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| Arriving
in Nam |
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Rating:
 (4.8)
Hanoi, Vietnam
Sep 13, 2003 06:10
Pros: alot of greenery,
mountains, lakes
Cons: noisy,
smelly and polluted
We got on the bus in Vientienne at 6.30pm. After faffing around
in Vientienne for about an hour we were eventually on the road.
About an hour out of Vientienne we stopped, reversed along the road
for a bit, turned and headed back to Vientienne to get some petrol.
About half an hour later we were back on the road in the right direction.
We once again stopped to pick up a half drugged alsation dog, which
was packed in at the back of the bus along with our rucksacks, boxes,
plastic tubing and sacks of rice. The road was fairly well surfaced
and we were going fairly fast until we turned off the main road
onto a side road. To say it was bumpy would be the understatement
of the millenium. It was so bumpy that it was very difficult to
actually remain seated. Trying to sleep was futile. This continued
for about 4 hours until we reached a little restaurant in the middle
of nowhere at about 2.00am. We asked if we had time for something
to eat and we were told that the bus wasn’t leaving until
7.00am. We asked ourselves why the bus didn’t just leave Vientienne
5 hours later? After about 2 hours we were asked to leave the restaurant.
Back on the bus all the Vietnamese guys had taken our seats and
were sprawled out asleep on them. They made no effort to move for
us so we had to go back and sit in the restaurant for another 3
hours. It was then back on the bus and to the border. Leaving Laos
was fairly easy, we just threw our passports through the little
window and 10 minutes later they were thrown back at us. Entering
Vietnam was slightly more interesting. We had to buy a ticket for
2000 kip, we have no idea what the ticket was for. I wasn’t
given a ticket so I got away with not having to pay, until I collected
my passport and was asked for 10,000 kip. The others thought this
was because I didn’t have a ticket and they weren’t
too impressed when they had to pay also. Welcome to the rip off
that is Vietnam. The guards then proceeded to removed everything
from the bus and search it, luckily it was just the Vietnamese that
were searched.
One thing I instantly noticed was that the condition of the road
in Vietnam was a lot better than in Laos. No more bumps, however
there were a lot more people and a lot more bikes on the roads.
The journey from the border to Hanoi was about 9 hours and the whole
way the driver swerved around the road avoiding motorbikes, cycles,
people on foot, chickens, cows and wardrobes. It was a nervewracking
experience. The scenery was also very different, more mountainous
and it seemed to me a lot greener. We stopped to be ripped off once
more at a dirty little cafe. We had to pay 3US Dollars each for
a plate of rice and vegetables. We also had a scary english guy
travelling with us who refused to pay for his omlette that he'd
ordered on the grounds that it wasn't actually an omlette (it was
a fried egg on a pile of rice). Once we were moving again there
were a couple of us standing in the aisle having a conversation
with a Vietnamese guy, the scary english guy got up and announced
really loudly that the aisle was getting busy. He rudely tried to
push past us and asked me to take my seat. I told him I was having
a conversation and he just turned and pointed at my seat telling
me to sit! He then proceeded to the front of the bus, checked his
hair in the mirror and went and sat back down!
I eventually managed to fall asleep just before we reached Hanoi.
I was woken by a Vietnamese guy shouting at me to wake up. Buses
aren’t allowed into Hanoi as the traffic is too busy so we
had to switch to a mini bus which took us to a nice hotel. I was
relieved just to get off the bus after 24 hours of being unable
to move.
Vietnam is a huge culture shock after Laos. In Hanoi there are just
so many people and bikes everywhere, it’s noisy, smelly and
polluted, but of all the cities I’ve seen so far on my travels
this is my favourite. We’re still really tired after the long
journey here, so we’ve not done much today, walked around
the lake and had a nice icecream at Fanny’s. We hope to stay
here for a few days before heading south. |
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