Vietnamese buses

I couldn’t have been more impressed with the bus I took from HCMC to Ben Tre. Can you imagine sitting on an air-conditioned bus with your feet stretched out like you would on a lounge with a footstool? As well, the bus was super clean; probably due to passengers having to remove their shoes once they stepped into the bus. There was no bellowing music coming from the television nor was the bus anywhere near full. But don’t think all buses are like that.

Ben Tre to Can Tho bus seats

From Ben Tre to Can Tho it was another story. We climbed onto a rickety bus with ripped seats where some seats were missing. The bus rattled off fifteen minutes early but one hundred metres down the road, the driver stopped. All the tyres were changed. When I stepped off the bus to check their progress, I discovered the “new” tyres were actually more thread bare than the previous ones! Something fishy was going one.

Check the condition of the “new” tyre

Now that I’ve experienced both ends of the spectrum when it comes to buses, I think I’ll stick to the former.