Day Fourteen: Return to Vietnam

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Even though the previous day was dreary and rainy, our last day in Thailand dawned sunny and warm. After checking out of our hotel we made our way to the Grand Palace and the Golden Buddha, our last two stops before the airport.

The Grand Palace was beautiful, with various buildings covered in gold or other gems. “Modest dress” was required, which meant no short sleeved or sleeveless tops for women, no skirts above the knee, and no shorts for anyone. As might be imagined, we were all a bit overheated as we walked through and admired the Palace craftsmanship. Thu and I each packed cardigans “just in case” and that turned out to be a good move – we were able to see the site as long as we wore our sweaters in the sweltering Thailand heat.

The Golden Buddha was impressive and housed in a temple made of gold and white marble so that it glistened in the sun and seemed to float in the sky. Our guide said that the temple was new, built about three years ago, using donations from visitors.

After the Golden Buddha, we headed to the airport. According to the guide, there was not enough time to stop for lunch, so he passed out McDonald’s hamburgers to everyone. That explained why he had been carrying a McDonald’s bag for the past four hours. Apparently someone never had a food safety course. Micah ate the burgers marked for me and Matthew (I think), since the idea of eating that was not really appealing. I was fairly sure we could find something in the airport if we were hungry.

As it turns out, we did find something in the airport – in the business class lounge! When we checked in, for whatever reason, we were given complimentary upgrades! At first just two of us received that, but when we checked bags they upgraded all four of us. Amazing! I love Turkish Airlines! (Seriously. Not just for this reason – their economy class on the way over was more spacious than other airlines.) These tickets meant that we could use the lounge, which was lovely. We had plenty to eat and drink and clean bathrooms to use and a quiet place to sit. I could definitely get used to that. All my life I’ve wanted to fly business class to see what it was like. Matthew’s been upgraded before, but usually just on Horizon flights (which isn’t the same because they’re little hoppers), and Thu purchased an upgrade once on a domestic flight, but Micah and I have never experienced that, and certainly no one in our group has experienced business class on an international flight. We knew that the flight from Thailand to Vietnam was under 90 minutes, but that did not stop us from enjoying every minute of it.

Upon landing in Vietnam, we proceeded to find a taxi. One day, I’ll be able to speak Vietnamese and work things out for myself. For now, we rely on Thu – and she is very good at getting what she wants. The taxi drivers, I am sure, thought that we were suckers. It was clear that we don’t live in Vietnam, and I assume that they thought we’d just blindly go with whatever they told us, so they tried to rip us off. We’ve made the trip between Dong Nai and Saigon multiple times, especially this trip, so we know exactly how much it should cost: 1.2 million dong for a good sized vehicle (Toyota minivan or larger). Instead, they tried to get 1.6 million and put us in a decrepit, tiny vehicle. After a bit of arguing, we got what we wanted for a price we were willing to pay and we headed back to Ba Noi’s.

For our last night in Vietnam we stayed at grandma’s house. We didn’t get much sleep because we were up until about midnight packing and repacking, trying to make everything fit in the suitcases and make sure that each piece of luggage was under the weight limit (we were very close with two suitcases). It’s always a lot of work to fly anywhere!

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