I made it! I safely landed in Vietnam.
And as an independent solo traveler, of course, you don’t take a taxi right in front of the airport and get out of it in front of your hostel. No, you make your way with public transportation.
This is the story about my first adventure in Vietnam, which started right after leaving the plane and ended about 3 hours later.
Where is the bus?
A bit of research on the internet showed that taking the public bus to the city would be really easy. You can find the bus in front of the terminal. Take line 17 to Long Bien Station, which takes about 1 hour.
Ok, I’ve left the terminal but where is this bus? I can’t find it anywhere. The lady at the information desk just tells me “outside”. She only wants to sell SIM cards. I already bought one so I’m not interesting to her anymore.
After some more efforts, I realize that the bus leaves outside the domestic terminal. Of course, I’m at the international terminal. Crucial information that’s not easy to find! But what kind of adventure would this be, if it was easy!
I found the bus!
There’s a free shuttle bus between both terminals. Unfortunately, the domestic terminal is a big construction site. Now I’m at the departure level, the bus leaves at the arrival level. After some more searching (and nobody there to ask) I find the elevator behind a big wall.
I should just go out and to the right, for about 200 m. It feels like 2 km when I reach the end of the parking space in front of the terminal. Taxis, motorbikes, and cars everywhere and, oh, there’s a sign with the word “bus” and an arrow pointing directly into the parking space.
Finally, I find the bus stop between a few hundred parking cars. Well done!
The journey through the city
I’ve been to Asia before so I know to expect a culture that’s very different to the German one I’m used to. But each time it’s overwhelming again.
The bus is small but nice. Not very old and comfortable. What’s exciting is the ride through the outer parts of the city. This bus doesn’t take the fast route but stops every few minutes. A lot of Vietnamese people get in and out. I am the only Westerner on the bus. Not a problem for me, though.
Looking out of the window, you can see the chaotic life which is typical for Southeast Asia. At least it looks chaotic to me, but also exciting and fascinating. There are men, women, kids, dogs, cows and more on the street, but especially motorbikes. It seems that each and every Vietnamese has at least one motorbike. And the only traffic rule is you need to toot.
Rules for tooting:
- You outrun someone
- You get near a crossroad
- You get near a turn in the road
- Pedestrians on the street
- Animals on the street
- You come across another road user
- Or you just feel like it
There’s a fire on the sidewalk
A few minutes into the ride I see smoke. Oh, someone is watching a fire on the sidewalk. Why not? Ok, this feels a bit dangerous. But I realize I better get used to it because this happens every few minutes.
There’s no regular garbage collection so a lot of people simply burn their waste. You will often find the smell of charred plastic here. Another reason for the fires is the upcoming Tet festival. This is the Vietnamese new year and everyone is preparing for it now. People burn a lot of special paper with, I think, good wishes for the new year. You’ll find a charcoal grill with a lot of ash at each corner.
The driver seems to be thirsty
The next time we pause is no regular stop. Each bus has an attendant in addition to the bus driver. This person sells the tickets on the bus. At this stop, the attendant gets out of the bus and I can see him talking to some men sitting in front of a small stall. When he gets back on the bus he passes a glass to the bus driver.
I strongly believe it was apple juice but it looked a lot like beer. He is driving safely and his style doesn’t change so I tell myself to believe in his good character.
A new adventure each time
When we reach Long Bien station I have been on the bus for more than 90 minutes. I don’t care if we’re late. I really enjoyed the experience and have a lot of time, anyway.
If you have the chance to ride a public bus in Vietnam, do it! I can highly recommend it.
It’s not the only bus I’ve taken here so far and each time I felt totally safe. Sometimes, the buses are really old or the seats are worn but it’s very cheap and you always have a story to tell.
Especially as a German, you learn that not everything has to be as neat and organized as it is in our country. Sometimes you have a wash basin between your legs because another passenger transports it on the bus and sometimes the bus stops in the middle of a forest because the driver needs to pee. But every time I enjoyed the experience and would definitely do it again!
When boarding and exiting a public bus in Ho Chi Minh City, do not expect it to “stop” at the bus stop. This means two things: first, you often need to flag a bus to stop; to do this, watch for the correct bus number and when the correct bus is about 20 meters away, make a motion with your arm as if you were hailing a taxi. Second, buses often do not come to complete stops, but slow down just enough to let passengers on and off; this is especially true the farther you get from the city center. The bus is more likely to come to a complete stop if there are elderly persons entering or exiting or a large group waiting at a bus stop. Also, if you are trying to catch a bus during rush hour traffic, it may not always be able to make its way to the side of the road where the stop is, so it may stop for passengers towards the middle of the road.