Farewell Saigon, Hello Hanoi

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We had a bit of a sleep in this morning till about 7:30/8 and then went downstairs for the super huge buffet breakfast, which was an amazing assortment of anything you might possibly want for breakfast.

We then caught the hotel bus (which comes every hour or so) into the main part of the city near the opera house. As the bus was packed, we had to sit in the front seat next to the driver, that was not great as I got a close up view of the mayhem. We saw a couple of accidents on the way but only minor bingles. I honestly don’t know how they don’t have more accidents, nothing I can say can possibly describe the craziness of their roads.

Brad and I have become quite confident at crossing the roads, we realise this when other westeners get off the bus and stick with us because they are too scared to cross. That’s not to say that we haven’t had our moments. Brad always makes me stand on the side away from the traffic so that if anything goes wrong he gets hit first and no amount of arguing will change his mind on that. He’s always been old school like that, even back in Australia he always walks on the side closest to the road. Chivalry is definitely not dead.

We’ve seen our share of interesting sites in Saigon but it still freaks me out every time I see a family of 4 or more, all on one motorbike with at least 2 little babies. Today we saw a baby of about 6 months being carried under a guy’s arm (like it was a football).Makes me so uneasy!

We went back to the hotel about lunch time, made sure our bags were packed and then went to the pool for a drink. I got another free cocktail and Brad had a beer. We got chatting to another Aussie couple who happen to live at Kelvin Grove. Then we said our goodbyes and went to check out and wait for our car to take us to the airport. Our car was delayed but luckily we had already received a notification from Jetstar Pacific that our flight was going to be delayed by an hour.

Our trip to the airport was great (though it took an hour) in a lovely black bmw.

Our driver and the porter from the hotel who accompanied us told us lots of stories and asked us questions about Australia. When we got to the airport and found the Jetstar Pcific check in area, it was complete chaos. They were sooo disorganized and all of their processes (or should I say lack thereof) were indicative of why their flights are always late. Everyone in Vietnam that we told who we were flying with wished us luck. All had had delayed flights, one guy had his luggage lost and I can see why., like their roads, there is absolutely NO order to any of it. After maneuvering our way through that chaos, we then had to go through security, another example of disorganized chaos. I would suggest that if you are travelling through Ho Chi Minh airport, allow an hour more than you think you need and if you get through it with enough time to spare, stop at the restaurant near Gate 2 and get yourself some noodles, they were delicious and it only cost us about $8AUD for 2 noodle dishes and 2 drinks (including a beer)-very cheap considering it's an airport, you can barely even get a drink at our airports for that.

If we thought the chaos at the counter was bad, it had nothing on the boarding of the plane. They got us all off the bus that takes us to the plane but the plane wasn’t ready so we all stood on the tarmac waiting for ages, then they would only let us board through the front but when the second bus arrived they were boarding them from the back (but none of it was based on what row you were in) so people were trying to get around each other in the aisles. Then there was the issue that the seat numbers are not written in Vietnamese so there was a whole lot of people who looked like farmers and they were sitting wherever they liked, causing fights. I had to kick 2 women out of my seat (nicely of course) but some other people were having a yelling match over a seat. It was crazy. In fact that sort of behaviour would have had them kicked off the plane in Australia. Brad decided to make it go quicker by drinking Sapporo’s but he wasn’t too thrilled that they weren’t cold and they gave him a cup with ice to drink it.

We finally arrived in one piece and we must both admit that when we heard the pilot or co-pilot speak and they were Aussie, we were quietly received. Our baggage also made it in one piece.

Our driver was waiting for us and we started the drive through Hanoi, it seemed so organised and nice compared to the other cities we had been in. Unfortunately along the way we drive past an accident and saw a taxi who had ploughed into the back of a cement truck and from the damage to the car, i would be surprised if the driver survived that. It was quite horrific to see. As we got closer to the city, the chaos of the other cities returned but not to the same level. Eventually we pulled up to this dodgy looking little street and a porter greeted us, our hotel was down a little alley way type of street. We are staying in the Old Quarter or the French Quarter as it is also known and stayed here on recommendations from Trip advisor and people we know, however at this point I was wondering if I had made the right decision. We followed the porter to the hotel and were welcomed by this adorable young girl who checked us in and explained everything we needed to know, they then gave us a cup of tea and showed us to our room. Our Hotel is called Le Beaute Hotel De Hanoi and the reviews from Trip Advisor were right, it is lovely; our room is clean and tidy and gorgeous.

We then went for a walk through the streets of the old quarter to try to get some food as we hadn't had dinner, the streets were very busy, people everywhere and more and more markets all over the place. We found a lady on the side of the street selling some kebab type things and an Aussie guy was buying from her, as we tried to decide whether to risk it or not, he said he'd bought from her earlier and it was good so decided to go for it. He was right, it was delicious.

After some more shopping we went back to the hotel and went to bed. We both slept so well, the bed was really comfy.(The pictures attached are our hotel room).

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