Nation hits the road for national holidays

Nguyen Thi Huyen Trang of HCM City’s District 4 had to stand two hours in the queue this week to buy a bus ticket for April 29 to Bao Loc Town in Lam Dong Province.
She said she was going to her hometown to visit her parents during the long holiday starting on April 30, the Liberation Day.
With all public and private offices closed for four days, she was afraid bus tickets would not be available and so bought well in advance.
Phuong Trang Transport Company, one of the major operators on this route, has no tickets left for April 30.
It has also run out of seats on the HCM City-Gia Lai Province, HCM City-Buon Ma Thuot routes.
Thuong Thanh Hai, deputy head of HCM City’s Eastern Bus Terminal, said the number of passengers travelling during the holiday was likely to be 100 per cent higher than on normal days.
The highest demand is for seats to Khanh Hoa and Dak Lak provinces and Vung Tau, Da Lat and Phan Thiet.
A representative of the Western Bus Terminal said that the number of passengers going to the Cuu Long (Mekong) River Delta was likely to rise by nearly 15 per cent over the last year.
Flights and trains are also fully booked though services have been increased for a few days before and after the holidays.
Nguyen Dieu Huong, a Viet Nam Airlines ticketing agent, said tickets of all routes were sold out a month ago though the carrier had scheduled extra flights.
Only tickets between Ha Noi and HCM City would be available on April 28 and 29, she said.
Phung Thi Ly Ha, deputy head of the Ha Noi Railway Station, said more trains would be operated to Vinh in Nghe An Province, Dong Hoi in Quang Binh Province, Lao Cai Province, and Da Nang but tickets had all been sold out.
The station had been able to meet only 30 per cent of the demand, she admitted.