A troubled return to Sai Gon

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We were up bright and early this morning to get ourselves to the airport with plenty of time to check in for our flight to Rach Gia on the mainland. Our plan was to go from Rach Gia to Ha Tien border crossing into Cambodian and then on to Sihanoukville and then Phnom Penh. We had planned everything last night and were happy with it. Thats until Vietnam Airlines got involved.

We got to the airport at 8am for our flight at 9am, the reccommended hour before for check in. We were a bit bemused by the fact that the Rach Gia flight had no check in counter so we went to the help desk to be told, " Oh, we never fly to Rach Gia on Sundays." - What!?! I had bought a ticket a few days before for this very flight, stressing about the fact that it was a sunday and that we had to fly today. We were already behind on time and couldn't afford financially or time wise to waste another day. The clerk at the desk was apologetic, eventually and stated that I had to go to the main office in town to sort it out.

Leaving Rachael I stormed across to the main office to find it closed! Luckily I met a Vietnam Airlines worker as I was storming back to the airport who said she was on her way to open up. "Good" I thought, I can sort this quickly. After being told that the airline had sold us tickets for a flight that didn't exist I couldn't help but see the funny side- should this happen.....really? Anyway the clerk said she could sort us tickets to Sai Gon that day but I would have to pay the difference......Lets just say we didn't pay the extra!

We boarded our flight to Sai Gon at 1050 (2 people didn't turn up so we were moved earlier) and although seated seperately were glad to be on our way. We checked into our regular guesthouse "Bettys' when we arrived and were greeted with open arms. A friendly atmosphere was what we needed.

After some strolling around Sai Gon we booked our tickets to Phnom Penh, direct, via one of the reputable tour agencies Sinh Cafe. Although reputable and only supposed to take 6 or 7 hours i'm sure it will take longer but atleast we know for sure we are on our way to Cambodia.

So here I am typing this entry content in the fact that Vietnam Airlines will be receiving a nice long complaints letter and that they have lost any future business from myself. I would say it has been a wasted day but coming back to Sai Gon feels like returning to somewhere familier, somewhere friendly and its good to know tomorrow we will starting a new adventure!

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Comments

[R's Mum]

Sounds like you're lucky with Betty's guest house. It must be good to see friendly faces in a strange place. Hope future travel arrangements prove more reliable. Look forward to next entries. Makes interesting reading. Daniel started school today also Katie at nursery school. Both loved it.

[Dom Rach]

Reply
Thankyou for all the comments, glad you are enjoying the blog! Have qute a good tan now but ot sure how long it will last because its not so sunny on mainland, still very hot but cloudy. Can not inagine Daniel at school!!!