Early start today, after Carol brought us up to Sydney\nAirport Ridges last night \u2013 Thanks Carol. The hotel was a strenuous 50m walk\nfrom the International Departures at the airport, so we were there bright and\nearly \u2013 around 5am. We were checked in quite quickly and equally quickly\nthrough emigration and security. As always I was stopped for an explosives\nswab, while dad had the full x-ray treatment. We both passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plane was delayed getting away from Sydney by about an\nhour. It seems somebody forgot to get the plane out of the garage, but once\nunderway the speedy pilot caught up the lost time. Several meals and a few\nmovies later we were in Hong Kong \u2013 with no riots at the airport thankfully. We\njumped on to Wi-Fi to check the AFL grand final score (GWS annihilated by\nRichmond) then headed across the tarmac by shuttle bus to Gate 509 to wait for\nour Hanoi flight.\n\nIn Hanoi we picked up our pre-organised visa and\nwere quickly out of the airport. Let the fun begin. We found the bloke with his\n\u2018Intrepid Travel \u2013 Kevin Hunter\u2019 sign, who promptly disappeared, presumably to\nget his car? A few minutes later a car arrived, we were ushered in and away we\nwent. Leaving the car park, the guide wanted payment for the car park, but at\nthis stage we had no Vietnamese Dong. No problem \u2013 they took us to an ATM where\nI withdrew 1,000,000 Dong with the smallest notes dispensed being VD500,000 \u2013 a\nbit difficult for the driver to change. A few minutes later the guide had a\nphone call. His customer was still waiting at the airport. He asked us if we\nwere Mr [insert random Asian name here]. No! We had managed to get in the wrong\ncar. A minute later we were back at the airport searching for our driver.\nEventually all was solved and we were on our way \u2013 through chaotic, horns\nblaring traffic. We never did pay that car park fee. Whole families on mopeds,\ncars weaving this way and that, lane markings mere suggestions and traffic\nlights apparently semi-optional to obey. Somehow we made it safely to our\nhotel, the Hong Ngoc Cochinchine, check in and up to our room to get organised.\nA 21 hour day. Time for bed.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Early start today, after Carol brought us up to Sydney Airport Ridges last night \u2013 Thanks Carol. The hotel was a strenuous 50m walk from the International Departures at the airport, so we were there bright and early \u2013 around 5am. We were checked in quite quickly and equally quickly through emigration and security. As … Continue reading Day 0 – Saturday September 28, 2019<\/span>