Journey to Vietnam: December 3 and 4

---

Today we set out to travel southeast Asia. We have a long joureny ahead of us with airplane flights, three planes, two layovers, and losing an entire day. We started out day at the Calgray airport, really early in the morning. Darren is off to a good start when he forgets the camera case in the car and has to go back to grab it. At least he remembered at the airport.



We had breakfast at the airport which consisted of celebratory mamosas and ceasars.



We then catch our flight to Vancouver. While in Vancouver, we try to walk around as much as possible, since we are about to embark on a long, long flight. We were surprised with the little amount of security that we had to go through for these flights. At the Vancouver airport, they had a huge salt water fish tank full of anenames, fish and kelp. We looked into this tank for probably half an hour. We are such dorks.



The flight to Seoul, South Korea was long. We should have said good bye to being the majority while in Vancouver. We are seriously outnumbered. Oddly, we get seated beside one of the only other white person on the airplane - Toddic. He is from the Yukon and travels a lot. He's on his way to the Phillipines to meet up with his dad.



We try to sleep on the plane, but were unsuccessful. Instead, we watched movies and played games until our screens broke down. After this point, we chatted with Toddic.



We part ways with Toddic in Seoul. We catch a subway from this terminal to the other terminal. I am starting to get exhausted and have a hard time even walking around, but we force ourselves to do it. We happened to see a little parade which seemed to be promoting Korea culture. We visited the South Korea cultural centre which was filled with little knick knacks. I also found some food since the food on the airplanes is aweful. Darren and I received special ordered food on the airplane because when I booked the flight, it looked like I was suppose to choose a meal. I picked vegetarian and kosher. Both were gross. My sandwich came as a whole wheat sandwich with lettuce, tomato and cucumber...that was it.



As we walked through the airport, we dodged the countless number of Asian people. This is probably a snapshot into our lives for the next two and a half months.



I tried to stay awake, but I couldn't. I feel asleep on the benches. We then head over to our next flight on Asiana Airlines. Our final flight is only about 5 hours long and then we will be in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.



I sleep most of this flight, I'm not sure this is a good thing or not since it is the middle of the day here. The flight stewardesses are so cute and proper. I admit, they all look the same to me.



Finally, we land at our final destination in Ho Chi Minh. There were probably 3 other foreigners on this flight. It is near 11pm here and 28 degrees outside. We go through customes, again super easy.



After collecting our luggage, we head outside and look for our names on a sign. We have a pickup arranged through our hostel. I read that we have to be careful with taxis here. Always get the name of the taxi driver and don't share a taxi with a stranger. I felt very safe when we got our taxi driver. I learned how to say hi (Sin Cho) and thank you (Camon). As we drive to the hostel, we take in new scenery. There are a lot of scooters here. People do everything on scooters here: smoke, talk on their cell phone, transport 3 adults, transport their kids without helmets. Scooters are on the street, on the sidewalks, parked inside the buildings. The street lights don't seem to provide much structure as people just slow down for intersections and then continue if no one is coming.



As we approach our hostel, we start to see some more white faces. We know we are coming to our destination as I read that the backpackers flock to this area of the city. Outside pubs are everywhere along the streets and our hostel is down what seems to be a backalley. We stay at Giang Son 3 for the next few days. Check in was easy. It is late here, but around 11 am back home.



We take a shower in our tiled bathroom which has the sink, toilet and shower all as one open room. It's a little different than what we see at home. Now it is time to get onto Vietnemese time. Good night.

---