Farewell Vietnam....

Todays blog is not going to be an overly exciting one as we got up early to get to the airport as we are now heading for the Thailand leg of our adventure and just quietly.....we can't wait. We had a free banana for breakfast then check in was a breeze. Alvo's brilliant idea of downloading Winners and Losers and a few episodes of Masterchef made the 2 hour flight an absolute sinch. We thought of walking around when we arrived at Ho Chi Minh airport but after getting here decided that the cafe/restaurant with 2 for 1 hotpot, buy 1 get 1 free wine and free wi-fi was a better deal so we have sat here since about 11am and will board for Bangkok around 5.30pm. We have downloaded more episodes of Masterchef for the trip and will think of more shows to download just in case we get an event like last night where we have no English speaking channels in our hotel room although the exercise program was quite good. There seems to be a few more English speaking people at the International terminal which is a bit of a relief, Alvo has even managed to get onto a computer and print out our boarding passes even though the man at the Air Asia counter told us that there was nowhere in the airport to do it. We seem to be one step ahead now instead of 10 steps behind and are feeling good about the next couple of flights. The hotpots we have eaten were ok and the wine was average but the waiters on rollerskates make the experience fun....Ma, you would think it was very cool as I remember your dream of a little cafe with waitresses on rollerskates and ice cream sundae glasses xx. We are charging up all our technology here too so we are full steam ahead when we arrive in Thailand and aren't trying to find a hotel with no battery on our phones or tablet. Sitting on the 3rd floor watching the chaos of visitors below is the best place we could be right now....as I say "everything has an expiry date" and our visit to Vietnam has reached that point. I phoned Ma today which was great, it is nice to hear a familiar voice from home and am happy to hear that she and Gran have a morning ritual of giggling together while reading the blog over breakfast. Alvo also got to talk to her girls as well which she was happy about. We will be posting a "special edition" blog regarding the things we have learned about Vietnam which could possibly help any friends that may wish to make this country their holiday destination so stay tuned. It was pouring when we boarded and the flight had a few bumps due to the rain but the time passed quickly due to our Masterchef episodes. When food was being served the cabin filled with the delicious aroma of Thai food and I felt more excited to get there. Getting through the airport was easy and we were approached by a beautiful lady/man/lady.....lets call him a lady who offered us information regarding a hotel. Talking to the people at the info desk was a breath of fresh air, their smiling faces and beautiful manner makes being in a foreign country so much easier. We were told of a hotel nearby that we knew we would be paying for the convenience of and decided to take up the offer, it includes taxi transfers so it makes it easy. We chatted about food and haircuts and one of the men there suggested that I look like his twin daughters and was showing me photos and grinning at me. On arriving at the hotel (which isn't flash) we were given water, wi-fi passwords and asked if we would like food. The owner only cooks fried rice so fried rice it is. That would not be our first choice of food in Thailand but all in all it was nice. Time to have showers and a rest......tomorrow we fly to Chiang Mai. Tanya xxx.