A Blog to help all those moving to hectic Hanoi, wanting to learn about the culture in Vietnam or simply interested in the opinions of an adventurous expatriate teenager!

Saturday 10 December 2011

Public transport?

As I try out new things I also want other people to experience them with me, so in some ways the style of writing is also diary like, with my own thoughts and opinions. I just read this months edition of the word magazine which had an article in about blogs but mine was not included so I'm thinking of writing to them to ask them to feature it or print my letter like before when I wrote to them in May (I think it was May?). On my trip to town I took pictures of art shops and random street vendors since I previously said that I needed more pictures for my blog, so hopefully I can post these during Christmas. 



 (taken by me)

People squashed like sardines in a can faces pressed against the glass. Getting stuck between someone with extreme BO, pointy elbows, and dandruff and someone eating something disgusting in close proximity of your face. My worst nightmare. These were my initial thoughts on the bus, but bravely today, with a lack of cash, I decided to venture out and try it for myself.

 









(proof that I got on and took a picture!)
Today I took the cheapest form of public transport of my life (and the only form of public transport within the city until the tram system supposedly gets finished in 2015)! At only 3 thousand dong ( 10 pence) you wait in the freezing cold at one of the many stops throughout the city, in the hope that the bus will take you where you want to go, although with Vietnamese friends who can read the timetables I'm fine, and then every ten minutes one arrives. The bus doesn't actually stop so the last person clambering on has to do a run and jumping action through the doors like a ninja. Then there's disco music so you can bop along whilst you drive. It's also really quick because everyone is scared of getting run over by the bus since it's the king of the road!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

65000 Dong to Hai-Phong $3 for 120 kilometers. 2 Hours ( quicker than the train as this is limited in speed by the condition of the tracks). Admitedly if you're the last on the bus you have to sit on the little plastic 'Pho' stools down the middle of the aisle, but the entertainment includes a large screen plasma with either K-Pop, Vietnamese music or the most recent Vietnamese film. If you're really lucky you get the Disco bus - complete with Mirror ball and flashing lights. As a lot of Vietnamese are travel sick you can be unlucky and have the puking Viet next to you,( which continues for the whole journey) but at least the conductor comes and provides new sick bags on a regular basis and removes the already full ones!

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