Travelling Home ~ Day Ten ~ Vietnam July 2019
 

Index

The alarm woke us around 6:50am. I had slept badly that night, as I was a little upset about going home and leaving Ian. I slept well as it was my last night on the big, comfy bed. That hotel bed really was comfortable. Rob also slept well, but that’s not surprising. We’d already packed up the night before and left clothes out for the day so we quickly washed and changed before heading down for a quick breakfast. I only took one photo of breakfast, of my cakes and spreads (of course including peanut butter). I didn’t take many photos throughout the day, as we were only travelling home, but I’ll insert the ones I do have.

We all had a quick breakfast, as we needed to catch a Grab to the airport soon. After breakfast, we checked out and paid the final bill at the hotel before ordering our Grab at around 7:30am. Here’s a photo of reception I took while Mum checked out.

The journey to the airport didn’t take long (neither of us can remember it so it must have been uneventful) and we checked in quickly.
We boarded the plane on time, however, there was a huge queue on the runway, which meant that we couldn’t take off on time. We were really worried, as we thought this meant we were going to miss our connection in Bangkok, as we only had an hour between the two flights. We took off an hour later than we were supposed to because of the ‘plane traffic’. I took photos out of the window as we took off.

Although the flight from Ho Chi Minh only lasted an hour, we were brought a meal. None of us ate the main course which was salmon and rice but I ate the cake and Mum took hers with us (which I ate on the next flight). It was a really nice cake.


We were so worried about making our connecting flight that we basically ran through Bangkok airport this time. I remember running after security, trying to put my shoes back on at the same time. Rob couldn’t really run, as his knee was still bad so as we got close to the boarding gate I ran on ahead to make sure that we were still going to make it. The plane was still there, as they’d delayed the connecting flight, knowing that there were people on our flight that were booked onto it. We were really grateful, although we wish they’d let us know before we’d ran through the entire airport.
We actually had to wait about 15 minutes to board the plane, which gave us time to catch our breath.
We boarded the plane and I was immediately bitten by a mosquito. I react badly to insect bites and this one was particularly bad. I was annoyed, as I hadn’t been bitten once in Vietnam and I’d been in Bangkok less than half hour and I’d already been bitten by one.
This plane journey was simple and uneventful. Thai Airways planes are comfortable and the food was good. Our main course was pork (or chicken we can’t remember which) with mashed potato. I kept my food for most of the flight and ate slowly but regularly, which made me feel less sick on this long haul flight than I had on any other. There was also many drink rounds, so I had a couple of gin and tonics and wine, as well as water and soft drinks.

Rob and I watched How to Train Your Dragon 3, which Rob cried watching. I also watched the live action Cinderella and Inside Out, which made me cry. I had to rewatch How to Train Your Dragon 2, as I couldn’t remember it completely, and then watched How to Train Your Dragon 3, as Dad had enjoyed it so much. We did all enjoy How to Train Your Dragon 3 and would recommend it, it’s a good long haul flight film.

Rob and I dozed a little on the flight. We were also brought breakfast, which wasn’t nice but we’ve never had a nice airplane breakfast.
We landed at 7:45pm. Our bags arrived quickly so we didn’t take long to get out of this part of the airport. It took us awhile to figure out which way it was to the bus stop that we had been dropped off at, so that we could return to the hotel where our car was parked. We eventually did find it after walking in circles for a while. Even when we did reach it, we had to wait for the bus for half hour, which felt like ages after being on the plane for so long and being awake early that morning.
We got to the car at 9:30pm. It was a LONG almost four hour journey home. We spent most of the journey singing along to music to try and keep ourselves, and more importantly Rob who was driving, awake. I sang a wonderful, half-asleep rendition of You’re Welcome from Moana. We stopped at one of the services to go to Starbucks and get us all coffee and sandwiches to keep us awake. I had a Frappuccino, Rob had something strong with a double shot to keep him awake and I had a white chocolate mocha. We eventually made it home at around 1am and was greeted by Simba (our cat), screaming at us for food (as all our holidays seem to end :d:)


I hope you’ve all enjoyed our trip report, sorry it’s taken so long to write but it’s more difficult to find time to write together now that Georgia is in uni (although that’s not been such a problem the last few months). If anyone is considering a trip to Vietnam, I would definitely encourage them to go. I was very nervous before travelling, as it seemed so different culturally, but we really loved the people, the culture and especially the food (which we had been very wary about)
I'm just proud we finished this trip report less than a year after the trip haha (it's only been 11 months)

Thank you Sue and Georgia for a fabulous trip report! I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it! Vietnam is certainly in my list of places to visit if we are ever allowed to travel again!

Pleased you enjoyed it Mel and I hope you do get to visit one day. Writing the last part of this through lockdown was quite sad to think that we may not get to visit anywhere this year, but I’m so pleased we took the opportunity to visit Ian and Vietnam when we did

Thank you both for a great trip report, really enjoyed it

Thanks for reading and for your lovely comments 😀

I also enjoyed reading your trip report.
I knew you were a little apprehensive before going,but also knew you would really enjoy it.
We say often,that we need to revisit,but haven’t made it back yet.
Would you ever consider anywhere else in the Far East.I love our holidays that way,the people,the food,the weather and especially how far your money goes lol!
Thanks to you both for a great read and I look forward to your next one (eventually ;))
Tracy x

We really did enjoy it and would consider other trips to the Far East too. Obviously a return to Vietnam could be a possibility if our son stays there but we would love to visit other countries too. The quality of accommodation and food is excellent especially when you consider how cheap everything is there.

I hope we do get to write another trip report soon (or at least get to go somewhere 😂 ) Thanks for reading

I've really enjoyed reading along. Thank you for sharing your holiday with us and taking the time to write it together. It has been great fun to learn more about Vietnam and it does look like a very special place.

We’ve enjoyed writing it, especially the last few months whilst we’ve been in lockdown, it was nice to look back on the holiday.

We discovered a lot about a country that we knew very little about before even though Ian lives there and we loved it. We can see why Ian loves living there so much. Thanks for reading 😀

I’ve really enjoyed reading your report Sue (& Georgia!)
Vietnam has never really been on my radar before but it has now piqued my interest, it looks a fascinating place to visit. I think the food issue would worry me, but you’ve shown it looks relatively normal - ignorant Westerner over here 😂
I had a tear in my eye reading about your goodbyes to Ian, I really hope it isn’t long before you get to see him again xx