I never made it to Nho Quan...

1/28/10

How did I end up in Cuc Phuong NP after my stressful deliberation whether to take join a tour group? Salsa is actually the reason…

On Wednesday night I went to the ODC to check out the scene and ask about where I could go out dancing. While I was there I met the instructor, Benkai. After seeing me dance with a student he asked me to teach a workshop for them. I was surprised he asked without me inquiring about it! I told him that Sunday was the latest I could stay in Hanoi before having to leave for Laos. I emailed him the details of the two classes I could teach and he was all for it. We agreed on me making 80% profit and there would be probably 20+ students in each class . I was really excited about the idea, so I decided that since I was staying in Hanoi longer than expected I needed to leave pronto. I did some quick research on Cuc Phuong NP and decided it would be nice to get into nature a bit and do some hiking. I looked up the bus options and told my hotel I would be checking out in the morning.


I read that there was a direct bus from Hanoi to Nho Quan, the closest town to the park’s entrance. I had my moto-driver take me to the appropriate bus station and as soon as we arrived men asked me, “Ninh Binh?” Ninh Binh is a town 2 hours south of Hanoi, it’s a major transit point for visiting Tom Cuc or Perfume Pagoda or the Park. I told them I wanted to go to Nho Quan. They said yes and directed me to a bus that said Ninh Binh. No, I told them, I want to go to Nho Quan. Yes, they said, this bus will get me there. Stupidly, I listened. I was under the impression that Nho Quan was just before Ninh Binh, and so I would get there along the way to Ninh Binh. Stupid of me not to look at the map that I always carry.

Once seated on the bus a guy comes and takes 60,000duong from me for the ticket. I give him 70,000 and he has to get change for me from a woman vending snacks on the bus. I sit and wait for us to leave the station. 20 minutes later when the bus Is nearly full we leave. We continue to pick up a couple people on the road out of Hanoi. I notice that as people board the bus the guy takes money from them and hands them a small white paper ticket. I didn’t get a ticket. Once the bus is full and on the main road south the guy then goes to each passenger to take their ticket or ensure they pay. He gets to me. I am the only white person on the bus, and one of the only women. “Where’s your ticket?” he gestures. “You’ve got to be kidding” was probably the look on my face. I but my hands out to show I don’t have one. “You didn’t give me one,” I say. Then he points to his wad of cash and says “60-thousand.” You have got to be kidding me! How could he have forgotten taking my money in the past 30 minutes? I explain, with as much attitude of “hell, no you don’t” that I can muster. I look at the men sitting around me as I explain, looking for someone who understand my English and for someone who believes me, “I paid you. I paid you 70,000.” I hold up 7 fingers. “You had to ask the woman with the food (I hold up the snack I bought from her) for 10,000.” I hold up 1 finger. “You gave me no ticket.” I look at him incredulous as he just smiles stupidly as though he has no idea what I’m talking about. Some of the men talk to him, explaining what I said. He shakes his head and continues down the bus taking tickets. “Damn straight,” I think.

But then, as he works his way back up the bus he tries again!

“Ticket??”

“No ticket. I paid you.”

I point to him in his distinct “Abercrombie” sweatshirt and Armani sunglasses on his head. The Vietnamese wear the highest fashion brand name knock-offs. Sometimes I wonder if some of it really is fake. After all, they do make a lot of the clothes here, isn’t it possible that an Abercrombie sweatshirt or two gets loose from the factory and makes it to market? How about a couple thousand? I don’t see why not.

He grins sheepishly. I must look completely incredulous because the other passengers seem to tell him off after he asks me again, “money?” I tell my story again, I point to him, I point to the money, I hold up fingers, I point to my snack. This seems to suffice. Finally, he leaves me alone.

We drive for 2 hours and enter Ninh Binh. Now I look at my map. Nho Quan is directly west of Ninh Binh, this is completely the wrong direction. Now I understand that they expected me to do what most people do, and get off in Ninh Binh and take another mode of transport to the park. They obviously hussled me onto the bus to get my business, and the busses to Nho Quan are a lot less frequent.

Pissed that I let them stick me on the wrong bus and that I am now going to have to pay extra for another ride to the park, I wait for the bus to stop at the Ninh Binh bus station. Wow, Ninh Binh is a lot larger than I expected… We drive through. A couple people get off here and there, I wait for a stop where everyone is getting off. It doesn’t come… We keep driving, and town seems to be turning back into road. Shit. I get out my map and ask the guy sitting next to me. I point to Ninh Binh, and then the bus and gesture south, past Ninh Binh, “where is the bus going?” He points way way too far south. Shit. I yell, “Oy!” I need to get off this bus. Now I’m really pissed. I say “Ninh Binh!” and point back at town. Everyone starts talking. They point backwards. “Yes, I need to be in Ninh Binh.”

I don’t know what I expected, but they pull over and let me off. Now I’m standing on the side of the highway, chocking on the exhaust of huge trucks and busses passing by with about 6km back to Ninh Binh where I can hope to find some mode of transport to Cuc Phuong NP. Shit. This is not what I had planned for, hitchhiking on the side of a busy highway. I couldn’t have felt more stupid. I let them put me on the wrong bus. I let the guy try to rip me off b/c I didn’t make him give me a ticket (after talking to other tourists, it was definitely a scam, he knew I paid), and I expected that the bus would stop at a station and I would know when to get off. I’m so mad at myself. I stick my hand out and start to try to stop a bus or moto. They all go by. Won’t someone stop? After 5 minutes a kind soul pulls over on his motorbike to see what I need. I point and say, “I need to go to Ninh Binh.” “Ninh Binh?” He clearly wants to help, but motions that he doesn’t have a 2nd helmet for me to wear, it’s required by law. He tells me to wait there. I’m not going anywhere I think. He pulls into oncoming traffic and goes back to the nearest intersection. I see him up the road flagging down an approaching bus. He drives a long next to it and directs it to pick me up. “Thank You!! Cam On!” I shout and jump on the bus. I get a free 5 minute ride back into the city. My faith in humanity has been restored.

I negotiate with a moto-driver to take me to the park, now 70km away. He drives me down the highway and then off a small road. It takes us through rice paddy fields and pine-apple fields. Past small brick houses with tile roofs. The homes and smell of wood fire stoves gently remind me of Sitla in the Himalayas. The view is beautiful and now I am grateful that I didn’t take my intended bus to Nho Quan. This is much more scenic. In the fog in the distance are the steep mountains rising up out of nowhere, creating that typical Vietnamese vista in all their paintings.

When I arrive at Cuc Phuong NP I couldn’t be more happy to be there, out of the city. I didn’t’ know what to expect and am surprised to find myself in beautiful primary cloud rainforest. This is perfect. Now I remember why I love to travel and why it really is worth not going with a tour group. It’s worth it for the shitty and surprisingly excellent experiences. This time I have learned a lot about how much of an inexperienced traveller I still am. Vietnam marks the 20th country that I’ve been to, but today humbles me to the many lessons I have still to learn about staying one step ahead of myself on the road.