Beware of the bus station

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Our ride from Phonsavon to Vinh was another long ride. We left the terminal around 6:30am but didn't leave the actual town until after 8 as the driver stopped every 100 meters to pick up people, rice, and who knows what else. We arrived late in the evening and stayed at a dingy guest house within walking distance of the station. I"m sure many a weary traveller has ended up at this place. In the morning we walked into the bus area and were immediately grabbed by 2 men saying the bus to Hanoi was leaving. We were a bit confused as we were there early but got ready to get on. While we were asking how much the fare was they were busy pushing us on the bus and closing the door. The bus was empty and they men wouldn't state a price. We knew this was not a good position to be in and Alex shoved one man out of the way to open the door. He got out with his bag but lost his grip on my hand as the men shoved me back and closed the door. Alex thought I was right behind him but quickly put his bag down and was pounding on the door while I used my bag and pushed againest the men as hard as I could and fell out of the bus as Alex opened the door. We quickly ran way and were instantly surrounded by other drivers promising their bus was the best. We had been under the impression that only 1 bus left at 8am and another at 1pm. The station was full of buses with signs saying Hanoi. Finally a police man came and shoved all the men away. He said he'd help us and ofcourse had us go with his friend on another lovely bus ride of stopping to pick people up. This time though it was raining and we were near the open door where a young man leaned half way out of the bus asking people along the highway if they wanted a ride.
When we finally arrived in Hanoi we had yet another deal to make. How much to pay a driver to take us to town. A moto vs a tuk-tuk, vs a taxi-metered or pre-arranged price. It was overwhelming and we opted to take a meter taxi which had a hatch back trunk which opened up while we were on the busy highway. Luckily we were able to hold our bags until we found a good stopping point.
Over the few months of travelling before arriving in Vietnam we heard many stories of how aggressive and tricky the Vietnamese are. In fact several people told us to skip it all together. We decided to find out for ourselves and our first experiences were trying but make for a good story.
A note for our concerned families: We are taking good care of eachother and know when to get out of a situation that makes one of us nervous. We want to share these tales with you as they are often funny after the fact, not to make you worry. Please enjoy, and don''t worry too much.

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