Kim's update

Oh well 5 days in and here's my take on things so far. As Tony said we had a lovely time in duty free before we even left the country. So now busily trying to drink 3 bottles  of alcohol in 2 weeks before we fly out of Vietnam. We are going on a cruise once we arrive in Tokyo and you are only allowed 750ml of wine each, not the Whisky and Gin we have 😁 Oh well its a tough task but we will give it a go!!! We had our name down to buy 2 extra seats each for the flight to Ho Chi Minh, it's a promo Air Asia does and of course relies on Air Asia not selling out their flights, so you don't find out until you book in. With anticipation we asked at the counter as we checked in and was told, the plane takes 375 people and they had 373 tickets sold, so no extra seats for us 😁

For me the flight was pretty good I had the window seat and we had booked seats where you get more leg room and no one in front of you.

It was great to touch down in Ho Chi Minh and got through customs in about 15 minutes, happy days. Stepping outside and those familiar smells were bliss. Off we walked to the domestic airport, we had decided not to hang around in Ho Chi Minh and head straight for Da Lat. With now a 6 hour wait in the airport due to our perceived 2 hour extra delay, a nice cold beer or 4 was looking good!!! As you know that all turned to crap and now 24 hours after leaving Tas, I'm sitting outside the airport in the sweltering heat, fuming, finding accommodation in Ho Chi Minh because we had the stuff up with our flight to Da Lat and have to wait another 24 hours. Using my favourite Vietnamese phrase Ôi chúa ơi, OMG with a "f" in there too I was not in the best spirits.😁😁 We made it to our hotel and had a quick wander around to find something to eat, a bloody à la carte restaurant at $75 which is REALLY expensive in Vietnam but we were tired and couldn't be bothered. Poor Tony order a King Prawn, notice the "A" one bloody prawn, not that big, so luckily his darling wife was happy to share her noodles. We made it back to our room and was even too tired to make a start on our Whisky, straight to bed for us!!!! The next day was a new day and off we went exploring. Probably the highlight of the day was Tony having his first Asian massage. I chose a foot massage and Tony who had a sore back opted for the back and shoulders. Being the masseur  connoisseur that I am, I was teasing him saying, if they ask you for a happy ending say no!!!  We followed a staff member up the stairs and they directed us into a locker room to put our bags in a locker and handed Tony some shorts and top like pjs, by this time Tony is getting a little nervous and has to change into them while all these other blokes are either redressing or undressing and I'm standing there saying it will be ok. Off we go to separate rooms and I'm chuckling away to myself. I couldn't wait to finish my foot massage to see how Tone survived, he did and may even consider another one 😜

Off to the airport we go again and another delay, Ôi chúa ơi !!!!!! Oh well more Saigon Special beers. I'm busily emailing our accommodation to say I don't reckon we will be there until around 10.00pm, mmmmmm 11.30pm we get there after a 1.5hr taxi drive that was supposed to be 35kms from the airport. I hate to say this but Ôi chúa ơi what a bad driver this women was, all over the road and of course lost!!!! We were on these back dark roads and Tony is saying she is going to take us to a shed full of thugs and that will be the end of us!!!! When we finally arrived we refused to pay her all of the money saying with the help of Mr Trung from our accommodation  translating, that it was her fault the fare was that much because she got us lost, she reckoned she wasn't lost at all, Ôi chúa ơi!!!! I started taking pictures of her number plate and taxi licence sticker saying I was going to complain and then walked away giving her the finger!!!! What a bloody day. I said to Tony we will probably be black banned now, the word will be around and no taxi driver will pick us up. Thankfully that wasn't the case but we were certainly wary of getting in a little green hatch back taxi thinking it might be her!!! I feel a bit sad we didn't do much in Da Lat but it was cold and dreary and thank god I brought my "puffer jacket" and a pair of socks.

Our next stop was Nha Trang via a bus and I was a tad nervous as I had read the bus trip through windy roads with drivers who could not drive could be harrowing at the least but oh well we have survived some pretty bad bus trips before. We started the trip and every-time the bus driver put on the brakes I could hear the brakes make a funny noise Ôi chúa ơi again 😄. We had one near miss but luckily the road was wide enough for three buses side by side...just.

Anyway we arrived in Nha Trang after about 4 hrs on a cramped bus to a blissful 27 degrees, yayy. Our accom was great with sea views, cable tv and action everywhere. For the next day we decided on a mountain bike tour of some villages, rice fields and the odd temple. 35kms with 33 degree heat at about 80% humidity made it hard work but it was great. It was overcast but we both got burnt even though we had sunscreen on. We were the only two on the tour as our guide explained to us Nha Trang is full of Chinese and Russians and they are not fit enough to even consider a bike ride!!!  Good for us 😄 Our guide tells us you can do a Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi mountain bike ride for 28 days, worth considering 😄. One of the highlights for me was riding through the city navigating the traffic on a push bikes, going through roundabouts, dodging cars and buses. Gives me more confidence if I was to hire a motorbike. Our guide took a heap of pics but hasn't emailed them yet, so watch this space. Tomorrow we are off snorkelling and then late train out of Nha Trang at 9.30pm to Hoi Ann, life is great 😄

Sagas abound

Sometimes it seems like the cards are stacked against you. After being told our flight was late from Saigon, only later to find that it wasn’t late at all, and missing our flight, we had another attempt the next day. This time the flight was delayed for a couple of hours. Nothing was updated on the board of flight details.

We boarded our very short flight and landed about an hour later in Da Lat. Because of the altitude Da Lat is considerably colder than Saigon. It almost felt as cold as home did when we left. The airport did not have a counter that issued taxi vouchers as many do, to save tourists from being ripped off, so we had to run the gauntlet of taxi drivers outside the airport. We eventually got in a taxi with a lady driving and she took us into the city, then keep going, into some dark roads in the country. I said to Kim “I think she is lost”. Luckily I had bought a SIM card and using Google translate in speaker mode, I got my phone to ask “Are you lost?” in Vietnamese. I didn’t get any reaction except an uncomfortable laugh. Eventually the taxi driver stopped and asked for directions.

We could be forgiven for feeling slightly hot under the collar. After more driving around we got to a T intersection and stopped. Kim angrily demanded that she ring the hotel and ask them. By now the taxi was approaching 1/2 a million Dong, but we were told it should only be 360,000 at the airport. It is easy to think that these sorts of events are not accidental. I am pretty jaded about taxi drivers overseas and some Vietnamese taxi drivers have form for charging “what the market will bear”.

Eventually we arrived at almost midnight. We were met at the gate by a nice bloke, he introduced himself as “Mitter Trung”. Where we stayed was a like a Swiss village in the mountains. The resort had only been open for a few weeks. The main restaurant was unfinished. We had a whole house to ourselves, for about 70 bucks per night.

An old lady selling vegetables at the market in Da Lat

In Dal Lat we just went into the city and had lunch. We needed to relax after the travelling and the sagas that we had experienced. We visited the local market, had coffees and beers and just watched the world go by. After two nights we caught a bus to Nah Trang.

Sadly the bus was full of noisy British tourists. Two women in front of us had their seats so far back that it was difficult to even get into our seats. I put my seat back and it caused the bloke behind me to have to sit sideways in his seat. One girl demanded to be let off the bus, just half an hour after leaving, so she could go to the toilet. The bus driver to his credit would not let her. The great thing was is that she had to shut up, to help her concentrate on controlling her bladder. After another hour she got up again and begged to be let off. To my amusement she was again refused. They were those facile, self-absorbed, loud types of tourists that have no interest in anyone but themselves. When the bus did stop, as scheduled, and all the Poms got back on, the Pom behind me asked me nicely if I could put my seat up a bit. I politely told him the I was unable to because the seat in front was too close. Happy days :) Are Poms the new Yanks?

Now we are in Nah Trang, a tourist city on the coast, with a reputation for having lots of Russian and Chinese tourists. 

Getting there

Huy, Tony and Kim at Saigon Airport, working on our language skills

We left a wet, dreary Burnie to go to an even drearier Devonport to catch our plane. We knew we had to leave by 4:00 at the latest and were pretty busy with last minute preparations, and drove out the driveway at exactly 4:00 pm. There was plenty of traffic around and we were pushed for time. However, I have this travel app on my phone called TripIt, and it was telling us our flight had been delayed by half an hour, so we just cruised to Devonport, looking at some just flooding starting to happen along the way. July is the coldest month in the Tasmanian winter. It feels like a good time to get away. 

The flight to Melbourne was a bit bumpy. We got into Melbourne and had to wait a few hours for our next flight to Kuala Lumpur (KL). We stocked up on some duty free whisky and rum, with 20% off if you bought two or more bottles. Cheapest bottle of Johnny Walker Blue I ever bought. I also had Nandos for the first time, chilli chicken with hummus and salad - tasty and fairly healthy I guess.

The flight to Malaysia went for 8 hours and I had a bloke that reminded me of a Sumo wrestler sitting next to me. He started coughing and doing some weird stretches with his neck. Worst of all he hogged the armrest. I was in the middle seat. I hate that. Anyway, I was all kitted up for the flight, with ear plugs in, noise cancelling headphones, eye shades and a "neck collar" which are a million times better than those neck pillows. I felt like I didn't get that much sleep, but I guess I did because it really only felt like a four hour flight. Having done a few 17 hour flights, it was pretty good really. The best thing was the food, a spicy Malaysian curry with dried anchovies and peanuts. They are not afraid of chilli like many Westerners seem to be.

At KL we had Maccas for breakfast. Sadly no egg and bacon McMuffin, but we had the double chicken sausage McMuffin instead, which was a little disappointing. We followed that with a triple shot latte, and I began to feel alive again. We then made our way to the travel gate and there was no one there, but we sat inside and started charging our phones. The news of the British referendum was starting to filter through and I was watching the Australian stock market tumble. I felt pretty pleased that I had sold all my shares in April.

Our next flight took us to Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon). We got another notification from TripIt that our flight had been delayed, so we sat back and enjoyed a beer in the heat and humidity of Vietnam. I bought a SIM card for the phone, 10 Gig of data for just $12 AU. The smells that we could remember started wafting into our nostrils and with that the memories of previous holidays that we had here.

We met a Vietnamese man while we were having the beers. He was practicing his English with us and we were trying to remember some of our scant Vietnamese. With the help of Google Translate, and a pen and paper for drawing things, we could have a pretty good conversation. Interestingly, another friend from Australia (originally from Burnie) was messaging me at the time in Vietnamese, while using Babelfish. We also met two really nice Australians there. I normally avoid Aussies while travelling, as they sometimes come across as the "new Yanks", but not these two. They had been to many of the places we had, so we had some common ground. They had just bought a unit in Woolongong for half a million dollars and borrowed almost all of that. Good on them :)

When it came time to check in we found out that our flight was already boarding and we were too late. I showed them the TripIt email saying the flight time was still almost two hours away, and all they could say is sorry. I am now taking this up with TripIt. Not happy, but you can only move forward. I was angry but determined not to let myself get caught up in it.

We rescheduled the flight for an extra fifty bucks and now fly out of Ho Chi Minh to Da Lat tonight instead, at 7:00 pm. We checked in to a pretty good hotel in the city and finally got some sleep while watching the BBC news on the Brexit results.

So for the rest of the day, we will hang out in Ho Chi Minh city. Maybe I'll buy a couple of T shirts and eat some more noodles.