Flying

---

So today was my last day in Vietnam and the end of my time in SE Asia!



It seems to have gone by so fast only seems like yesterday when I arrived in Thailand. So many miles covered, things seen, experiences and people I have met. It's been pretty amazing and in many ways I'm sorry to say goodbye to it all. However the next chapter awaits so it's off to China I go :-)



As it was the last day it was. Kind of hang around and kill time kind of day. Up and showered, breakfast, checkout and then a bit of retail therapy with Lindsay and Melita, lunch and then a minibus ride to the airport. It's about $17 to the airport normally but as there was around 14 of us all hiking at the same time it was only $3.50 so a bit of a bargain. It turned out we were all on the same flight!



I had my usual worries about my bag being over weight, which it wasn't, that my online check in had worked, that I might have problems as I didn't have a part copy of my boarding pass etc. also I was worried going through immigration as I was travelling on the last day of my visa. My guide on Stray had said I may get charged as a friend of his had been charged by an official for leaving the country the day before her visa expired. However all was fine and no problems.



The flight was fine and when I landed I was to be met by a driver from the hotel as part of the package I had paid for. He wasn't there so I had to use the OAU phone to call the hotel. I must have looked in need of help as the security guard asked me if I needed help. I explained my situation and that my mobile phone didn't work and I had no change for the phone. Bless him he found a coin and let me call the hotel. Such a sweetie!



The minibus arrived, took me to the hotel, checked in, had dinner, a nice hot bath and a decent nights sleep in a huge comfy bed in an AC room - it's nice to have some me time :-)



Next day I was leaving for Hong Kong so I had breakfast, found out how much my hotel bill and taxi would be and popped to the ATM to get some cash. I checked out, got a cab to the airport and checked in with the usual worries, but this time I had a paper boarding pass lol. No problems at immigration but they decided my back pack was a bit suspect for some reason. I pulled to one side, bag searched, stuff taken out, rescanned and then given the green light to carry on.



I realised I didn't have enough cash to get some food so traded in some of my Indian rupees and bought a BK meal and waited to board the flight. To kill time I wandered round the airport as it's quite big compared to some airports I have been to.



The flight departure was delayed by about 20 minutes and the landing by about 10 minutes but other than that I had a smooth flight. I had to wait about 30 minutes for my bag to arrive but we had flown in an A380 which I think is a pretty big plane.



I had a hostel booked and directions and was pleased to discover that it was easy to get to the city. The sky link buses are right outside arrivals, I was the first in the queue which was a bonus. I paid my $40 and sat back until my appointed stop. It took about 40 minutes to get from the airport and the hostel was just over the road from where I got off. I checked in, found the room and my allotted bed. I dumped my stuff and went in search of a cold drink as I was gagging for a drink, then bed as I was knackered.



Xxxxxxxx

---