HEADING TO VIETNAM

Traveling to Vietnam by Bus

On April 1st, 2025, at around 3:59 PM we arrived at the bus terminal Vientiane Southern Bus Station. If you want to experience an overland international journey, the route from Vientiane (Laos) to Hanoi (Vietnam) is a must-try. Sure, it’s not as fast as flying, but that’s exactly what makes it exciting. You get to interact with other passengers and soak in a truly authentic backpacker atmosphere!

The main bus station in Vientiane for international routes is located a bit on the outskirts of the city, but it’s still easy to reach by tuk-tuk or the local version of Grab. The place is simple but functional, and you’ll see lots of other backpackers waiting for departures to various cities.

I bought my bus ticket on Tiket.com for around $60 (that’s for a VIP Bus). According to the app, the journey would take approximately 24 hours — let’s see how it goes!

Here are some photos of the terminal and the bus itself.

There are plenty of mini markets and food stalls at this terminal, which is great — but unfortunately, we didn’t have much cash on us. That meant we had to limit what we could eat and buy.
Most of the vendors don’t accept card payments, so make sure to bring enough local currency if you ever come here!

We had about 90 minutes before our bus was scheduled to depart, so we wandered around the terminal looking for something to eat and eventually, we found this little eatery.

The fried rice was super delicious! Honestly, the food here really suits my Indonesian taste buds. I’m loving it!
It cost around $2,5 and totally worth it.

At around 5:30 PM we were allowed to board the bus.
Don’t forget to take off your shoes. they’ll give you a plastic bag like this to store them.

Pas masuk ke dalem!! Wow!!! Musik DJ khas sini yang super kenceng!! Suasana dingin sejuk!! Bersih!! Nyaman pokoknya!!! 

The toilet was clean and totally fine for peeing, but I’m not so sure about doing number two, to be honest. TOILET BUS.

At around 6:10 PM our bus finally departed. I lay down right away because I was super tired from the day.
Of course,I made sure to wear the seatbelt. Better safe than sorry, especially with all the swaying.
Since I was in the upper cabin, I could really feel the movement of the bus. I imagine it’s probably less shaky in the lower cabin but I’m not entirely sure.

See what I mean? It’s shaking quite a bit, isn’t it?BUS BERGOYANG
After 4 hours on the road the bus made a quick stop at a restaurant. When I got off and took a look around I just wasn’t feeling it, so I went right back on the bus.
A few foreigners seemed to be ordering food there though.

After a 25-minute break the bus was back on the road. The route took us through the mountains, and looking at the map it seemed like the road was carved right through a mountain.
The surroundings were mostly forest and cliffs. It was a bit creepy, honestly!!! but thankfully I didn’t spot any ghosts (thank goodness!). NIGHT VIEW ON THE BUS.

As I was about to fall back asleep, I realized I wasn’t feeling very comfortable with my little brother and I hadn’t changed my underwear since the crack of dawn… so...HAHAHA

Eventually, the bus stopped around 12:30 AM at some place. I was so sleepy that I didn’t really notice what was going on.
Suddenly the conductor woke me up and told me to get off and go through Laos immigration first.
The next thing I knew, it was around 6 AM when I looked at my watch.
Since we were still in the mountains, the temperature was super cold.
All the luggage and belongings were unloaded because they needed to go through an X-ray scan.

At Laos immigration it turned out there were a lot of people, not just from our bus. There were about 4-5 buses in total, and since immigration hadn’t opened yet we had to wait until around 7 AM.
It wasn’t just the bus passengers in line though. There were also locals, like bus drivers and other workers. They had stacks of passports, dozens of them!
Finally around 7:30 AM we were able to go through and head toward Vietnam immigration.
And let me tell you this wasn’t just any regular road! Just take a look. It was full of ups and downs and we were cracking up trying to carry our luggage. Meanwhile, the foreigners only had travel bags!


HIKING WITH SUITCASE!!

Finally, after walking uphill for about 1-1.5 km, we reached Vietnam immigration!!
Here, we had to pay a fee of $2,2 for the stamp.
Yeah, I know it’s a bribe, but what can we do? Sigh.

At around 9 AM, our bus started moving again, heading towards Hanoi. By this point we were on the highway, and we were treated to some beautiful views along the way!

AND!!! Around 12 PM I started feeling really uncomfortable, my body was sticky and smelled like sweat! I decided it was time to change clothes.
After looking around and wrapping the curtain around me to keep everything in place, I changed my clothes right there!!

We arrived around 3:00 PM! Turns out it took less than 24 hours. I was planning to use the restroom at the terminal but after seeing the toilet, I decided not to. The urinal is also unique! No dividers haha

From the terminal to the hotel, we ordered a Grab car. What happens next in Vietnam? Stay tuned for the next session...