Days 267-268
I left Ha Giang after completing a four-day motorbike tour of the mountains in the north of Vietnam. The bus ride from Hanoi to Ha Giang was awful because it was their standard sleeper bus, which is too small for anybody over 5’5”. I booked the overnight VIP bus to return to Hanoi, and it was much nicer. There was one aisle with two double-decker rows of little cubbies that had curtains for privacy. I was seated on the top bunk in the second row. I was still too tall to lay completely flat, but it was manageable. The seat reclined so much that I was pretty much lying down.
I looked around and noticed only one curtain was closed, so it seemed there was only one other passenger. The bus driver stopped at a hotel, and a European man and woman in their late 20s got on and were assigned seats in the back. Then we were off. It would take about six to seven hours to get to Hanoi, and I was exhausted from the motorbike tour. I took some notes on my phone and then tried to fall asleep.
I was very nervous because the road was so windy. Since I was seated on the top deck of the bus, I was afraid that we’d tip over. Every bump and turn made me alert. After two hours of driving, I woke up because I had to pee. Melana had warned me that when she took the bus, they didn’t stop to use the restroom the entire drive. In the hours leading up to getting on the bus, I tried to drink little water. Eventually, I got thirsty and drank some water before boarding. The bus driver showed up early, which didn’t help.
For the next 30 minutes, I was in a lot of pain as I tried not to pee. Every bump made me squirm. I couldn’t sleep and I laid there realizing that there was no way I could last another four hours. The bus was in the middle of nowhere on a mountain. I remembered that Melana said she asked her bus driver to stop and he pulled over so she could go in the bushes. This was the VIP bus afterall, not the public bus. Surely, he’d stop for me.
I climbed down the ladder and walked down the aisle to the driver. While crossing my legs, I explained that I had to pee and asked if he’d stop. He said something in Vietnamese, and I couldn’t understand him. I stood there as we passed through a small town. It was almost midnight, so everything was closed. I stood there next to the driver for five minutes because I couldn’t go back to my cubby.
After we passed the town, there was road construction. Because the lane was being redirected, there was some traffic. There was nowhere for the driver to pull over because we were on the side of a mountain. Even if he did, there were cars around. I just stood there and watched the rainfall, illuminated by the headlights.
All of a sudden, the construction ended, and cars started to pass the bus again. The driver stopped the bus, opened the door, and quickly pointed for me to get out. I asked, “Here?” The driver sternly pointed to the open door. We didn’t have much time since he was still on the street in the middle of the only lane going our direction.
I turned back to my cubby to get my shoes, but the man pointed to some slip-on shoes. I may not speak Vietnamese, but I could understand that he was saying: “Hurry up, I’m stopped on the road.” I put on the shoes and stepped out into the light rain. Then I realized there was a concrete ditch for water to drain down the mountain, and next to that was the side of a mountain, and there was no way to climb it. I looked across the street, and lights from the bus lit up the edge of the mountain on that side. I’d have to cross the dangerous road on the side of the mountain, in the rain, and in the dark. There weren’t even enough bushes to hide in on the other side. I was also afraid that the driver would leave me.
There were windows on the sides of the bus with curtains that the passengers could choose to open, so peeing on the side was out of the question. I quickly decided that I’d have to pee behind the bus. The few other passengers were asleep in their cubbies with their curtains closed, so I hoped they couldn’t see me in the back. I was afraid that the driver would be able to see me, so I squatted in the middle of the bus, hoping his mirrors wouldn’t be able to see that angle. I held on to the bumper and squatted. The red lights from the bus glowed as I kept my eye on the road, just in case a car came driving up. I thought, “The bus driver better not take off. I don’t even have my purse on me!”
Once I was finished, I ran back to the bus, got inside, took the shoes off, and climbed into my cubby. The driver started to drive again, and I was shocked that a car didn’t pull up on either side of the road. I felt so relieved now that the pain was gone. I laughed to myself, “You gotta do what you gotta do.” Then 40 minutes later, the bus stopped at a market for a 15-minute break. I was still happy that I chose to go when I did. I could not have waited another 40 minutes.
I got off the bus and used the restroom, just in case. I got back on the bus and tried my best to sleep. I was occasionally successful but woke up constantly. I closed my window curtain and it helped block out street lights. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that the bus was going to crash while I was asleep.
Finally, at 3:00 am, we arrived in Hanoi. I didn’t think we were supposed to arrive that early. The driver parked in a bus terminal parking lot and turned off the engine. Nobody was getting out of the bus, except the driver, and he didn’t seem concerned. I figured he was letting us all sleep, which is what I read online. I fell back asleep, but at 4:00 am, a man walked over to my cubby, opened the curtain, and pointed for me to get off the bus. I grabbed my purse and shoes and got off. The French couple in the back were also instructed to get off the bus. The local Vietnamese passenger was allowed to sleep.
We were all instructed to get into a white van as three men moved our luggage over to it. I was confused and tried asking where we were going, but they didn’t speak English. One man was getting angry that I wouldn’t get inside and kept pointing for me to get in. Body language is an international language. Finally, one man spoke a little bit of English and said we were going to the office to get tickets to Ninh Bin (my destination).
I got into the van, and the French couple told me that they were frustrated that it wasn’t clear what was happening. They were under the impression that we would be allowed to sleep until at least 6:00 am. After seven minutes of driving, the driver stopped on a random street. The French couple’s hotel was just around the corner, so they walked in that direction. The driver took my luggage out and said the taxi drivers nearby could help me.
The driver of the van drove away and I was stuck with my luggage on the side of a road in the dark at 4:00 am. The taxi drivers walked over and told me they could take me to the bus station and the price would include the bus to Ninh Binh. One guy said he’d charge me $200,000 dong ($8.60 USD) and another said $100,000 dong ($4.30). I asked questions; why do I need the bus station? What will I take from there? What time does the bus leave? One driver kept saying I needed to get to the bus station for $100,000 dong, but then mentioned the meter.
I never know if taxi drivers are trying to rip me off, so I did what I usually do – I opened the Grab app, which is like Uber. It gave an estimated price of $100,00 dong, so I agreed to the taxi since he was right there. Once I got into the taxi, I said, “So $100,000?” He replied, “Meter.” I know it’s often a scam when the drivers insist on the meter because they might take a longer route, or they might have messed with the meter. I pushed back, “If you’re saying meter, I’ll get out and order a Grab.” I put my hand on the door handle. He sighed, “Ok, $100,000.”
We arrived at the bus station 15 minutes later, and there were three busses lined up next to each other. This wasn’t the main station, and the busses were in terrible condition. The taxi driver put me in touch with the driver, and he told me to get on. I asked if it was going to Ninh Binh, and he said it was.
We waited for 20 minutes for others to get on the bus, and it was now almost 5:00 am. My luggage was in the main cabin near the door, and I was just a couple of rows back. The other busses left, and I was frustrated that we just sat there. I searched on 12goasia (a website for booking busses and trains around Asia) for bus tickets and timelines. The earliest bus left at 6:30 am and cost $275,000 dong ($11.88 USD). Great, I was on some sort of knock-off bus.
A man was standing in the doorway, letting passengers in. The door was still open, and he was still standing in it while the bus started driving away. I kept thinking, “What is going on?” It would take about two hours to get to Ninh Binh. I was so tired and delirious from lack of sleep that I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
The bus would stop on the side of the road and pick up random people. The man in the doorway would take their money, throw their bags down near my luggage, and the customer would sit down. We stopped so much that the bus filled up, and the bags were practically blocking the door. I now had a passenger next to me. I don’t trust strangers, so I kept my purse on my lap with my arms around it. I kept nodding off, though, because my body was shutting down. I would suddenly wake up when I realized I fell asleep. I was paranoid that someone would steal from me.
Around 7:00 am, the man in the doorway shook me awake and pointed for me to get out. I asked, “Are we in Ninh Binh?” He said, “Ninh Binh.” I was the only one to get off the bus. I grabbed my luggage and stepped off the bus only to realize that they literally dropped me on the side of the road. This was not a bus station or stop.
I felt delirious from sleep deprivation. I looked around and saw a beautiful large hotel. I rolled my suitcase across the wet parking lot and into the lobby. The floor was marble, the ceiling was high, and it was a lot fancier than the hotels I had been staying in. I walked to the reception desk and asked if they had any rooms available that would allow me to check in right away.
The woman looked through her computer and said the only room available for that early of a check-in would be their VIP room for $950,000 dong. I looked panicked and the woman said they usually charge extra for such an early check-in, but let me have the VIP room for no extra charge. I did the conversion on my phone and it was $41 USD. I agreed to the rate and got the room key.
My huge room was on the top floor and had marble floors and a plush bed that I just wanted to jump into. I resisted the urge and showered first. By 8:30 am, I closed the room-darkening curtains and jumped into that bed. I curled up in the soft comforter and instantly fell asleep. I slept for the next three hours. Sometimes traveling on the fly can be a bit crazy, but thankfully it’s always worked out in the end (so far).
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Post Edited By: Mandy Strider
