HTX Van Tai 277

버스 운전기사는 버스 안에서 담배를 피웠고, 사람들은 매우 불친절했습니다. 하노이 외곽에서 우리는 버스에서 내던져져 간신히 들어갈 수 있을 정도의 다른 버스에 억지로 태워졌습니다.

버스는 정시에 도착했고 깨끗했으며 예상외로 편안했습니다. 하지만 불행히도 두 운전기사 모두 골초여서 버스 안은 매우 불쾌했습니다. 에어컨도 간헐적으로만 작동했습니다. 목적지까지 5시간이나 남았는데 버스를 갈아타야 했습니다. 이유는 알 수 없었습니다. 어쨌든 우리는 약 26시간 만에 목적지에 도착했습니다.

우리가 기대했던 것보다 더 좋았습니다. 운전사는 정말 친절하고 도움이 되었습니다. 유일하게 좋지 않았던 점은 우리가 예상보다 2시간 늦게 도착했다는 것입니다.

이번이 우리가 이 경로를 이용한 두 번째였습니다. 처음 국경에 도착했을 때는 라오스 도착 비자가 더 이상 발급되지 않는다는 사실을 몰라 하노이로 돌아가야 했습니다. 우리는 하노이에서 정시에 출발하여 거의 밤 9시에 루앙프라방에 도착했습니다. 버스는 승객을 수송하는 정식 교통수단이라기보다는 화물 운송 서비스에 가까웠습니다. 버스는 도중에 10번도 넘게 정차하여 여러 물품을 싣고 내렸고, 심지어 표가 없는 사람들도 태웠습니다. 모든 것이 회사 차원에서 조직된 운행이라기보다는 부패한 운전기사들의 부업처럼 느껴졌습니다. 제대로 된 화장실(특히 여성용 화장실)이나 식사를 위한 정차는 거의 없었습니다. 운전기사들은 버스 안에서 끊임없이 담배를 피웠고, 에어컨은 몇 번이나 고장 났습니다.

전반적으로 아주 좋은 승차감. 일부 리뷰에서 설명한 서양인에 대한 모든 괴롭힘 행위를 경험한 적이 없습니다. 매우 친절한 직원이지만 영어를 할 수 없기 때문에 몸짓 기반 의사 소통에 가깝습니다 :) 비엔티안-하노이 : 오전 2시 30 분경 국경에 도착하여 국경이 열릴 때까지 휴식을 취하고 라오스 직원에게 10k Kip 팁 지불하고 50k 이민국에서 베트남 직원에게 Kip. 사전에 eVisa가 있으면 모든 것이 잘 진행되었습니다. 도착 비자가 없습니다. 한 사람은 e비자로 베트남에 입국하기 위해 국경 검문소를 잘못 통과하여 베트남 직원에게 약 200만 동을 지불했습니다. 국경에서 동이 필요하지 않았고 모든 것을 킵으로 지불할 수 있었습니다. 버스는 편안했고 우리는 1-2시간의 지연으로만 도착했습니다. 내가 다시 할 것인지 말하기 어렵습니다. 기원전 그것은 결국 매우 긴 여행이지만 그것이 당신이 지불하는 것입니다. 잘했어요!

차 안에서는 그다지 편안하지 않습니다. 장소가 꽤 좁고 12~14시간 이동하는 동안 매트리스가 딱딱하고 직원들은 아무것도 마시지 않습니다. 차고는 다른 많은 야간 운행과 마찬가지로 긴급한 의사소통 필요성 때문에 추가 USB 커넥터 유형의 전화 충전기를 설치해야 합니다. 특히 직원들은 매우 친절하고 고객을 지원하는 데 열정적이지만 영어 실력을 더 향상 시킨다면 여행에 도움이 될 것입니다.

버스는 만원이었고, 냄새나는 발을 가진 사람들이 우리 얼굴 옆에서 잤습니다. 짐은 지붕 위에 있었습니다. 버스는 1시간 30분 지연되었고, 여행이 끝날 무렵 버스가 고장났습니다.

불필요하게 공격적인 이용 약관을 읽고 나서 이 버스를 타는 게 꽤 걱정됐지만, 비엔티안에서 BAR를 타는 건 정말 괜찮았습니다. 티켓 시간보다 한 시간 일찍 도착했는데 (지시대로) 실제로는 두 시간 일찍 온 것 같았습니다. 현지인들이 티켓을 훔쳐 다시 요금을 내라는 이야기를 많이 읽은 후, 버스를 파는 사람들이 우리 티켓을 빼앗고 가방을 버스에 실으려고 하는 걸 보고 꽤 걱정했습니다. 알고 보니 이 티켓은 특정 버스가 아니라 그곳에 주차된 여러 버스 중 하나였습니다. 버스 기사들끼리 밀치고 붙잡고 말다툼을 한 후 (그리고 티켓을 절대 놓지 않았습니다), 결국 우리가 탔던 버스가 하노이로 가는 버스일 거라고 생각할 수밖에 없었습니다. 어쨌든 자리를 잡고 나니 괜찮았습니다. 버스에는 화장실이 없었지만 (일요일에 운행했습니다), 몇 시간 간격으로 정차했습니다. 새벽 1시쯤 정차했고 운전기사를 포함한 모든 사람들이 잠이 들었습니다. 아마 오전 7시에 국경이 열리기를 기다리며 국경에서 줄을 서 있었기 때문일 겁니다. 혼란스러운 국경 통과에 만반의 준비를 하고 있었지만, 버스 기사님과 다른 현지인들이 길을 모르는 관광객들을 친절하게 안내해 주어 정말 안심했습니다. 비수기에는 국경을 넘는 서양인 다섯 명 중 저희 두 명은 우리뿐이었습니다. 결론적으로, 기대치를 낮추는 것이 맞지만, 라오스 직원들은 특별 대우를 기대하지 않는 한 매우 친절합니다. 비엔티안에서는 스트레스를 받을 각오를 하세요.

전혀 실망하지 않았습니다! 문제없이 경험을 갱신하겠습니다. 좌석은 누운 자세로 편안하고 Wi-Fi가 없기 때문에 먼저 휴대 전화로 영화를 다운로드하면 시간이 빨리 지나갑니다. 직원은 영어를 구사하지 못하며 특별히 환영하거나 친절하지는 않지만 국경 절차를 안내해 줄 것입니다. 그들은 효과적입니다. 그들에게 친절하십시오! 작은 플랫, 담요 냄새가 좋지는 않지만 가격에 대해 불평하지 않습니다. 관광버스가 아니라서 언제까지 남았는지, 언제 정차하는지 알려주는 사람은 없지만 버스는 자주 정차해서 다리를 쭉 뻗거나 화장실에서 쉬기로 마음먹을 수 있을 정도다. 저녁과 점심을 위해 2 정거장이 있지만 확실히 끔찍하지 않은 장소에 있습니다. 생수 제공, 원하는 만큼 요청할 수 있습니다. 요컨대, 문제없이 추천합니다. 예외적 인 버스를 기대하지 마십시오. 소박하지만 가격 대비 가치가 있습니다.

이것은 정말 나에게 PTSD를 제공합니다. 이 여행을 하는 누구에게나 강력히 추천합니다. 마음이 약한 사람을 위한 것이 아닙니다. 버스에서의 24시간은 농담이 아닙니다. 숙소는 상당히 더럽고 베개가 약간 축축한 느낌이 들기 때문에 이전에 그 위에 무엇이 있었는지 잘 알 수 없습니다. 또한 선내의 화장실도 냄새가 나고 축축합니다. 기내에서는 신발을 신을 수 없기 때문에 소변이나 대변으로 발을 더럽히지 않고 어떻게 화장실을 사용할 수 있는지 잘 모르겠습니다. 또한 운전사와 조수들은 외국인들에게 전혀 친절하지 않았고 실제로 꽤 적대적이었습니다. 혼자 여행하는 경우 괴롭힘을 당할 수 있으므로 반드시 재고해 보시길 권합니다. 이러지 마세요.

하노이 버스 정류장과 57번 카운터에 도착했을 때 여행은 좋지 않게 시작되었습니다. 지시받은 대로 티켓을 교환하기 위해 바우처를 계속 주려고 했습니다. 나는 아무 말도 듣지 못했고 계속 앉으라고 보냈습니다. 버스(12goAsia 예약에 적힌 시간)가 출발할 예정인 시간까지 5분 남았습니다. 누군가가 한 시간 후에 출발할 예정이라고 말한 다음 티켓 비용을 지불하라는 요청을 받고 계속해서 반복해야 했습니다. 나는 티켓을 받기 전에 이미 비용을 지불하고 담당자와 논쟁을 벌였습니다. 버스를 찾았는데 괜찮았어요. 특별하거나 끔찍한 것도 없었어요. 우리 버스 여행은 총 30시간이 걸렸습니다(호기심 때문에 시간을 정했습니다). 몇 정거장이 있었지만 시간의 길이는 대부분 버스에 싣는 배달로 인해 발생했습니다. 우리는 그들을 픽업하기 위해 베트남에 자주 들렀고, 그들을 내려주기 위해 라오스에도 많이 들렀습니다. 전반적으로 내가 생각했던 것만큼 나쁘지 않았고 많은 영화를 잘 준비해서 왔습니다. 여행하는 우리 대부분은 잠을 잘 잤습니다. 어느 시점에서 버스는 우리 모두를 위해 라디오를 켜서 두 번째 밤에 아주 늦게까지 귀청이 터질 듯한 볼륨으로 들을 수 있었습니다. 그래서 귀마개를 제안합니다. 거의 기대하지 않아도 실망할 수 없습니다.

내가 탔던 버스는 대체 버스였기 때문에 내 리뷰가 얼마나 도움이 될지 잘 모르겠습니다. 예정된 버스에 불이 붙었기 때문에 평소 24시간이 아닌 14시간 도착을 약속하는 대체 버스를 제안받았습니다. 실제 여행에는 20시간이 걸렸기 때문에 우리 중 일부는 숙박 예약을 변경했지만 그것이 낭비된 것을 발견했기 때문에 약속된 도착 시간이 더 현실적이었기를 바랍니다. 우리가 탄 버스는 이제 막 여행을 마친 것 같아서 꽤 지저분하고 냄새가 났습니다. 우리는 국경을 넘어 어느 정도 거리를 두고 버스를 갈아타야 했기 때문에 어떤 정보도 없이 얼어붙을 정도로 추운 식당에서 2~3시간을 기다렸습니다. 서비스 측면에서 제가 연락했던 12Go 직원(Hong Nguyen)은 매우 도움이 되었고 신속하게 답변을 해주었지만 그들이 통제할 수 없는 부분이 있는 것 같습니다.

에어컨을 고치기 위해 버스가 3번 정차했습니다. 버스 운전사는 티켓에 표시된 사람이 아니었고 특별한 것은 아니지만 돈이 좋습니다. 22시간이 걸렸고 전혀 지옥 같은 일이 아니었습니다. 항공권에 비해 돈을 절약하는 것이 좋습니다

정말 친절한 상담원들! 어떤 문제라도 생기면 바로 도와주시더라고요.

늦게 출발하여 하노이에 도착했습니다. 국경에 남겨두고 아무 말도 없이 베트남 쪽으로 차를 몰고 갔습니다. 더러운 버스 화장실, 쓰레기 등등, 전혀 도움이 되지 않았습니다.

티켓 타이밍에 비해 버스가 하노이에 도착하는 시간이 늦었지만, 리뷰를 읽어보니 예상이 되었습니다. 실제 도착시간은 오후 6시 정도입니다. 좋은 자리를 잡기 위해 일찍 버스 정류장에 도착했습니다. 조금 일찍 갔더니 오후 4시 30분쯤이면 괜찮았을 것 같아요. 오전 2시에 출입국 관리소에 도착하고 오전 6시 30분에 출입국 관리소가 열리길 기다리는 동안 버스는 역에서 너무 일찍 출발했습니다. 여행 대기 시간을 줄이기 위해 나중에 출발할 수도 있었습니다. 사람들이 여권에 먼저 도장을 찍으려고 몰려들면서 이민국은 엉망이 되었습니다. 운 좋게도 우리 버스 차장은 우리가 함께 출입국 관리를 통과할 수 있도록 친절하게 도와주었습니다. 전반적인 버스는 괜찮았고 좋은 좌석을 얻으면 그리 나쁘지 않았습니다.

Long journey but not as horrible as the other reviews make it sound. The journey is long but the bus was comfortable, had good AC, and a bathroom (I went on Tues; they say the busses on Tue/Thu/Sat are better). One stop around 9-10pm for food/bathroom. Got to the border ~2am and cued up to be first for border crossing in the morning. The bus got quite hot when not on during the night (~2-6am) but was otherwise quite chilly while running (bring a sweater/pants). At the border you need to have your visa already, pay 50k dong to leave Vietnam and 30k kip to enter Laos (or $1-2/dong equivalent). Another stop around lunch time then arrived on time. The roads in Laos can be a bit bumpy. The staff are efficient; if you pay attention, follow their hand gestures and are polite, they are nice enough. They yelled at one guy who was being super rude and pushy but that's not their fault.

The bus left according to schedule, chairbeds were comfy. The bus broke down during the trip, but the drivers could fix it. Nobody could speak a word in English in the whole bus. So we didn’t know what was going on and when we could leave the bus or had to stay inside. It was difficult to find out where to go and what to do at the border, nobody could tell us because they didn’t speak English. We arrived 2 hours earlier than expected which was nice. Overall the trip was ok.

Got an email 2 hours before departure that my selected type of vehicle ( VIP SLEEPER BUS) was not available, and I got downgraded to a seated couch bus . Yes I got 150.000 back , but I couldn’t do anything else apart from taking the bus anyway. No time to change the bus, reebok another day or with another company . Felt like there where not enough people on that bus and they decided to use only one bus regardless of the vip status or not. Felt a bit like a scam

No wifi,so hot😭

Smooth and comfortable ride, but I got to the border only to find out they don't do land visas here. If you need to get a land visa, be sure to go to the Lao Boa border. The ride back and to Hanoi or to the Lao Boa border can be anywhere from 3mil-4mil dong

I booked VIP sleeper bus for 155€ and my expectations were much higher. Our vip section was near the bathroom and engine of the bus. It was hot inside the bus and vehicle was very old. Staff were nice and smiling but I would not book this bus again. Operator was not on time and we waited for bus to start movement for 6 hours. In total we spent about 40 hours in the bus instead of 36

They should Defintely make people aware of needing to visit the embassy and getting a visa when advertising this certain bus

the driver drove like an asshole. how can you do that when you transport people? and we had to wait 2.5 hours at the boarder because it was still closed so why the hell was he speeding like there's no tomorrow??

The operator tried to scam me into buying a second seat on the bus. He seemed to indicate there were only 2 person seats and I would need to pay an extra 500,000. I insisted that I had a seat on the bus and he did let me on. I liked my bed/ seat and it was very comfortable. The operators did not make any effort to give directions to us. They didn’t say where to go eat or help us in any way. On one occasion in Vietnam nobody could eat anything, but the operator went to their set tables and ate. Most people went hungry. The pdf guide was great because I would have fallen for the scam if not for the guide warning about it. I’d suggest to bring both Vietnam and Laos money and even better an e sim that would work on both sides. Overall I would go again on this, it’s a good value for the money despite the terrible service.

I'm not one to complain, and my partner and I are used to traveling in all kinds of conditions. But this trip was one of the worst. People were everywhere in the bus, on the sleeper berths, which is normal. But in the corridors, like animals, it shocked us.We started the journey sitting on the floor. Then the conductor asked people to give us bunks. It was kind, but so awkward and sad for the others.

Too long and wayyy too tired The trip starts 30 mins earlier than the time

The ride was good. I was upgraded from semi sleeper to VIP bus. But the instructions were not updated. It was mentioned that bus is parked in A8 but it was not. Also the bus is the voucher was not the bus we rode. If you avail this service, make sure to call or message via WhatsApp once you arrive in the terminal to make sure the bus details and the bay where to find it. Also

My 12go online Ticket got rejected in Laos and I had to pay twice.

Stayed too much time in the border almost 9hours…after laos immigration stamped our passport around 8am we kept on waiting the bus till 10am with another bus….the bus has changed we dont know our luggages been transfered also…only the time when we reach vientiane

Comfortable bus to be fair - as a guy over 6 foot you expect it to be cramped but to be fair comfortability was alright. Service was by far the worst I have ever encountered in the months I have traveled Asia. 0 attempt to communicate even if we pulled out Google translate. One of the staff punched my feet 4 times because I was lucky enough to have the seats infront of me empty so I put my legs over them (Not gentle punches either). And we just got dropped off at places with no idea what to do - we didn’t know if they were toilet breaks or food stops so twice we bought dishes we hd to leave half empty because there was no time. The border was horrific - no idea what we were doing, the other passengers and I just guessed our way through it. Most disappointingly, we were advertised a toilet on board, free wifi and a completely different seat layout that what we were given. No toilet or wifi. Getting on the bus at the station was awful because we had bo idea which bus was ours as everyone was telling us different things. Honestly, if the bus wasn’t as half - decent as it was then I would have given this a 0 star if I could have.

Before getting this bus we read a big range of review and I was feeling quite anxious for the journey but it was much better than expected. It is very important that you read all the instructions and arrive at the bus terminal at least 2 hours before the bus leaves to secure your seat. we got there over 2 hours before and managed to get a bottom bed. we saw people trying to arrive 30 minutes before the bus left and they were not allowed to get on. you can adjust the seats so can be sitting up or lying down. they aren’t the biggest beds but they are satisfactory. we got handed a bottle of water and there was good AC and a small toilet on board. for the first part of the journey there were lots of people sat/laid down in the aisles (who had been picked up on the way) which made it hard to go to the toilet but was comforting to know there was a toilet as a lot of the reviews we read stated there was not one. we got the us that left vientiane on a tuesday. we left around 5:15 (bus was due to leave at 5:30 but i guess it left early as was full) and the first stop was 9pm where you could get dinner. we then got to the border at 12.30am and the bus was turned off so it did get very very hot without the AC. at 6am they woke us up and we all got off the bus with our bags to get ready for the border crossing (which opened at 6:50). nothing is really explained but the process was pretty simple if you just follow people. as a stamp fee you had to pay (so make sure you have some cash!) we paid in kip, one of the staff gave us dong to pay the stamp worker and then we were given our change back in kip. we paid 50,000 kip each but speaking to others doing the crossing it seemed they were charged more because they didn’t have the right money. we also read reviews about the staff being rude, we did not experience this. we did witness a fair few westerners being quite rude to the staff, which was understandably met with similar behaviour. but we were friendly to the staff and they were friendly back once we crossed the border, which took around 3 hours. we drove untill 12 and then stopped an hour for lunch. after we drove a few more hours and actually arrived in hanoi a bit earlier than expected the beds had curtains and personal AC. there was a TV but i didn’t test that. there was a reading light per bed but i personally found this too bright so didn’t use it. i would definitely recommend this bus, as i said the journey was much better than i expected.

I received a text 6 hours before the bus was due to leave, saying that the departure time was now 4.30pm, not 6.30pm. I replied asking a question but no one got back to me. I then got a further message just before 4pm, asking where I was. The driver/staff were rude on arrival and wouldn’t put our luggage under the bus and insisted it when in our cabins:beds with us! Luckily the bus wasn’t full, as the one nice member of staff agreed that we could move it later. The rude member of staff also kicked my husbands foot, as he had it out in the aisle (he’s 6ft 4) to tell him he couldn’t have his foot in the aisle. We arrived at the wrong bus station at 4.30am, so 1.5 hours early, so we couldn’t check into our hotel. All in all, it was a terrible journey.

Bus was meant to show up a day earlier. 12goasia said nothing to me about it being canceled until I reached out an hour before looking for my tickets. At which point they just refunded me leaving me stranded at the bus station. I then had to try book another bus for the next day. The bus was several hours late and picked us up from a random location that I was texted to go to. However if I wasn’t with someone else who was getting the same bus it would have left without us as it didn’t even come to that location with us having to walk 20mins to a different spot. At least we made it to our destination in the end

Would give 0 stars if I could. I did not expect a very comfortable ride but this exceeded all of my expectations. The staff was extremely rude the entire time and communication was impossible due to the language barrier and them being visibly annoyed when I tried to ask them a question. I already knew that there was not gonna be much privacy due to small seats and no curtains, but I was surrounded by men only who were clearly joking around while looking at me, which made me very uncomfortable as a female traveller (not the fault of the bus company but something to consider). During stops and the border procedure (Laos-Vietnam) noone communicated with me or the other foreigners, which left us quite confused at times. The lowlight of the trip was the 9-hour delay, again, no attempts of communicating this to us were made. Instead, only us foreigners were sent out in the middle of the night to get on a van and then a bus, again, confusion. Then, at 4am (instead of 7pm) we were rushed out of the new bus. We were not at the bus station or in the general city area, but on a highway crossing with no possibility to walk somewhere and with taxis waiting asking for us asking for outrageous prices for a ride to the bus station. Once we realized this, the bus, with all of the other passengers, had already left. All in all, I can only urge you to avoid this company.

Communication is incredibly poor throughout the entire journey, from arriving at the bus station to reaching the final destination. There is no issue with not speaking English, but passengers should be informed in advance about the stops, how the immigration process works, etc. This was very bad. • The bus departed at 5:30 p.m., half an hour earlier than scheduled. • The dinner stop took place at 9:30 p.m. and lasted half an hour. • The bus arrived at the border at 1:00 a.m., turned off, and you are woken up at 6:30 a.m. to prepare for immigration. It makes no sense to sleep on the roadside while the bus is stopped. • At immigration, you must take all your belongings, including your suitcase or backpack from the luggage compartment. No one explains this properly, everyone is confused, and you have to take everything out so the bus can be inspected by customs. • Then you stop for lunch around 11:30 a.m., which is only the second stop. Bring plenty of food for the trip, if possible, so you don’t have to eat at the stops. • Finally, our stop was in Ninh Binh. The driver stopped on the highway next to the bus station; we got off onto the asphalt, and the assistant took our backpacks out and placed them on the road. Before we could pick them up, the bus had already left.

The conductor was really helpfull ! They can help you if you have some trouble to cross the gate to come back to the city

Good sleeper bus. The bus was clean, had a toilet but wifi was not working. Beds were small and quite narrow but okay. The only annoying things: people talking loud in the middle of the night over the phone and Lao Vietnam boarder crossing which takes 3 1/2 hours. However the bus was only 45 mins delayed when I arrived in Nin Binh.

The rudest staff I’ve encountered my entire time in Asia. No water provided on bus despite being told by the driver there would be. I was essentially made to feel like an inconvenience the entire trip. I’d recommend it in terms of ease however the overall experience was not pleasant.

Get scammed at the start had to pay 200.000 Dong more. And the Bus throw us outside on the highway in HCM 20KM away from the Bus station 🤮

Wrong seat and bus assignment, locals are privileged, bus staff no English speakers and rude. But we made it after 24 hours and 2 hours delay.

My bus was cancelled with little notice, I was told I would receive a refund but I haven't heard from them

Went from Vientiane to Hanoi on Tuesday. I knew what to expect but I was not actually ready for it. The beds were okay; however, I was constantly sliding down it when we’re moving because it was fully horizontal. I was placed at the end of the bus, where there was the bathroom next to me, which was loud and stinky with no toilet paper. Also, the bed itself was really hot because there was something, don’t know what, under it. I had a USB and USB C ports but the C one was not working. Between 00:00 and 7, the AC was off, which is why I’m never taking a sleeper bus again. It was MAD hot, and I was sleeping while sitting. There was no air. On the other hand, the bumpiness wasn’t bothersome and we stopped twice to eat for 30min. We were also 5h late because of a road block.

You get what you pay for. My girlfriend and I decided to take the overnight bus from Vientiane to Hanoi. We left on a Tuesday so we did have a bathroom (that was nice). With this sort of thing just be prepared to be uncomfortable. It’s not the capsule type bed so you are in front of everyone….. and sometimes you can’t even get out of your bed because there are people on the FLOOR. with all this said, I was able to get some sleep. I’m 6 foot 2 so I wasn’t able to fully stretch out but if you get the position right it can be semi manageable. Now that I’m Vietnam I’ve taken a couple of capsule buses and I definitely recommend (more privacy/amenities). I would take this bus again though if I was doing the same route because it was cheap and we got to Hanoi 1 hour earlier than expected. The VIP buses were tempting though for 10-$20 extra.

It's reclining seat but it was half full so surprisingly comfortable for the price. I am solo traveler so I didnt want to share bed with a stranger. I only met one foreignerbin the bus we both Asians. Immigrations asked cash a lot, better to prepare 50k*2. The bus arrived around 16:30.

The van to the sleeping bus wasn’t that great of an experience, the road condition in Laos was bad, would still recommend taking bus all the way from LP to Hanoi, instead of this

The porter is really helpful. They make sure that everything is in place and comfortable.

No issues with the bus and travel experience; the not so good rating is because of a scammer working behind the counter at Nuoc Ngam Bus Station in Hanoi. She tells customers that there's a "promotion" going on for an extra 200K dong, for which we can board a special "VIP" bus instead. Of course, it's nonsense and we all end up in the same bus -- both those who paid and those like me who didn't. At least one reviewer on Google maps already reported this, and this affects customers from multiple services including but not limited to 12go. She tried withholding my boarding pass when I refused to pay for her scam, saying "tickets ready later", "come at 6 pm" (my scheduled departure time), and so on, which I ignored. When I started alerting other passengers to her scam, she relented and gave me my boarding pass, which I'd seen she had already prepared before I turned down her scheme. 12go might want to add this info to the info page about what to expect at the station.

The bus was a bit old and not very comfortable but the drivers were friendly and helpful for the crossing. The roads over the border into Laos are terrible and led to significant delays which wasn't factored into the time so arrived over 3 hours later than advertised.

quite comfy, however we did arrive three hours later then expected, we did stop for lunch on the second day but that was the only proper meal we could buy so be sure to bring snacks. you were provided with blankets.