A Journey of 7,616 miles Starts with a Single Step

With apologies to Lao Tzu.

Well, I’m off for SE Asia.  I left overcast Walla Walla on the 1:35 pm flight yesterday. Got over the Cascades and the weather cleared.  All the mountains were out and visible - Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and of course, Rainier.

I had a three hour layover in Seattle, so ducked into the AMEX Centurion lounge for some food and refreshments. The viewto the south was stunning.

The twilight flight to Vancouver was amazing with the clear winter skies and views of the San Juan Islands.  I cLearned immigration at YVR and made it to the Westin Grand on Robson zstreet via the Canada Line light rail.  Took a stroll down Robson street this morning to grab a last American (Canadian?) breakfast of eggs and bacon with some potatoes as well for a guilty carb loaded pleasure.

Robson Street is the typical upscale city street, with stores like Nike, Ferraragamo, Best Buy, Victoria’s Secret, the occasional Starbucks and the ubiquitous Tim Hortons that you see everywhere in Canada.  Nearly every block had homeless sleeping in doorways, and as the city came awake on my walk back to the hotel they were gathering their things up to move who knows where.  It was a real contrast to the upscale feel to the street.  It seems every big city (and the smaller ones as well) have their issues with homelessness.

Now, it’s off to catch the train and head for the airport and 22 or so hours of travel to Ho Chi Minh City.


Did

Taxi or Hotel Pickup?

So, my flight to SGN arrives at 12:10 am on Feb. 1. I am reserved that night and the next at Saigon Town House 50. They have airport pickup for $17 USD, about 395,000 VND. I can get a cab from the airport for about 220,000 VND, or $9.50.  

Save $7.50 and chance a taxi scam or get a sure ride at 1:00 am to my hotel and a clean bed?  I’ll take the hotel ride.

How Do You Spell Relief? Seat Assignment!

I booked my flight to Saigon on Cathay Pacific way back last September.  I got a great rate of $705 from Vancouver - Hong Kong - Saigon, then returning Bangkok - Hong Kong - Vancouver.  Because I snagged an ultra budget class ticket, I wasn't able to make seat selections for the flights when I booked.  I read on the Cathay Pacific website that they were rolling out a plan gradually to allow fliers to pay for seat assignments, but every time I checked my reservation, I was unable to select seats . . . .  until yesterday. Yesterday I checked the reservation and Walla!  there was an option available to select seats. 

I made it easy for myself - I booked 64D on the flight to Hong Kong.  The plane is a 777 and has a 3-4-3 seating configuration.  64D is the aisle seat on the middle section.  I figure I'll only have one person in the adjacent seat wanting to access the aisle whereas if I was in the three seat configuration, I'd have two people periodically scrambling over me to access the restroom or to stretch during the 14 hour flight.

My home for the 3 hour HKG - SGN flight will be 64A, window seat.  The equipment is Airbus 300, so seating is 2-4-2.  It's only a 2 hr 45 min flight, so the window seat should be fine.

BKK - HKG, it's back in 64A again.

Then, for the long haul back from HKG to Vancouver, I'm back in old familiar aisle seat, 64D.

All of this cost me the princely sum of $108, but you can't put a price on comfort, especially on a 14 hour trans-Pacific flight.

Travel Arrangements

Did I mention I decided to go on vacation this winter?  Back in September, I booked a two week trip with Intrepid Travel, to Cambodia.  Intrepid specializes in small group tours - 10-12 people max.  I have never been a tour person, but a small group tour sounds interesting. They hire local guides who know their locale.  The tour leaves Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) February 2 and travels to Pnom Penh, Cambodia, then Sihanoukville, on the coast, then a home stay with a local family, and then on to Siem Reap and the temples at Angkor Wat.  The tour ends in Bangkok.

I am flying Cathay Pacific, arriving in Saigon at about 12:20 am on Feb. 1.  I ave reservations at the Townhouse 50 Saigon for my first two nights there.

Looks pretty good for $35 per night.

On the evening of the 2nd I will join up with the tour group at a hotel about a 10 minute walk away.

Pham Ngu Lao Street in District 1:

 What Hotels.com says about the neighborhood:

Pham Ngu Lao Street in Ho Chi Minh City is on the western edge of District 1 and is renowned as the place where most backpacking travellers stay during their holiday. A 25-minute taxi ride from Tan Sot Nhat International Airport, it comprises numerous lanes and back alleys though the main thoroughfares include Pham Ngu Lao, De Tham, Bui Vien, and Do Quang Dao streets. 

Set along these alleyways are western-style restaurants, coffee shops, and international bars, countless tour companies and kiosks, affordable motels, hostels and guesthouses (as well as many of the so-called ‘mini-hotel’ buildings usually with six to seven floors, rarely offering an elevator), internet cafes, pharmacies, and souvenir-and-craft shops. Pham Ngu Lao Street is not limited to only low-budget travellers. Its own unique vibe draws people from everywhere due to its close proximity to prominent landmarks in Ho Chi Minh City. As there is always something going on in Pham Ngu Lao Street, many visitors prefer to enjoy local street food or people-watching while enjoying the incredibly cheap bia hoi draught beer on the roadside.

Read more at: http://www.vietnam-guide.com/ho-chi-minh-city/pham-ngu-lao.htm?cid=ch:OTH:001

Day 4 - Sunday - Heading Home

After our excursion to the Mall, I went back to the Westin for a nap. I had screwed up when I made the reservation at the Marriott and had put in a checkout date of Saturday. Doh!!!  When I tried to extend one more day they wanted to charge me something like $190/night for all three nights. Not going there. So I booked Saturday night at the Westin, just across the street, for $90. That necessitated checking out a Saturday morning and storing my bag in Bob and Kay’s room. Not a problem.  After returning from our tourist excursion, I retrieved my bag and checked into the Westin and proceeded to take a nap.

We had dinner that night at Ted’s Montana Grill, which served up an excellent Bison Meatloaf.



https://www.tedsmontanagrill.com/tmg041.html

After that it was back to the hotel to turn in.

3:20 am found me getting up and getting ready to depart. I caught an Uber at 4:30 to Reagan National and cleared TSA with no problems (thank you TSA pre-Check). It was an uneventful flight to Detroit, another to SEATTLE and finally back to Pasco. I was home in Walla Walla by 3:00 pm. Ain’t sir travel a marvel of the modern world?

DC Day 3 - Playing Tourist

Saturday dawned with no change in weather. Hurricane Florence, which was hitting North Carolina did not make an appearance in DC.   Todd, Deb and Jerry and Jeff all were leaving town, leaving Bob and Kay and I to our own devices.  We decided to play tourist, and took the Meteo into DC, getting off at the Smithsonian station on the Mall. There we toured the Mational Air and Space Museum, Museum of Natural History (which I dubbed the Museum of Stuffed Animals in Glass Cases) and the American History Museum (my favorite).  The only downside was my low back was bothering me and I had trouble with all the walking. Getting old sucks!!!

DC Day 2 - Paul Simon

Our friend Dave Dickieson has the benefit of working for a DC law firm that apparently has deep pockets.   Dave reached out and invited us to join him in the firm’s Skybox for the Paul Simon Farewell Tour on Friday night, after Pat’s reception at Main Justice.  I jumped at the chance to attend.   I will say this, attending a concert in a Skybox is something like flying first class, or even business class. It spoils you.   The concert was excellent. Paul Simon was backed up by a full horn and percussion section as well as backup singers.  What a great concert!!!  Thank you Dave, for inviting me.