bus annoyances (HCMC->Can Tho) & (Ha Noi -> Cat Ba)

Just got back from a two week vacation in Vietnam. I had an amazing time but wanted to share similar experiences while taking busses from Ha Noi as well as HCMC. These were our two experiences taking long distance busses so im not sure if we just got unlucky or if this is common while taking busses in VN.

1. First was a lesser annoyance but it might have been premeditated. We arranged the bus, boat, bus trip from Ha Noi to Cat Ba Island via the company Hoang Long. Overall this was very convenient, hassel free, and our lodging on Cat Ba helped arrange the whole thing for an extra $2USD but they told us to get off at "Nga Ba Bien Hao" once you get on the island so when we got on the bus at the boat dock i told the bus driver that that is where we needed to be dropped off. 20 minutes on the bus it pulls over and the bus drivers tell me that this is the place and my wife and i get off while looking for any indication that this is actually that intersection and before we could confirm the bus had already pulled off. Turns out this was not that intersection as my hotel had sent a driver for us and it became clear that this was not the correct road but "luckily" there were a 5-6 xe om drivers offering to give us a ride to Sui Goi for $15 which seemed a lot for around 5KM. We eventually found a ride for the both of us for $7 after walking 30 minutes but it was a stressful and confusing 30 minutes. This might have been a simple misunderstanding but it is a good warm up for our next and more harrowing bus experience in the mekong delta.

2. We took a bus from HCMC to Can Tho to explore the Mekong Delta. This forum suggests taking a cheap tour and getting off if you aren't going back to HCMC immediately (we were heading to Phu Quoc) and I now see why. We got to Mien Tay Bus station and started looking for a bus ride to Can Tho, and eventually settled on a competitively priced express mini bus to Can Tho. After a short delay and the bus packing every possible cm of space with a person (one guy stood in the door well for the duration) we finally left HCMC.

Near Can Tho our bus suddenly stopped and the bus driver got out and came to my window (we were in the back) and gestured for us to get out but I kept saying "bus station" in vietnamese where this was clearly not a bus station but a xe om stop and all the other people on the bus (all locals) were not getting off. It was a good 10 minutes as the bus driver as well as 5-6 xe om drivers kept pressuring us to get off and find us hotels and conveniently give us a ride there. The bus started up again and after 15 minutes the bus stops again at a hotel on the edge of town - again the bus driver gets and out and angrily points to us to get out as this is our stop, again i start saying and pointing to the address in the LP all while a large group of Xe Om drivers point to us and offer their services and various accommodation and someone tried to hand me a cell phone(?). After this other tense standoff the bus driver gave us and after harassing another customers starts driving again.

We finally get into Can Tho and the bus stops at what seems like a bus station but after we got off it became clear that we were the only ones who got off but at least this time we were in town and there weren't a large group of xe om riders but his bus station ended up being a good 40 minute walk (scam bus strikes again!) to the Can Tho riverfront but we made it finally after help from a group of friendly local students (restoring our faith in humanity).

Hope this account helps someone out there and I wanted to contribute after months of great advice from reading this branch of TT.

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