Departure from Railay

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Breakfast was at 9 AM and we said farewell to our friends from Manchester, England who were headed to Phi Phi and then on to Malaysia and Indonesia on their honeymoon. We caught our longtail at 9:30 AM whicch met a taxi at Ao Nang to take us to the airport. The 12:05 PM flight was uneventful, and on time, which got us to Bangkok at 2:15 PM. We picked up ouir baggage and then checked it in immediately for the 3:55 PM flight to Saigon. We had just enough time for lunch...spagetti and mangoes and sticky rice, what a combination.

I was a bit concerned whether the advance approval letter we obtained from Vietnam-visa would work, but the Air Asia agent told us that many passengers used this document to get a visa when they arrived in Vietnam. This was confirmed upon our arrival. We went to the window where they give visas upon arrival in Saigon, paid our $25 per visa, and were in the country, just like that. I had to go to five ATM's before one gave me cash. I wanted about $100 and that worked out to 1,800,000 dong. For some reason, I could only withdraw 1,000,000 dong, which made me an instant millionaire. Next we had to confront the fake taxi crowd. Our travel agent told us not to pay more than 100,000 dong for the ride to our hotel, and to only take an official taxi, which we did. However, after we drove off, the driver attempted to negotiate the fare at 200,000 claiming various other expenses. I told him to tak us back. However, he finally honored his commitment to take us for 100,000. The Vietnamese tourism authorities should do something about the hassles that tourists have to go through to catch a cab. In Bangkok, all cabs use meters, and don't argue about it.

Anyway, we got to our hotel about 7 PM and contacted my three Dalat School classmates with whom we would share the time in Vietnam. We ate at a pho restaurant, and enjoyed getting to know each other again after 40 years away. We turned in abot 10 PM, as we had an early start the next morning when we planned to attend a Vietnamese church.

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