One of the best bits of advice we received before we got to Vietnam was about the overnight buses. We were told services vary but it is a much better deal than the trains (except for going to Sapa). So we booked our journey to get us from Hanoi to Saigon a lengthy 700+ mile journey traversing pretty much the entire country. The trip included 5 stop offs as well, can you guess how much this cost? A mere $55 dollars each!
With the transportation fixed we were a little nervous about the ‘quality’ of the bus and what we were going to get in the way of passengers, let’s not forget this is a couple of travelers who experienced the authentic Laotian bus journeys only a couple of weeks earlier!
So the first departure time arrived and we landed at the travel companies ‘office’ next to a very very busy main road on the edge of the old town. We were a little early but surveying the scene our fellow travelers looked all ok with no immediate worries for the evening’s journey!
Not too long after that our chariot arrived, a shiny pretty new bus, we stowed our bags and got on, the bus was like a mobile dorm, 3 rows front to back, two seat/beds high, it was genius!
It was almost like being in business class but on a bus! We had room to stretch out and put down our seats and pretty much lie down! A courtesy we got a cover and a free bottle of water! What more could one want! The crew even smiled; they were friendlier than an average United or Delta flight crew!!
Once we got going we both settled into our Bus Luxury, me watching a film on the laptop and Steph listening to her music! We even played some cards for a little while in the aisle between our seats!
I must admit the luxury of this bus far outshone any other bus we saw that night on the road, we saw a few horror shows and a few that reminded us of our Laotian buses! But apart from the “smooth” roads nothing really disturbed us! As it got late we both settled down and drifted off to sleep, the next thing I know is that its morning and we are driving into Hue! A seamless journey and a bargain at the price!
