My most anticipated 30 effin hours bus ride from Hanoi to Luang Prabang

And now the saga continues...

haha.

This is what I've been NOT looking forward to.thirty effin hours bus ride to Luang Prabang. that this deserve a blog entry of its own.. so how do i start.

06:00pm - pick up at St.Joseph's Cathedral. Met a girl travelling alone who has been to the PH and agreed that Coron is way better than Halong Bay..

06:30 pm (day 01) - van arrives. Inside were a couple of backpackers whom the girl we just met knew. I sat in front, beside the locals, who were sooo quiet. A South american couple seated at the back were getting married to each country they've been to. Cool! 

07:00 pm - arrive at bus station. We got settled in. We were five foreigners. Two European girls and a European dude. And the rest were locals. To our surprise and dismay it wasn't the VIP bus we were promised to. Argh.

08:00 pm - Bus leaves. here goes...

11:00 pm - Bathroom break.

12 mn - 3 a.m. - Bus picks up and drops off passengers along the way. I would like to go back to Hanoi and strangled the lady who told us the bus wont be picking up any passengers. Argh.

6:00 am (day 02) - woke up at the border. hungry. and no food.

8:00 am - border crossing. left Vietnam. officially my passport has been stamped by a grumpy Laotian immigration officer, who pronounced my name as if I was convicted of something. 

10:00 am - Laos!

12pm - lunch at a roadside. bus stopover. We almost got left behind by the bus, who have no idea they left us! Good thing the guy from the nearby store helped us, called the bus driver. We were able to catch up with them. Boarded the bus, as if nothing happened. Is it me or I was half wishing, the bus DID left us behind, something to tell and BRAG back home. haha. 

4:00 pm - hungry..there were stopovers but we don't have kips! salivating over our seatmate's bananas and pringles. Butt cramps!! Are we effin there yet?? dreaming of a hot meal and a hot shower.

10:00 - finally! we arrived. can't believe it at first, but we actually are here. Hot shower never felt good.

12midnight (day 03) - super late lunch AND dinner at a roadside grill. amazingly, our meal was tasty. we could have eaten everything the guy sells. it's unfortunate we don't have enough kips

2:00 am - snooze. early to rise for that alms giving ceremony


won't be doing any long hour bus rides yet. nope. not soon. now, the 8 or 10 hour bus rides are looking as "short trips" to me.

SEA2: How to get to Cat Ba Island from Hanoi airport

Flag a taxi upstairs, departure area, which are cheaper, compared to the ones lined up at the arrival area.

Tell the cab driver to take you to Luang Yeng Bus Station. Travel from the airport to the bus station take around almost 30 minutes. We paid the driver VND 290,000.

At the bus station, there are scheduled trips to Cat Ba Island. We took the 1120 AM bus and paid VND 190,000. 

If you've been travelling to the Southeast Asia, you realize by now that people do not necessarily brief you on what bus you should board, or how will your travel be. People expect you to know. 

We got on this bus and travelled for an hour and a half. Then we took a minibus to the port, which took 30 minutes to an hour. Then boarded a ferry, which will take us across the island. That took less an hour. Then from the port, we took another bus. And finally after less an hour, we arrived at Cat Ba Island.

By the way, the ticket purchased at Luang Yeng Bus station includes all the transportation above.
So, I advise, stick with your group. We usually go where people go. We board buses we have no idea where going to. We wait for something we have no idea of. Yeah, that's backpacking, SE style.