Day 1 on the road. Hanoi.

Tina, all set to go.

Everything was going so well. Tina, Tour Guide had her passport ready. The limo we booked was running slightly ahead of schedule, getting us to Sydney International Airport 3 lovely hours before our 10.15am departure. Despite the very early start for some, 3.30am in Carolyn's case, we popped the cork on a bottle of champagne once we hit the F3. Brenda had kindly brought along some strawberries, which went well with the bubbles! If anyone finds a cork along the F3 near Mooney, it's probably ours!

Somewhere on the F3

Wondering how on earth we were going to fill in 3 hours, we fronted up to the check-in counter only to find that Brenda didn't have the completed visa for Vietnam and therefore was not going to be allowed to fly. !!!!!!!!!!!!!! The helpful man from Vietnam Airlines told us that Brenda might just have time to jump in a cab and go to the Embassy in Edgecliff and obtain an 'emergency' visa. O oh! He gave Brenda the phone number for the Embassy so she could let them know she was on the way. Instead, the Embassy gave her, via the nice VN Airline man, the phone number of a man who we all now bow down to for his wonderful powers. He could come to the airport and issue an 'emergency' visa. At a price........ The rest of us had already checked in, so by the time the 'travel facilitator' arrived and got Brenda sorted, we were pushing it time wise and were given Express Path passes to go through passport control and security. Our troubles were over and we were all going to board the plane. Little did we know that Brenda's bag decided not to travel with us today.

When we arrived in Saigon, we had to collect our bags, clear customs, then be transported to the Domestic terminal for our Hanoi connection. So we dutifully cleared passport control, and went to the baggage carousel to get our bags. It must be a terrible feeling to stand waiting for your bag, when you realise, it may not be going to make an appearance. Brenda has confirmed this by the way. On a side note, visa on arrival is a P.I.A. at every stage of the process. I'll go with the nice sticker from the Embassy every time, thank you. Maybe Brenda's bag will be sitting waiting for us at Hanoi?? Fat chance as it turned out. So, a 'lost bag' notification has been lodged and Brenda has been given 600,000 VND to tide her over.
Things started going our way when we arrived at Hanoi and a very patient driver was waiting to drive us in to Hanoi. Our flight was delayed, then Brenda's woes added to it. He didn't speak much English, but he was a safe driver and that's important round these parts. So finally we arrive at the Maison d'Hanoi smack bang in the Old Quarter. 10.30 pm local time, body clock says 1.30am next day. So about to tick over to 24 hours on the road. Quickly settled in and ducked out to find a beer, so desperately needed, and it's midnight local time. You do the maths! And still gotta make time for a shower before bed. What a day!!