24th – Island hopping

We were to leave the hotel at 0800 so my alarm was set to 0700, an hour after I ended up waking up. So the day started well.

A quick breakfast later we left the hotel and drove for a couple of hours to get to the Mekong Delta where we all boarded a boat that took us around to some smaller islands where we got to see some local industries. We visited someone harvesting honey and making candy and drinks from it and a different place making various chocolates. From there we got on tuk-tuks and went to a village where we got to taste local papaya, pineapple, dragon eye fruit (longan, the lychee’s less aromatic cousin) while listening to locals performing some traditional songs.

Dragon fruit.

The bees drank any spills they could get their tongues on.

From there we went back to the boat and went to a second island where we got to see people making coconut candy with various additions (chocolate, durian, ginger, etc.) – basically a local variant of caramel. From here we got into some small narrow boats and were transported down a narrow river (or rather stream) back out to the boat. It was a pleasant 10-15 minutes, with trees and vegetation on both sides most sounds from outside were blocked. 

A big blob of coconut candy.

So serene.

We had lunch before getting back into the boats, and from there we went back to the mainland and returned to the bus that took us back to the hotel. Because it is the 24^th of December no busses or trucks are allowed in the city after 1600 so we had a hard deadline to make. Arriving at the hotel at 1500 (after having a nice nap in the bus that had surprisingly good legroom!) we got together to fill out the necessary forms for the border crossing into Cambodia tomorrow.

For the afternoon I went for a walk and ended in Saigon Skywalk after it got dark. HCMC isn’t the most inspiring city to look at even if night and all the lights makes things a bit more interesting. The skywalk was indoors with massive windows which in itself wasn’t an issue, but because they had concluded it would be a great idea to illuminate the entire indoor area and hang large bright information posters you got a lot of reflection in the windows which was really frustrating.

City hall by night.

At 1930 I met with 3 others at a food market where we visited various stalls for dinner; beef pho, Chinese bun with pork belly and pork dumplings were delicious. This was followed by a visit to a brewery before returning to the hotel a bit past 2200.

The roads were slightly crowded.

The traffic was insane tonight – there are so many scooters out and about it’s impossible to cross the road as normal. You actually have to find a crossing and wait for a green light to have a chance to cross. Crazy! Apparently, while the locals aren’t Christians they do use this date as an excuse to party and go out, so the traffic is worse than it would otherwise have been on a normal evening.

21st – 23rd of December – Leaving and arrival

As I was leaving on a Friday evening I decided to go to the airport directly from the office and as the departure was late-ish there was no rush for me to leave the office. It was also the last workday before Christmas so I quickly found myself among the last few people left in the office. I realized I’d rather spend extra time in the lounge with free food than at the office just waiting to leave, so I got my stuff and went to the airport. After a bit of a slow check-in I leaned back in the lounge, relaxing, digging into the salmon, hotdogs, cheese and the classic Danish Christmas dessert; ris a la mande. 

Only delayed a few minutes we boarded, but we ended up being almost an hour late before finally taxiing from the gate. My Christmas gift for me: flying on business class so I kicked back and relaxed, stretched out and accepted drinks coming my way. The flight itself was quite uneventful and I passed time by watching The Predator, Mission Impossible Fallout, Hidden Numbers and first episode of Patrick Melrose. Despite being a bit late when arriving in Hong Kong I still had time to visit the lounge which turned out to fortunately be almost right next to my departure gate. A bit different from the one in Copenhagen; food bar, bar, noodle bar, tea bar, relaxation rooms and more spread out in a large area. I had had enough to eat so far so I sat in the tea bar – where I promptly raided the cake buffet. It would be impolite not to taste.

The flight to Ho Chi Minh City was similarly quite uneventful and filled with great service and food while killing time watching Jumanji (2017) and first episode of Hang Ups. Arriving in HCMC I quickly got my bag, got picked up and driven straight to my hotel. I checked in and left immediately to go and have dinner at a restaurant recommended by my guide from the Thailand/Laos/Vietnam tour where I had a delicious beef pho. Going back to the hotel I relaxed and eventually fell asleep. My roommate won’t be arriving until later so I will have my own room for two nights!

Despite not sleeping much on the flights I felt much more relaxed on arrival as usual, having a nice seat and comfortable conditions really do make a difference, it isn’t just something marketing says! The cabin crew on the first leg was, as far as I could tell, all Swedish with two I suspect were Chinese. The second leg they all looked local, apart from the captain who sounded very Australian. I realized the Swedish chef who came pushing the dessert cart during service (so you could see your options and make a decision not only based on the menu) was a very, very nice person based on the following conversation I had with him:

-          Chef: What would you like for dessert? We have cheese, fruit, chocolate and ice cream.

-          Me: Well...

-          Chef: One of each, then?

-          Me: ...

-          Chef: One of each it is. Would you want port with that?

Before meeting with the group in the late afternoon I just spent the day walking around HCMC taking in the views. The town hall, a small photo gallery, the war museum and the pagoda were all visited. In between I had lunch consisting of a duck pho – can’t have too much pho when in Vietnam! I was a bit disappointed to find they hadn’t removed the bones from the bird (the thigh-piece was less of an issue) but I just needed to poke the meat for it to fall apart. Needless to say it was very tender!

City hall.

The traffic needs some getting used to, but that was as expected. Pretty much as it was in Hanoi, so fairly crazy.

I arrived back at the hotel just in time for the meeting. We were 4 at the meeting who would be joining the existing group on the last leg to Bangkok. From there we went to the restaurant I had visited last night, it seems quite popular among the guides, especially considering last night almost half the indoor space was occupied but another group, where we were now sitting.

It was a nice dinner – we will be 15 when we leave the city and head west towards Cambodia. At the moment, though, we were quite a few more, as some of those arriving from the north would be leaving, making room for us newcomers. This meant that for some this was also to be their farewell dinner.

The group is a bit different than what I usually encounter on these trips; 3 families with 1 or 2 kids, and us four newcomers. Us newcomers are around the same age, the rest are a fair bit older or younger than us. I doubt it will be a problem, though, they all seem nice.