The adventure begins~
(published after the fact)
7am: It was time. I had to get my life in order and triple check my bags. The day had come for the long awaited voyage to Vietnam.
9:20am: Bus to Incheon airport. Said my good byes and tried not to die of the cold. One difficulty in planning a backpacking trip to a 30*C country from one that’s -6 is how to dress for the occasion. The consensus was just to man up and be cold for the 20 minutes or so I’d be outside. I was too excited to sleep, in spite of having a few rough nights before. I spent the majority of the trip comparing notes with my travel buddy, Margaret, and deciding what the key points of our trip would be.
Incheon: Our main concern was our layover in Shanghai in which we had to change air carries. Because of the visa. In any other country it would be cake, but China worries me. Going through Shanghai customs is stressful. Something about the cold and calculated efficiency. Smile into the camera. Last year when my parents came to visit Korea they had a similar occurrence in Beijing and had a rough time of it. We’ll see~ At the moment I chose to live in the present, and inundated myself with sandwich, for there was indeed a sandwich parlor in the airport.
Shanghai: The transfer went smoother than I anticipated. Margaret and I flocked together like ducks. After examining our passports and itineraries we were made to wait on the sidelines for our temporary visa. Mine was sat next to the regular one from last summer. Different shape… So that’s how they keep it straight… The next station, after check in, was the required meal of dumplings. Here they are:
The other thing that tickles me about the Shanghai airport is the section of statues to represent the world. Here, for example, is Mexico:
Naturally.
Now, here is America:
Of course.
Now, about Chinese airlines… They are a hot mess. I try not to fly China Southern or China Eastern (etc) at all. They are just notoriously unreliable… It seems like every time someone I know is associated with one it’s delayed or just an inferior airplane. Sure enough, last summer’s trip to Shanghai was met with the same experience. Sure enough, our flight was delayed over an hour and a half. I’m two for two on Shanghai.
Vietnam: We lnaded at nearly three. In the future, I would consider getting my visa before instead of through the visa on arrival… It took an extra forty minutes to wait and do the paperwork. Not really worth it when you haven’t had much sleep. Our other traveling companion, Ramsey, was waiting for us on the other side. We collected our backpacks and prepared ourselves for the first scam of Saigon:
First scam of Saigon: As it was past 3am, and we were the last ones out of the airport we didn’t have much choice in the taxi department. And we were much too tired to really put up a fight. We ended up paying 600,000d (>$30) for a cab to the middle of district one. The normal price is supposed to be just over 100,000d… Well, let’s be honest, it wouldn’t be a trip to Vietnam without at least one grift. I accept that.
The streets were dark and mostly abandoned. It reminded me a lot of east LA, save for the ubiquitous yellow star and hammer and sickle banners hanging on lamp posts. Next surprise, things close early. Not just close, metal shutters. The hotel we had booked was shuttered, for instance. Live and learn… we would later learn that you can just hammer on the door until someone opens. We ended up paying for the only open place down the road…Still had to wake up a lady. Sleep at 4am~
And so begins the Vietnam adventure.
Prof miscreant 