The DeathBus

Yes, Mar's account was accurate--our accents failed miserably. The next morning we talked our way onto a bus that was headed for Vietnam (we hoped!). Bus schedules are a very strange thing here. We got to the bus station at 7am, boarded the bus...and then the bus driver and his attendant drove us to a restaurant where they parked, left us on the bus, and ate a leisurely breakfast of lettuce soup and we watched out the window. Hmm.

They proceeded to pack the bus to the gills with local travelers and their multitudes of luggage to the point where we had to sit on our chairs with our knees to our chins to make room for bags of rice, mysterious yellow plastic cases, hardware, and the like. Not the most comfortable ride for 10 hours to say the least, but the scenery was pretty incredible. Every small village we passed through, the local kids would run out and wave, laughing hysterically if I waved back.

We crossed the the Vietnam border with no problem. Mar had his bag thoroughly searched (his Old Spice was carefully inspected), and mine was given a cursory glance after they opened my bag of lady-things. We cruised into our first Vietnamese town to a local welcome--at least for Mar-- when, at a lunch stop, a group at another table took a liking to him and began pouring him some welcome drinks. I was largely ignored, I imagine because of my lower status as a woman, but I have to say I was rather grateful not to have to partake in that welcome session.

Onward the bus went, getting more and more packed as we flew down the bumpy roads picking up anyone with a suitcase or a birdcage (yes, a birdcage. we were treated to singing for a good long while). Once we got closer to the city, we got our first taste of REAL Viet Nam driving. And it will scare your hair white. Pedal to the metal, horns blaring, no regard for road divisions, motorbikes, or head-on semi trucks. It was terrifying, but Mar and I kept our good "neutral" faces on as the rest of the people on the bus looked as if they were watching a particularly boring episode of C-span or something. I tried to keep myself busy by coming up with the words to describe this deathbus on the blog....he drove like a bat out of hell? No. Even a bat on his way out of hell would have guano'd his pants on this bus.

We have never been so happy to arrive in Hanoi --a huge, busy city-- as we were when we stepped off this bus alive.

T