The No Rule Bus in Vietnam

When crossing the border from Vietnam to Cambodia, many things happened, including tears, begging and a failed attempt to bribe an official, but before getting to that eventful moment, a lot of other interesting things happened. 

Deidre, Peter and I had started our journey to get to Cambodia around 9:30 am. We were told it would take 6 hours from Can Tho to the border with a bus change in Ha Tien . So we assumed it would take about 10. We were prepared. Or at least we thought we were.

But then a rooster appeared in the bus's trunk, a man decided to transport uncooked dead fish - we also think he was snorting some sort of drug which might explain his strange behavior - and the bus broke down twice.

Weirdly, the second time the bus broke down, no effort was made to fix the issue. The driver just gave up, and shooed us off the bus. We had no idea what the plan was, but since all the other passengers were waiting around, we figured we would too. 45 minutes and 3 delicious iced coffees later, we were shooed in another bus to continue our journey to Cambodia. Needless to say we were not even sure if we were going in the right direction at that point.

But here is the one thing we knew would happen: it would be a battle to sit upfront. Ironically, it was not with other passengers that Deidre, Peter and I had to fight. The drivers were the ones trying to make us sit in the back every single time. One driver even got someone on the phone to speak to me in English to explain to me that the front seat I was sitting in was reserved.   

I couldn't help but laugh. Reserved?? Really?? There were not even numbers on the seats or seat belts, and at one point, people were sitting in the aisle on miniature kid's plastic chairs .... And this guy was trying to tell me that he had a reservation system. I didn't budge, and sure enough, whoever had made the "reservation" must have forgotten about it 'cause nobody came to talk to me during the entire bus ride. And eventually the driver stopped giving me dirty looks. 

So if you take the bus while traveling in Vietnam, I cannot help you with bus stop  locations and schedules 'cause it was all very unclear, but I can assure you one thing: it will be a memorable experience 100% with memorable passengers:

No Comment -:)

And if you too don't like sitting in the back of a bus, be prepared to fight for you seat.  

One last thing, I hate coffee, like really hate coffee, but Vietnamese iced coffee is delicious! Worth all the crazy bus rides. And Vietnamese coffee shops are equipped with hammocks.

So if you like coffee and to nap, Vietnam is the perfect country for you. They have ice coffee and hammocks  E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E. Nap time anyone?

Hammocks  @ the Coffee Shop - Ben Tre  

Hammock @ the Treehouse - Can Tho 

Hammock @ the Gas Station - Ha Tien 

Live, Love, Laugh & Travel ---- & NAP -:)