was beautiful - mile upon mile of green paddy fields and thousands of people on bicycles in their conical straw hats. On the down side the driving in Vietnam is attrocious and our driver seemed to have his hand attached to the horn. Every ten seconds he would blow it whether there was anyone in the way or not.
We saw 3 crashes on the way - i think they must have had faulty horns!
At Nin Binh we had to get off our bus and reload on to a minibus for the final 90km to Hanoi. The minibus had 15 seats and there were only 30 people and their luggage in there! About 45 mins later we stopped for them to wash the minibus - very important I'm sure. Another 10 minutes later the staff started to demand a dollar extra from us to get to Hanoi. These demands soon got more heated but we explained to them that we had already paid for tickets to Hanoi costing $20 and were not paying anymore. Negotiations were made harder by the fact that the staff spoke Vietnamese to a passenger who then translated into Laos while another passenger translated this into English. I(Pip) somehow became spokesperson for the westerners (cos he's always the oldest - from LJ). The driver then stopped by the side of the road lord knows how far from Hanoi, and said we would have get out unless we paid more. I said "Up the Revolution" and we all stayed where we were, smiling all the time of course. Eventually they gave up and drove on.
We eventually arrived in Hanoi about 7.00pm and had no idea where we were. 6 of us jumped in a taxi but the driver spoke no English so he had to phone someone on his mobile for us to explain where we wanted to go. Eventually we were dropped in about the right place and were pounced upon by some hotel touts. We were past caring by now and so chose one that turned out to by really nice with aircon and tv for $5. After a rest we went out towards the lake in search of food. We were pestered quite a lot by youths selling postcards and one just wouldn't leave us alone. We went into a restaurant and he tried to follow us! After a good meal we tried a glass of the local fresh beer. This is delivered daily and only lasts 2 days before it goes off. It is very popular with the locals, not surprisingly at 13p a glass (good for skinflints like me too Kath). On leaving the restaurant it didn't take long for the same postcard seller to set upon us again. He wouln't leave us alone and soon got very aggressive threatening to fight me and told us to get out of his country. Welcome to Vietnam! We took shelter in our friends hotel till he had gone before returning (using the running quickly method) to ours for a well earned sleep!!!
