Not so sleeper bus from Hanoi to Vientiane
OK, time for my bus story..with more to follow….
THE BAD ....
I decided to take the bus from Hanoi,Vietnam to Vientiane, Laos in summer 2019. It had been a while since I travelled by bus or train and I welcome the opportunity to do so when convenient and available. So I took the so-called "sleeper" ( insert SNORT LAUGH HEARD FROM SPACE) bus for what was SUPPOSED to be a 22- 24 hour ride.
A sleeper bus is a type of long-distance bus designed with beds or reclining seats instead of standard seating to provide passengers with a more comfortable sleeping arrangement during nighttime or extended travel. These buses often feature stacked bunks or individual compartments, allowing travelers to rest or sleep while en route to their destination. In theory, they can help one save on accommodation costs for overnight trips.
While booking the ticket through my accommodation in Hanoi, I originally was told twice that I could pick whatever seat I wanted - LIES.
After I tried to get on the bus, I am waved back over to a woman writing on a chart. Mind you no one said anything when I was standing there for like 30 minutes waiting for direction.
The woman with the chart assigns your seat. I heard the buses in Vietnam have a habit of stuffing the foreigners in the back row in the worse seats. That is EXACTLY what she did. I was initially assigned one of the bed seats in the last row that would have felt like I was in bed with 2 strangers since there is NO separation between the 3 seats...AND RIGHT BY THE BATHROOM.
I checked the seat assignment out- said "hell no", made a beeline for the lady again and politely asked her for a new seat. To my surprise, she quickly bumped me to a single berth in the row in front of these crap seats. Luckily, I was early, polite, and wasted no time grabbing the upper one before wiping it down with a wet wipe as best as I could.
In this 23.5 hour trip, I think I had a total of 3 or 4 of hours of deep sleep due to:
Almost falling off the berth
Being bumped awake during the many wide turns on the road
Crying kid below
Being playfully tapped with a water bottle by same crying kid below
Lights flicking on
Bad timing of 2 pit stops
and perhaps worse of all…
A bumpy ass road which may have been the catalyst for the bus breaking down twice!
Oh yeah...THAT PART!
First break down felt like the bus hit something on the road but we were up and running 10 minutes later. Hours later, I was jolted awake by a loud bang in which I thought someone fell down from an upper berth. NOPE, it was the sound of an exploding tire...same one that was damaged previously. So, we had to wait an hour while the bus staff "fixed" it.
Stay on hot bus with no AC or go outside for less hot air - decisions , decisions.
Mind you, we are in the middle of no where and 3 hours away from Vientiane. Now, I really start to think about the warning about unexploded landmines in Laos from the Vietnam war. Needless to say I am VERY careful where I step on the grass off the road and only step on other's previous steps.
They fix it well enough to slowly (and I mean SLOWLY) move down the road to a real mechanic. We would have moved faster in a Barbie Corvette or toy firetruck.
Snails were passing us by and laughing.
The bus crew literally went to like 3 or 4 houses asking dudes, who were fixing vehicles, if they could fix the bus tire before they finally found one who could do the job. This took another hour, with no AC since they of course had to shut the bus off. We finally reach the capital of Laos, Vientiane, 3 hours later.
THE GOOD
In the middle of the above adventure, 3 nice Hanoian ladies from the bus shared their food with me at a pitstop (something yummy cooked in a banana leaf). Two nice brothers from the Philippines made sure I got to my Laos hostel safely and even carried my bag all the way. We chatted frequently during the bus pitstops and they gave lots of advice about Laos.
Upon arrival in Vientiane, I immediately notice a chill vibe to the place with an understated old beauty juxtaposed with its continued development. My night ends with a giant Laotion beer and one of the best burgers I ever devoured before settling into the place that may have given me a change of heart about staying in hostels.
Oh Laos, your visa stamp took up a whole page in my passport but what a chill surprise you turned out to be after all that havoc.