Off to a new city day....

Ho Chi Minh City & Da Nang, Day 50

So today we're on the move and it is a new city day - I stole that term from some van life YouTubers that we follow (The Ex-Pawers). We're leaving the south of Vietnam and heading off to central Vietnam to visit the city of Da Nang!

So after breakfast, I was all ready to get going to the airport but I have since discovered on this trip that I don't really like changing over and moving too quickly and not because of the hassle of packing but R drives me absolutely insane on these days!

I mean, I am all sorted and ready to go, and he faffs about like nobody's business. Our flight wasn't until 4.15 pm but you know how you have to check-out by 12 normally and if you are all sorted and packed up, then I don't see the point of hanging around until the very last minute of check-out and especially when I know the cleaning staff are looking to get in as soon as possible (because you can hear them in the corridor areas etc.) But on no, R seems to take great enjoyment in taking his sweet time.

Now I'm not an unreasonable person, as many of you will know, but I'm not just talking about the time it takes to get himself sorted out, but when his faffing impacts on me - I do get quite annoyed. Did you know that R came away for a 3 month trip and didn't pack any toiletries - no neither did I until I got to our first airport and discovered that his nibs didn't have a 'liquids bag' because he'd shoved his few liquids into MY liquids bag, so I was carrying them all! Not only that, but it turned out my make-up bag (minus liquids) also had his toothbrush, comb and razor!

Now, why do I tell you this, you may be asking yourself? Well, what is one of the last things R does before we depart anywhere? Oh yes, he needs to shave, brush his teeth, put on his deodorant, wash and 'style' his hair - so guess who needs to wait until I can pack my final bags away - yes, ME!

Then after he does that - he needs to pack up all his electronics, cables etc., put them into the right bags, carefully arrange and pack them into his rucksacks (the big one and the small one)... of course these will all need to come out again about 3 times before we finally leave the apartment as he will need to find or double-check something.

By this stage, I am usually almost at breaking point with him and his "what's the rush?" comments, which I'm sure he does deliberately to wind me up. So finally, when we're all packed up and just about to leave the room, he'll THEN say...."I just need to go to the loo..." OMG, I don't know how I have not murdered him!

So we finally get out of the apartment, get into the Reception area to complete the check-out and he orders the Grab car for the taxi.

Journey to the Airport

The taxi driver gets us there in one piece but again, the journey is not for the faint hearted - so if doing this journey my advice is to close your eyes and try not to count the number of times your Taxi driver beeps his horn at others.

At the Airport

We have already checked in online (the day before) and as we're only travelling with cabin baggage, which admittedly is likely to be heavier than the permitted limits, we usually try to avoid the 'check-in' lines. However, we have plenty of time and we're not quite sure of where to go for security, so R asks one of the airport staff members for Vietnam Airlines (who we are flying with) and she says we need to check-in at the desk because of an issue with our names on the boarding card??? It doesn't quite make sense, but we stand in the LONG queue and eventually it's our turn and the girl at check-out tells us to go straight to security as we are already checked in online. I ask if she if she was sure, as the other staff member had told us we had to check in via the desk because of an issue with our boarding card and names. No, she was adamant, we just need to go to security.

So we proceed to security and I get through no problem, but R doesn't. There is a problem that his name on his boarding pass does not match that of his passport! Of course, when we had checked in online the day before, there was only an option for first and last name, so that is all he had used. I, on the other hand, was fine because in R's opinion, my family was 'too poor' to afford me any middle names, so I don't have the same problem as him.

Rather than lose R completely (I know, I know, this could have been my chance to escape him!), I elected to go back with him to get his boarding pass sorted. This took quite a bit of time as there was no way I was going to wait in the huge check-in queue again, but he had to go to three different desks, and he finally got a new boarding pass with his name as per his passport.

Flight

The flight was delayed a bit, but eventually it took off, and it was only about an hour in total. I did steal his window seat (but I think I deserved it after all his faffing and issues), and there was a gorgeous sunset, which was just beautiful.

The Hotel

The Hotel had arranged a free transfer from the airport to the hotel, and unlike the previous airport arrival, this time it was perfect. The driver was waiting as soon as we got out of the arrivals hall. About 15 minutes later, we were dropped off at the hotel.

We are staying at the BlueSun Danang Beach Hotel and the hotel is lovely. We have a lovely spacious room with a veranda and a fabulous seaview.

After a very quick look around the hotel facilities, we quickly change and head out to find something to eat as we are starving by now (it's about 7.30 pm by this stage).

View from our hotel balcony

Dinner

We find a little restaurant that looks quite busy with locals just around the corner, and R orders a beef pho dish, and I order an egg omelette Banh mi. His comes first and is very tasty, and mine then turns up as just an egg omelette - not a Banh mi. It turns out the server (whom I assume was the young son of the owner) has mixed up the order somehow, as his mother appears to give him into trouble, and he then re-appears with a couple of banh mi bread rolls. Of course, I'd pretty much wolfed down the omelette by this point, but thankfully, I was able to dip the bread into R's Pho soup. Anyway, we both left satisfied and headed back to the apartment for our first night in Da Nang.

From our initial impression of the place, we think we are going to like our time here.....

Ho Chi Minh City & Da Nang, Vietnam

8 January 2025