I paid $31 for an open bus ticket, stopping at Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hue and Hanoi. I have travelled on buses in many different countries now but Vietnam seems to rival Bolivia with its poorly organised schedules and ticket system. The buses are consistently overbooked, and its normally foreigners who are left waiting for a next bus despite probably paying double what the locals did. On my bus from Hue to Hanoi yesterday, I saw a woman pay the bus attendant a bribe to let her on even though the sleeper bus was full – I think she then just took any old seat and that’s why others had to wait!

My company was called Hanh Cafe; maybe this is a feature of all bus companies in Vietnam but on the whole the staff seem to be rude, lazy and don’t give a shit if you want to know where the bus is going! I asked a guy if the bus he was loading luggage onto was going to Hanoi, and he literally shooed me away in the manner that you would shoo a dog! I reserved a seat and went round again to make sure he’d actually bothered putting my bag on the bus.. he has half put it on, which is pretty annoying considering it was raining. As I pushed it a bit further in, he then once again made a shrieking sound ordering me to piss off.

I am glad I don’t need to go with that company anymore!

Here’s a round-up of my week in Vietnam:

Nha Trang

A nice enough beach town with a few places to go out at night, but the beach is dirty and all sorts of junk gets washed up on the beach!

Hoi An
My favourite place in Vietnam so far; here you get to see a lovely historical side that the city doesn’t offer you. Plus you can rent a bike and cycle 5km to the nearby beach, which is pure heaven! A lot of backpackers end up staying much longer than they intended because there are often beach parties, and the general atmosphere of the place really draws you in.

Hue

I stayed here just for the afternoon in between catching two buses… I think that’s all that’s needed really! For 55,000 dong (just over£2) you can explore the ruins of the Nguyen dynasty citadel. This was such a refreshing change from so many other tourist attractions; the place was deserted and hardly had any guides so you are wondering around a mound of old temples and ruins all by yourself. It was a pleasant place to spend a few hours. I walked around the area and visited some lakes in Hue as well, but from what I saw it didn’t seem to have a lot going for it compared to Hoi An for example.

I am about to write a separate post on the citadel in Hue as well so look out for that!

Hanoi

I had been warned by fellow travellers to be extra cautious here, because this is scam central! While I was getting off the bus one guy pulled at my arm, said he worked for the bus company and that I should follow him to their office for a cheap taxi ride… I ignored him because he was really aggressive, and then about twenty scammers all stood around me trying to outdo each other in quoting extortionate prices for a taxi to Hanoi Backpackers. The city itself is coated with a dismal film of dust and grime, and it was my least favourite place in Vietnam!

The highlight of the whole trip was the Halong Bay trip. The bay itself is absolutely breathtaking and it’s really surreal to spend the night anchored surrounded by other ships that look like they’ve came straight out of Pirates of the Caribbean. We went kayaking around and visited an expansive cave during the two-day trip.