Hong Kong and Last Leg To Saigon1

As noted, I had a 3 hour layover in Hong Kong.  We had stayed ahead of sunset until shortly before arrival, but on arriving it was dark and I could only barely make out the outlines of the mountains (if that’s what you call them) on the Kowloon Peninsula. I had a three hour layover, so checked into the American Express Centurion lounge, where I recharged the batteries with a bit of food and a Botany Gin on the rocks.  Oh, and a glass of Prosecco as well.

I chatted briefly with a guy who was headed to India, which he told me was about a 6 hour flight from Hong Kong.  After 13 hours, 6 hours seems like nothing

I headed down to the gate and eventually boarded my flight to SGN.

The flight was about 2 3/4 hours and was totally full.  It was an Airbus A300 with 2-4-2 seating. I had the window at 64A.  Visited some with my seat mate, a Vietnamese woman who was returning from somewhere, the location of which I never determined.

I dubbed this flight the Crying Baby Flight, as there were about three of them in my section.

The flight arrived on time at 12:10 am.  I cleared immigration easily, having gotten my 30 day tourist visa in advance from the Embassy in Washington, DC.   The checked bag took longer.  They were unloading from two full flights and I stood nervously as bag after bag, box after box, came down the conveyor belt (it seems when the Vietnamese travel they like to bring back consumer goods. There were lots of boxes - Home Depot and a Porter Cable box come to mind - all taped, strapped and hermetically sealed coming down the b LT until, finally, by bag appeared.

I finally got my Osprey travel backpack and headed for the throng outside the arrival area to meet my driver, who was holding up a sign with my name on it. I arrived at Town House 50, my home for the next two days sometime after one, and got checked into my room. It’s a large room with Queen bed and, thankfully, air conditioning.  Cost, you ask? $24/night.  I grabbed a beer from the refrigerator in the lobby and said,”put it on my bill please.”