Singapore to London Overland in 75 Days!!

coolhead

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keep it up.. following your journey haha

Thanks! No internet connection but had lots of time yesterday. I documented till Beijing. Hopefully I have internet connection tonight to share more.
 

coolhead

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Penang Day 2 - 2/6/18

On 2nd day, I headed to the main attraction of Penang island: Georgetown.

I had our brunch at this little known food shop and had Penang prawn mee and a satisfying desert of tau huay with gula melaka.
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Thereafter, I walked to explore the street art and murals along Beach Street.
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That's when I chanced upon the free shuttle bus that plys central Georgetown area.
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coolhead

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I made use of the free shuttle bus to save abit of walking and also arrived at the touristic Penang chendol much raved.
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The chendol was moderately sweet and the green chendol is the star attraction. Biting into it gave a slightly crunchy texture and complemented well with generous servings of gula melaka. However, I found it abit diluted.
Nonetheless for 3rm per serving, I am not complaining.
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Thereafter, we decided to head back to our hostel but not without exploring the seaside that Penang has to offer. We hopped by Chew Jetty and took some pictures.
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The sea view was rather average and you could just about capture the same view from Singapore. Dinner was settled at the food court opposite Chew Jetty with different dishes to satisfy any last minute cravings I have for Penang food.
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Clockwise from top: Lok Lok, Penang prawn mee, Penang fried kway teow with duck egg, claypot mee.
I highly recommend the Penang fried kway teow with duck egg and the claypot mee. Thinking of it is just so salivating!
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coolhead

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Penang Day 3 - 3/6/18

Today, I will be leaving Penang for an overnight train to Bangkok. There was ample time for brekkie at Penang island and we had it at a coffee shop at Chew Jetty. Apparently, alot of shops opened later than usual on a Sunday, including food shops. Unfortunately, the much raved Ali Nasi Lemak Daun Pisang along Beach street was closed on Sunday! What a disappointment, so Chew Jetty coffeeshop it is!
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We ordered the Penang fried kway teow, wonton mee again and wash it down with their kopi C which is not that different from Singapore. The picture really captures the expected flavourfulness from the food.
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Walked around abit and there was a street bazaar along Beach street as well.
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Missing the cheap and awesome food, we departed Penang island for mainland Malaysia.Do note that there is no need to pay for the return ferry trip back to Malaysia. It operates fairly frequently as 4 ferries ply the away and return route.
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On reaching mainland Malaysia, the train ticket from Penang (Butterworth to Padang Besar) is bought from Butterworth railway station itself and cannot be bought online. The rationale is the train is an ETS Kommuter train and anyone that buys a ticket can get onboard. You just may not have seating space onboard the train, so try to be abit kiasu for this otherwise you will be standing for close to 2 hours or wait till someone gets up from seat.
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An interesting picture here, apparently, it is pasted that no indecent behaviour is allowed, hehe.
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coolhead

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I reached Padang Besar Railway at Malaysian border at 1625hrs just as expected. Little did I know that I have to reach the immigration checkpoint in the station within 5mins as it closes at 1630hrs!!! Alas I was too late dilly dallying figuring out how to use the sleeper train ticket and only reached immigration by 1645, which was closed by then.
In a race for time to make sure we were able to board the 1 and only 1700hrs train, I asked around and the alternative is to walk to the Malaysian immigration 500m northeast from Padang Besar railway. Reached and stamped out, a taxi tout asked if I need help to go to Thailand border. I rejected at first but faced with little choice, I accepted his offer at a relatively reasonable 20Rm, given the circumstances.
After clearing immigration, the taxi brought me to Thai immigration checkpoint. Here is where you have to be careful. At Thai immigration, there maybe punks who will request to take your passport and fill in the immigration form for a fee. You can do it yourself as it is simple. Go to the immigration building direct, fill in the form and let the immigration officer process it.
The whole clearing process took 20mins for 2 persons and it was 1715 by the time it was done. I was not harbouring hopes on boarding the train and felt increasingly dejected. Reaching the Padang Besar railway at Thai side, we were relieved to know that it will be 1800hrs at Thai side as it is 1 hour earlier than M'sia side. We spent the next 30mins resting and taking pictures :)
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The train was decent and made for a clean and comfortable passage, though abit jerky at times but nonetheless safe.
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We had the option to purchase dinner and breakfast. I only chose the dinner option and forgo the breakfast as I prefer the breakfast in lovely Bangkok. Dinner was decent, with chicken and green curry with rice.
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After dinner, the steward prepared and converted our seats into beds for turning in to sleep. The conversion process was pretty fast in half a minute. We both had the bottom beds and were single sized beds. There was a curtain to provide courtesy.
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artemov

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I reached Padang Besar Railway at Malaysian border at 1625hrs just as expected. Little did I know that I have to reach the immigration checkpoint in the station within 5mins as it closes at 1630hrs!!! Alas I was too late dilly dallying figuring out how to use the sleeper train ticket and only reached immigration by 1645, which was closed by then.
In a race for time to make sure we were able to board the 1 and only 1700hrs train, I asked around and the alternative is to walk to the Malaysian immigration 500m northeast from Padang Besar railway. Reached and stamped out, a taxi tout asked if I need help to go to Thailand border. I rejected at first but faced with little choice, I accepted his offer at a relatively reasonable 20Rm, given the circumstances.
After clearing immigration, the taxi brought me to Thai immigration checkpoint. Here is where you have to be careful. At Thai immigration, there maybe punks who will request to take your passport and fill in the immigration form for a fee. You can do it yourself as it is simple. Go to the immigration building direct, fill in the form and let the immigration officer process it.
The whole clearing process took 20mins for 2 persons and it was 1715 by the time it was done. I was not harbouring hopes on boarding the train and felt increasingly dejected. Reaching the Padang Besar railway at Thai side, we were relieved to know that it will be 1800hrs at Thai side as it is 1 hour earlier than M'sia side. We spent the next 30mins resting and taking pictures :)

I took the Hat Yai to BKK and BKK to Chiang Mai trains a couple of times a long time ago. They are really fast, comfy, quiet and clean compared to the Malaysian trains. Love them.

I crossed the Thai-Malaysian border on a Singapore to Hat Yai bus (super long and umcomfy). The bus driver collected our passports and a really small amount of money ... didn't even got off the bus for immigration and customs at all lol ...
 
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coolhead

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I took the Hat Yai to BKK and BKK to Chiang Mai trains a couple of times a long time ago. They are really fast, comfy, quiet and clean compared to the Malaysian trains. Love them.

I crossed the Thai-Malaysian border on a Singapore to Hat Yai bus (super long and umcomfy). The bus driver collected our passports and a really small amount of money ... didn't even got off the bus for immigration and customs at all lol ...

Bangkok to bong khai train is ok. The horror trip is the bus trip from Laos to Hanoi. Hehe.
 

coolhead

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Bangkok D1 - 4/6/18

I slept rather soundly throughout the trip, despite the little jerks that took place. I arrived at Hua Lamphong Railway station at 10a.m.
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I got off the railway and walked out in the busy Bangkok traffic.
My priority in my acommodation booking is to book the accommodation near my next departure point. As Hualamphong railway station is also my departure point to Laos, I booked at Fun Cafe & Hostel.
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Entering the hostel, I believe it is one of the most pleasant hostel I will ever stay. The beds are clean, shared bathrooms are clean, good and strong wifi, nothing more that I can ask for.
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Lunch was at Odeon Noodles shop which was mediocre, despite a 4/5 rating on Google maps. The meal consisted of fried rice, wonton mee, crabmeat roll. I will not come here given the much better Thai food that can be found almost anywhere.
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After a late lunch, took a walk through Yaowarat road, a.k.a Chinatown, and explored the streets and side business plied by workers which can be seen selling dried food, clothes, raw meat amongst other merchandise.
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It took me about an hour of touring around Chinatown to make a complete loop and I walked back to our hostel thereafter to have a rest.
 
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coolhead

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Bangkok D1 - 4/6/18

Dinner was decided at Pratunam Night Market and feasted on some much-craved seafood.
The whole atmosphere was abuzzed with hungry shoppers looking to fill their stomachs. I thoroughly enjoy the meal especially the salt baked fish which never disappoints.

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Bangkok D2 - 5/6/18

I ventured out to try the morning street food in Bangkok. This was along Yotha road, about 500m from our hostel. Of particular concern is the hygiene at these street food stalls, in the end we opted for noodles inside a food shop. I found the curry chicken noodle with drumstick to be better than expected, slightly diluted but otherwise tasty. For 40baht, I felt this was a bargain. However, I noticed that servings of noodles/rice in Thailand are rather small and are perhaps the ideal of eating 6 small meals a day. Nonetheless, I prefer to reserve my stomach for other possible Thai food and only had this for breakfast.
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Next, I headed to Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall, which comprehensively told the history of Bangkok from King Rama I - IX.
Entrance fee for adults was 100baht and free for seniors above 60. It can be seen that Thais revere the colour yellow/gold as it is symbolic with the colour for the Thai monarch.
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An overview of the palace area in Bangkok which the Thai king lived.
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Overlooking an area of Bangkok from the Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall.
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We toured the exhibit in about 3 hours and thereafter, had an early dinner at Mcdonalds. I ordered a Big Mac and I have to say it's much better than Singapore, though pricing is the same as Singapore. The cheese was 1 full slice, with lots of lettuce and mayonaise, just like how Big Mac was in the 1990's in Singapore.
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After Big Macs meal, I bought a street side pineapple as dessert and it was really sweet and satisfying. In the background, secondary school girls (there are no guys) were seen leaving the school in masses. Somehow, I had the impression that this was a good Secondary school and the Mcdonalds which I had my meal was partially filled with students seeking tuition, pretty much like Singapore's study culture.
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Pardon me for the slightly blurred image here, but I had to crop myself out.
Apparently, despite having entered Bangkok a few times, I did not know that this was a tourist area, in fact an overly touristic district. This area is Chakrabongse road, with the streets lining up with eateries selling seafood, Western and thai cuisine, massages and other tourist accessory shops. It turned out that ALL the eateries were having the same menu and price, talk about monopolistic competition!
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coolhead

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Bangkok D3 - 6/6/18

Today is when I depart the Land of Smiles and head for Laos. But before that, once again, I headed to food street along Yotha road and this time round with abit more adventure, I tried an actual roadside stall, not without scrutinising the food preparation methods. For hygiene sake, I definitely will not be looking forward to an upset stomach on an overnight train. Just soup noodles with various side ingredients, but the clear broth and ingredients made this dish more appetising than most soup noodles I have had in Singapore.
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All I have to say is that the local food that common Thai people eat are healthy and that is clear from their slim figures. With some time to spare till our evening departure, we headed to National Museum. Unfortunately, about half of the exhibits are closed for renovation and I felt it was not worth the 200Baht/entry.
I decided to make a trip to nearby Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew). Unfortunately again, I was wearing slippers and bermudas which meant 1) I needed socks, 2) I needed long pants. Feeling frustrated in the sizzling 34 degrees heat, I backed off among the touts and opportunists and headed to view Loha Prasat, a temple located near Rattanakosin Exhibition. Loha Prasat was a 2km walk away and another grand temple in its own right, with only a 20baht donation fee. This is a view from the top of Loha Prasat temple onto its surrounding structures.
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It was about time to head back and due to abit of poor time plans, I had a quick meal at my hostel cafe which was decent.
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The past few days were spent trying to find tapioca with coconut but alas, I could not believe such a Thai desert delicacy could not be found along the streets! The hostel keeper was kind enough to get for me for free, but I felt so bad I paid her 40baht for it, only for her to decline and return me back 30baht. The locals really know how to get it cheap!

Thereafter, I headed to Hua Lamphong railway for the 8pm train and was 30mins early.
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The train looked like a cargo freight externally but it was decent internally, with reasonably clean beds, chairs and freshly laundered bed linen.
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I ended the night watching movies and having tapioca with coconut and desert
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coolhead

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Laos D1 - 07/06/18

I realised that as I moved further up north, the first rays of lights seemed to shine earlier too. It was 6a.m but it felt like 7a.m in Singapore. I walked around the train and chanced upon an almost empty restuarant car serving breakfast.
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Meanwhile, I took some pictures of life outside the train in rural border Thailand, the town of Nong Khai.
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I alighted at Nong Khai railway station and had to first purchase tickets at the counter. There were 2 options: 1) Purchase a 20baht ticket for shuttle train or 2) Purchase both shuttle train and minivan ticket for 300 baht.
Knowing how it works from my online research, I chose option 1 for shuttle train from Nong Khai to Thanaleng (Laos border town) and then pay 150baht there for a minivan ticket to Vientiane. Hence, instead of paying 300baht, I only pay 170 Baht resulting in a savings of 130baht!
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After ticket purchase, I passed through Thai immigration before entering the shuttle train perfect for its functionality: only to shuttle passengers to and fro and nothing else.
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We took the makeshift van thereafter from Thanaleng to Vientiane and got to our accommodation, Mekong Riverside.
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By then it was about 9a.m. Interestingly, the owner was still asleep and only woke up at around 9.30a.m.
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In fact, the whole of Vientiane seemed like a ghost town as shops only started operating around 10a.m-11a.m. The money changer at Vientiane was surprisingly competitive and offered spreads of less than 1%, usually 0.2-0.3% for common currencies.
Due to abit of difficulty sleeping onboard the train, I was rather tired and I had forgotten to take photos of my breakfast. I had green curry and rice and was rather good but the soup was thin as they did not use thickener. When I checked into hostel at 1pm, I slowly drifted into deep sleep till around 5pm.
It was dinner time and I headed out for dinner. I was staying in a touristic central part of Vientiane, in fact with the Laos night market just 200m from us at the Mekong riverside. Prices of food were therefore naturally jacked up to rake in tourist dollars from Westerners but still considered cheap by developed countries status.
I went to a Lebanese restuarant for dinner and food was mediocre. Sad to say, the rest of the meals in Laos which were not Laos authentic food were average at best. I had beef burger with fries while my partner had beef platter, hummus, etc
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coolhead

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Laos D1 - 07/06/18

Frankly, the dinner leaved much to be desired and I felt frustrated spending tourist dollars on a crappy middle eastern food. Neither my mouth nor my brain will give way to sleeping before a satisfied meal today. I walked along the night market which was partially closed as it was drizzling moderately.
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Though I knew I was taking a risk, I saw a burger stall selling a giant piece of pork skewered on a rotating grill. The hygiene methods seemed satisfactory and I order the pork kebab burger for S$1.50. This burger made my night, it was more delicious than the middle eastern dinner.
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coolhead

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Laos D2 - 08/06/18

On my 2nd day in Vientiane, Laos, I went for tried and tested local cuisine, red curry with rice while my partner had fat noodle soup (Yes, that's how it was named).
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Just a photo of the typical street along urban Vientiane.
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I took a tuk tuk to an ironic attraction called COPE Visitor Centre. It is ironic in the sense that it is an attraction on Google Maps and people were recommending the visit here to understand the attrocities committed by the US during the Vietnam war, which spilled into Laos. But then, it should not be a tourist attraction. The ride of about 5km cost us 40000kip.
It is a centre where war and minefield survivors post-Vietnam war get help and assistance to get prostetic legs and re-integrate back into their lives.
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Visit is free but donation is welcomed. On my part after visitng the exhibit, it was a worthy cause and I donated 20000kip (3sgd). Bonus picture of a kitten and its mum I saw at the exhibit.
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I made my way gradually back to my hostel visiting temples along the way. These temple visits are free and do not cost money. Among the temples I visited was Wat Si Muang.
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The girl in conversation with the monk on the carpet was really demure, pretty and stole my eyes...
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coolhead

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Laos D2 - 08/06/18

There was an exhibtion I paid 20000kip and it is called Wat Phra Kaew. Howeever, most language were in French and Laos I felt it was not worthy and a waste of time. This is the picture shown here and the building on the left is the museum/temple. I really will not recommend coming here.
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Further into city centre, I chanced upon a Swenson's and no way would I pass up a chance to try the ice cream in the local summer heat. The ice cream here cost 40% cheaper in Singapore and even then, it seemed like a luxury as only the well-dressed Laotians with their children were seen enjoying the ice cream.
The price of a sticky chewy chocolate here was 39,000kip (SGD6.50) and could easily have been a one day 3 meals for a Laotian.
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I then refreshed myself at our hostel before heading to a Laotian massage parlour to try traditional Laotian massage. It is softer than Thai massage though the techniques seem to be mostly similar. I would have preferred Thai massage though. Nonethless, for 1 hour traditional Laos massage, it cost 60000kip (9.50sgd) and I felt mostly refreshed.
It is evening time now, I wondered along the Mekong river and the daily culture here is interesting. You can see people exercising to blaring Korean pop music.
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There was a picturesque scene of a hawker centre beside the Mekong river, well captured in the cool Laotian sunset.
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Dinner was at a Laos restaurant with unremarkable food, perhaps what I chose was unauthentic hence... But it does the minimum job of filling my stomach. Sorry, did not take pictures as the food was just unremarkable.
 

coolhead

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Laos D3 - 09/06/18

This is my last day in Laos before departure on the 24 hour hell bus ride to Hanoi. Writing the previous sentence truly sent the shivers up my spine. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the remaining of my time in Laos with more attractions visiting such as the unfinished Victory Monument as well as having breakfast at a local eatery with seemingly authentic noodle dishes.
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I had my last meal in Laos at an eatery featuring local and Chinese cuisine with surprisingly good egg fried rice.
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Thereafter, I had a 14km tuk tuk ride at 80,000 kip to the Vientiane Southern Bus terminal. This is the fateful bus that took us 24 hours to Hanoi. There was an air of apprehension as I exchanged my printed online form for a bus ticket.
I was led by a reluctant female officer to the crowd of Vietnamese passengers and drivers, which were unseemingly interested in me and had more attention with her Vietnamese comrades (drivers). Soon, the drivers started to swarm us but the female officer led me to this particular driver.
Soon, our worst fears were realised to the truest extent from what we read online. Foreign passengers (Non-Vietnamese) were all squeezed into the back of the bus where the toilet is and it was so damn smelly and warm.
The air was stale and the stench would actually remain on some of my belongings for almost a few weeks. In fact, writing this 8 days after the bus trip, a lil lil bit of stench remained. Thankfully, this is a once in a lifetime trip.
I was right behind on the top bunk and little did I know that below us were Singaporeans as well who are mostly likely in a worst off position than us. Kudos to these Singaporeans which I met briefly and parted thereafter when we reached our Hanoi destination. The duo males were in the midst of their polytechnic years and were intending to purchase bikes, ride to another destination in Vietnam before selling it away. I commented to them, what an interesting expedition at this tender age and I am sure this is something they will remember in their lives. Anyway, back to the horrendous bus trip, there was little I wanted to recount about this trip than try to sleep the night away amidst the stale air and constant banging of the toilet doors, which when left open, I would use my feet and kick the door to submission. I felt too disgusted by the hygiene to take a picture of the bus interior.
 

coolhead

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Vietnam D1 - 10/6/18

I managed to catch some sleep aboard the back of the smelly and stale bus. Nothing in my National Service would have prepared me for this ordeal. The bus stopped for dinner around 10pm but I wasn't interested and I simply snacked on my cereal bars. The bus moved on 30mins later and finally reached the checkpoint around 4a.m.
The bus stopped for about 2 hours and I managed to continue catching sleep. Thankfully, the light rain made the surroundings cooler for a better sleep. However I was brashly awaken at 6a.m to alight the bus for immigration at Laos border.
It was quite a chaos as I juggled between clearing immigration, paying some immigration fee and changing currency. Unfortunately, it was impossible to get a good understanding of the exchange rate as the mobile network was virtually nil and there was no update on the whiteboard on rates, so I was kinda ripped off on exchanging kip to dong.
Thankfully for us ASEAN people, clearing immigration was a relative breeze apart from an incident where a fellow Singaporean did not get his passport stamped accidentally. All the caucausians had to get their VISA and then passport done subsequently. This is a picture of the Laos immigration border exit.
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ASEANians got on the bus across the border whereas the slower caucasians (who had to do their Visa on-site) had to make do with walking across the border. It was slightly better at the Vietnam border though common sense is still necessarily to negotiate the immigration process. Shown here in this picture is a seemingly makeshift area whereby our passports are checked for Laos immigration exit stamp before proceeding to the Vietnamese immigration border. Of course, I do not know why so many checks are required.
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Only after clearing security check did I realise that I have to backtrack to get my passport stamped. It was cooling after the rain and a much welcome 30mins reprieve before entering the bus again. Here, Vietnamese (I presume) could be seen entering Vietnam after completing the Vietnam immigration process.
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It will be another 10 hours before we reach Hanoi Nuoc Ngam bus terminal and forget the nightmarish ride asap. The 4 foreigners on the left who were also placed in the relative rear of the bus, just look at their shag faces, especially the one hugging his bag in front.
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I was determined to reach our hostel asap after alighting the bus, but not without bading farewell to our fellow Singaporeans who were on a brave motorcycling trip in Vietnam before finishing final year polytechnic :)
As soon as I left the bus terminal, droves of Grab drivers/motorcyclists began to flock around us and haggle for the standard tourist rip-off prices. It seemed well acted as among them, only 1-2 negotiated a price. It seems they do not fight amongst themselves. Feeling disgusted by their outrageous pricing of 200,000dong, I went through official Grab app and got a Grabcar for 95,000 dong. The feeling of satisfaction was undeniable as the business model of ripping off tourist with through-the-roof prices simply left me unfazed. I wished I could chuckle in their presence, but a demeanor of nonchalance would be a wiser move.
We arrived at the hostel which was decent, clean but slow and intermittent wifi.
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Nonetheless, I settled down and had chicken pho with pig liver at a nearby food stall. If in doubt, a hot dish with blanching of ingredients should be a safe bet against overseas food poisoning.
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arfness

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Sorry but i had to laugh at the bus trip :( I know it wasn't funny, but ya, congrats on making that! haha i would never ever be able to survive.

Good job! :D
 

coolhead

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Sorry but i had to laugh at the bus trip :( I know it wasn't funny, but ya, congrats on making that! haha i would never ever be able to survive.

Good job! :D

That angmoh male Shag face says it all. Well, to be a backpacker requires an open mind. As an American, I guess he didn't have much say lol.

You never try, you never know.
 
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