The afternoon bus trips to the suburbs

Those who lived in Nha Trang in the 1980s certainly cannot forget the familiar, hard-working image of the blue buses running day and night from the suburbs to Dam market. It could be the buses with the strong smell of fish from Cau Da, or the buses loaded with fruits and vegetables from Thanh, or the most romantic ones were the buses loaded with white school uniforms…

Lam cars were used in propaganda activities in the 1990s.

Nha Trang in the 1980s was still very small. The inner city at that time was almost limited to the North by Xom Bong bridge, the West by Ma Vong and the South by Nguyen Thi Minh Khai street. Back then, at around 9pm, people were afraid to go to Cau Da or Binh Tan because the Tran Phu street past the airport was dark, with dense pine forests on one side… If they were robbed, who would they call?

During the subsidy period, Nha Trang was still very poor, the main means of personal transportation was bicycles, so the lam (lam) was the main means of public transportation. My friend who lived under Cau Da Bridge had a lam (lam) car, which was a fortune at that time. His old man excitedly told me that the car cost 30 taels of gold at that time. Before the country was liberated, the money was plentiful, enough to support the whole family. After the liberation, gasoline was scarce, and a strict distribution system was implemented. Vehicles had to be in cooperatives to be eligible to buy gasoline. Although they were members of the cooperative, they still managed their own vehicles. During the time of gasoline scarcity, they still collected money every day, no matter how windy or rainy it was.

The Lam buses at that time ran on several main routes, with the central bus station located behind Dam Market, right next to Nguyen Thai Hoc Street. From here, there were routes to Binh Tan, Cau Da, Dai Han intersection outside Ba Lang. For further routes to Thanh and Vinh Luong, there were slightly larger 4-wheel Daihatsu vehicles that could go over the pass. Daihatsu was like a small cargo vehicle today, with 2 benches on both sides, and could carry about 10 people because everyone was skinny at that time.

Photo: Internet

No one can forget the cramped buses, whenever they met passengers along the way, they would raise their hands and the driver would pick them up. When there were a lot of passengers, he would smile, and people would try to squeeze in a little to help them. When there were no seats, they would stand and hang on to the back. And so they continued on. During the subsidy period, there were no spare parts so they had to be modified haphazardly, making the buses weak. It was common for overloaded buses to not be able to climb the Ha Ra bridge, at that time the driver would beg the passengers to get off so the bus could be lighter before it could get on the bridge. Or remember the buses running on the Cau Da and Binh Tan (Vinh Truong) routes, which always had a strong fishy smell. The small bus had 10 people on both sides of the bench. The middle of the bus was packed with fish crates, the roof was filled with carrying poles, buckets, etc. Just like that, the bus worked hard carrying the fish wholesalers back and forth...

I remember that day, my agency was divided into two places, one of which was outside Ba Lang. On Sundays, we often went out to Ba Lang to visit our friends. Thinking back on the journey to visit each other, I found it quite a hassle. We all had to go to Dam market, catch a bus to Dai Han intersection, get off the bus at the Bac Son street now and walk in; when we came back, we had to walk to 2-4 street to catch a bus… There was a story that made me laugh so hard. That was one afternoon, because we were so busy drinking, we all went out to the street to wait for the last bus. The last bus was crowded, so we had to stand behind the bus. My friend was drunk and ran along, clinging to the back of the bus. Maybe because he was drunk, he grabbed onto… the girl’s pants to cling to, and there was a whoosh… The girl screamed like a fire siren, the whole bus turned around, laughing loudly and scolding my friend. Both the “victim” and the “perpetrator” bowed their heads, their faces red with embarrassment. After that, every time we sat together, we brought this up as… drinking bait. Every time I tell it, I add fish sauce and chili, laughing until my eyes and nose run.

Now, wanting to go to my friend's house, I quickly ride my motorbike across Tran Phu bridge. In the strong wind blowing from the sea, I suddenly feel emotional, wondering if anyone still remembers the memories of the hard-working blue-vehicle trips that once connected the distant suburbs.

MERCURY

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