Ninh Binh Footprint

Mixed feelings about this experience. My bus from Ha Giang to Ninh Binh was scheduled to depart at 8:30 PM, and I was instructed to arrive at the departure point 30 minutes before departure. I arrived more than 30 minutes early, but after speaking with one of the staff members, I was shocked to find out that the bus had already left. I contacted the manager using the phone number on my ticket, and he confirmed that the bus was already far away and would not come back for me. This was honestly unbelievable to me, especially since I had arrived on time and had a valid ticket. They offered me several options: stay in Ha Giang and travel the following day, or find another connection. I chose the latter. Unfortunately, there was no longer a direct bus to Ninh Binh, so I had to travel via Hanoi. I arrived in Hanoi after 3 AM and then had to wait another two hours for a minibus to Ninh Binh. I initially had to pay for the replacement bus myself, while the agency covered the minibus from Hanoi. Once I arrived in Ninh Binh, the agency reimbursed me for the replacement bus, so in the end I did not lose any money. I have to give credit to the manager, though. Communication with him was excellent. He clearly felt sorry about the situation, apologised on behalf of the driver, and genuinely tried to find the best possible solution. Still, honestly, something like this has never happened to me before. Being left behind by a bus when you are already at the departure point more than 30 minutes before the scheduled departure is simply unacceptable. So while I appreciate how the manager handled the situation afterwards, the fact that the bus left early despite me being there on time was a very disappointing experience.

It was fine. But could have been a smoother experience. First, the location supplied suggests the pickup is at the travel shop, to which I arrived 45mins prior to pickup time. 20 minutes after the ‘departure’ time the people in the shop suddenly said I have should hop on the back of a bike with them (with my heavy luggage) to drive 2km to the actual bus stop. I was confused and not happy with this, and after me being stern (which I usually don’t have to be) they ordered a taxi for me which was very comfortable and honestly should have been the first solution. The bus was there to pick me up, but it did smell like urine. It felt like a local bus as no one spoke English or tried to properly communicate. Because of this I chose to not get off at the stops for break because at this point, I didn’t really understand what was going on and just hoping that I was going the right way. There were also numerous other random stops for what reason unknown. We then arrived 2.5 hours after the supposed drop off time. Besides these things, it was fine and I would do the trip again even on the same bus, but I’d choose a different organiser.

On Time. But no seatbelt we could use in the mini van.

Black mold in the aircon vent

Aggressive operators, got out every 15 minutes to smoke. Got to the destination 1h30 later than we were supposed to. Did not even drop us at the right place at 4h30 am.

The bus arrived almost 3h late compared to the supposed time of arrival. No plugs in the bus so plan to charge your phone first.

I arrived safely, it was ok, but my bus was rescheduled two hours earlier and I arrived four hours earlier than expected, which caused me a bit of trouble.

I booked this bus (9am) last minute and it was full but the bus operator called me and booked me onto the next available bus at 3pm. The bus was a VIP sleeper, my pod was comfortable and the ride was not bad. We had some stops for the bathroom as well as one to get dinner. At the destination they made stops in Tam Coc and Ninh Binh and wrote down my stop so there was no confusion. My experience was great!

Very good experience. We arrived in time and even got dropped off at the new location, not just the busstop.

I wasn't dropped off the place in my ticket. It was far away from the city, and I needed to take a taxi. I picked my hotel close to the real drop off place, so it was really annoying. There was lot off people sleeping in the floor and passing by continuesly touching me even though I had curtains on. Bus was also around 1h late. Free water onboard.