Ahoy Hanoi: In Taking the Public Bus to the Old Quarter

Taking the public bus that goes around Hanoi is fun! It's comfortable, it's quite cheap, it's convenient, and it's really easy.. well, after your fourth or fifth time. Haha! I take the bus from where I stay to the Old Quarter (almost) all the time.

Basically, all you have to know before are the following:

1. Know the nearest bus stop from where you are staying. Then, name it your "home bus stop". There, you'll see what bus numbers make a stop in your home bus stop. In my case, from my house, the nearest bus stop is just a hundred meters away so I walk to it every time; and the bus numbers that make stops in it are bus numbers 33 and 50.
2. Figure out which bus number in your home bus stop has a route to another bus stop in the city which you can make transit in to bus number 9. You can Google this one. Bus number 9 is the one that goes directly to and has its terminal stop at Hoan Kiem Lake. That's where you want to go if you want to go to the Old Quarter, and easily remember how you did it. In my case, I can either ride bus number 33 or bus number 50, then go down after I pass three bus stops from my home bus stop. From there, I transfer to bus number 9 and I'm nineteen bus stops away from Hoan Kiem Lake. I measure the distance by just counting the number of bus stops I need to pass by from where I got in to where I'm going because it's so much easier than remembering the name of the particular bus stop. It's hard enough to figure out where to go, what more to actually read tiếng Việt.

Now, when everything that's needed to know is known, all you have to do is this:

1. Go to your home bus stop.
2. Ride the bus that will get you to the bus stop where bus number 9 makes a stop.
3. Go down at that bus stop.
4. Ride the bus number 9.
5. Wait.. and enjoy the ride until you get to Hoan Kiem Lake.
Reminder: The route of bus number 9 will pass by another lake before reaching the Hoan Kiem Lake so remember not to go down at the first lake that you'll see during the ride because it's not the lake yet.
6. Go down at Hoan Kiem Lake.

And that's it! You're in Hoan Kiem Lake, and you're just a short walk away from the bustling Old Quarter of Hanoi. Job well done!

The bus fare is the same for almost all the buses, regardless of how far the distance that you will take. It's ₫7,000 VND, that's the minimum fare. Only a few bus numbers in the city collect a fare that is a bit higher, only those that go to the suburbs. You can always check the fare upon entering the bus anyway. It's usually displayed on the door and windows.

Be willing to give up your seat to the elderly or pregnant women as soon as you see them go up the bus, too. Bus passengers here do it almost instinctively and immediately, and I think it's good and just right. It is the norm here, take note. But if you don't want to do it (for whatever personal reason), I suggest you find a seat at the back of the bus so the "pressure" on you is not that much. Unless, a pack of senior citizens suddenly suddenly gets in the bus, then you basically have not that much choice. So, just go get your ass off the seat and suck it!

Getting back to your place from the Old Quarter is another story, I guess. You can try to figure it out on your own.