Here I sit in the seriously less than cool Danang airport while Vietnam Airlines decides whether my flight will operate or not…such are the perils of wind and rain in the middle of this country. And boy it is HUMID – thick cloud, no direct sun, but it is like swimming through the air, with your clothes completely stuck to you – forget nicely pressed shirts and trousers – we all look like we just came out of the washer and are desperately seeking the dryer!!!
Yesterday I had one of those long days, which seem to be the norm for me. Had to go to visit the ancient city of Hue, which is a bone crunching 3 hour drive from here. The roads are worse than they were last time I was here, mainly due to the fact that they are doing massive roadworks to try to improve things – frankly I think they will all come apart again the moment they finish, but right now it is a real ordeal of work gangs and stuck traffic and huge overloaded trucks grinding up and down over the hills – that coupled with the Vietnamese driver’s wish to overtake whatever vehicle is in front of him, can make for some hairy moments, so you learn not to look too far forward and NOT worry and somehow you get there. There are the many motorbike gangs that every road is issued with, including the whole family wedged on one bike or perhaps a pig in a basket balanced across the back. Or perhaps madame has been to market and somehow she must have mounted her bike first and then all her huge boxes and bags were then piled around her, as there was no way she could have done it in reverse. One lady was steering her bike with her chin wedged on a huge carton (and all this in pouring rain and she was wearing glasses, so probably had little idea of what was in front her anyway). Such fun.
Vietnam has also perfected the idea of creating jobs for everyone – nothing can be done by one person that would be better off being done by two or three. If you have to pay a toll, then you stop first to buy the ticket … then you stop 100 yards later for someone to tear the ticket in half. Tickets are further color coded, presumably the size of the car, and so have to then be impaled on the right spike, which probably later on will involve someone else removing them and counting them and perhaps even entering the results in a large ledger which will then almost certainly be checked by someone else …… the Victorians would love it and of course an Indian would think it all perfectly normal.
Ha – my flight has just been cancelled – my minder has gone off to see what is to be done …… watch this space.
OK much later cos things got a bit fraught shall we say. To cut a long story extremely short, we were put into a hotel in the middle of Danang for the day – as there was not another flight until 2030, so bang went my shopping expedition in Saigon. Although being very much downtown, it is called the Airport Hotel. “WE’ being a group of 5 and all foreigners -two Swiss, two Oz, et moi and told we wud be collected at 1900 (our orig sked having been 1005). I had my minder with me, cheerful guy with given English name of Jeff but he’s really Tri, so I call him that. We went walkabout in the intense humidity and checked out the market but in the end the heat and humidity defeated us and we retreated to the hotel (after lunch – the VN’s need feeding about every 2 hours and are AMAZED when I say sometimes go to bed without dinner – cud not happen here) – anyway we had a siesta and then went out again and I saw the office of Pacific Airlines and thought I wud pop in for a timetable for my collector friends and discovered they have a flight tomorrow nonstop to Hong Kong which would connect better for my flight to Beijing, so I decided in a rush that this was what I wanted to do – abandon Vientnam Airlines tonight and Cathay Pacific tomorrow (who are having their own labor disputes anyway and the fit cud well be xx or delayed, resulting in me not getting to PEK on sked) SO I decided I would stay here. Easy ??? HA … Jeff thought of all sorts of probs – but I stuck to my guns – “THERE IS A FLIGHT RIGHT FROM HERE TOMORROW AND I WANT TO BE ON IT’ Really, sometimes I have to suck in my stomach and draw myself right up and GET FIRM. So now I shall stay in this hotel tonight and inshallah fly to HK tomorrow and happily connect to PEK.
My minder and I went down to check what this experience would cost from a hotel perspective – should tell you in advance that I have a perfectly normal shaped room, with a/c, bathroom with all the oriental goodies like toothbrush and paste and 2 beds, lights, curtains, tv, etc etc ) He went into a great argument with the front desk kid and in the end I had to take a stand and chimed in with a “what’s the problem, deal?’ and he was trying to reduce the price. When I heard that we are arguing about a package which is DINNER, BREAKFAST AND A ROOM and the hotel wants USD 23 and he thinks it should be 20, I step in, in my best UN mediator role and say that in the interests of world peace etc etc, that I will spring for the 23 figure… ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Such a deal – I could probably get a massage thrown in if I play my little boy lost card … but I am keeping that along with the Get Out of Jail Free one too. ALL FOUR SEASONS READERS PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THE ABOVE DEAL AND REARRANGE PACKAGES ACCORDINGLY. Have your people get back to my people within 48 hours of receipt…I WANT IT IN WRITING !!
timothyvalentinestravels 