Bus chaos!

Eight hours later and we have finally arrived at Cat Ba Island!

It all started at 10am this morning when we were picked up by shuttle.We had booked transport to the island from a booking office. It was a 'bus-boat-bus' deal.

Our shuttle van picked us up with many others and took us to a bus station where we were transferred onto a larger bus. Firstly, the shuttle bus picked up so many people on the way that people were literally on laps and squashed against the windows.

We got to the larger bus, which was better. After a couple of hours driving, Theo noticed the driver had changed lanes and was driving on the wrong side of the road. There was a large divider in the middle of the road so there was no way for him to switch back. All of a sudden there werr massive trucks coming straight at us beeping their horns and swerving!! The passengers on the bus were very disgruntled, particularly a couple with two young children. The driver refused to turn the bus around even with everyone yelling at him. Eventually the police arrived, and when attempting to pull the bus over, the driver kept swerving to get away. Finally he pulled over and we were taken to the police station where the driver was in the station for a long time. He was issued with a very hefty fine.

We were then taken to another bus, which we had to wait 15 minutes for the driver to eat while we had locals trying to sell stuff to us on the bus.

We arrived at a very small, deserted port where we got on a small boat which took us to the island. We then had to get on ANOTHER bus, to Cat Ba town. This bus was so crowded, not everyone had seats and the road was very windy. By this time it was nearly 6pm (we were supposed to arrive by 3). We hadn't had any toilet breaks or food at all. The two children under 5 didn't complain once over the eight hours! Extremely well behaved. 

After all that, we made it safely and found a hotel straight away. A double room across from the ocean with a bathroom, wifi, hot water and flat screen TV. All for the whopping cost of $9 (NZ) ! We shared three meals for dinner and are cozying up to bed now, before more adventures tomorrow. 

Only 12 days left of this awesomely crazy country!! :-)

G xx