Day 305 - Plane from Danang, Vietnam to Bangkok, Thailand
Wednesday, May 8th, 2019.
Today we got up early because we are leaving Hoi An. I wasn’t ready to go. I really enjoyed this small town full of life and lanterns and all the restaurants and cafes! We actually stayed 2 extra days already but we never made it to the beach because of the heat!
After breakfast, Kim gave us a bag of traditional Vietnamese fruit. One is called rambutan and the other is bong bong. It looks like garlic when you peel it but is sweet and a little bitter. She also added that the bong bong is very expensive. We thanked her and then we took a group picture with the folks from Argentina who were leaving as well. Carolina and Pablo are traveling Vietnam by motorcycle. They ended up at our hotel because Kim hosted them through Couchsurfing.
The drive to Danang was very smooth and fast. It is only 40 minutes away and is becoming another popular destination for tourists. It has a beautiful beach and it is a bigger city. There are many villages to go around and well, I wouldn’t mind coming back here!
When we got to the ticket counter to check in at the airport, the lady told us that we couldn't go to Thailand because our flight out left 33 days from today. Gregory told her that we had plans to go to Laos so we would be out Thailand before the 30 days were up. The lady then asked him if he had proof that we were going to Laos. He replied that we still hadn’t bought tickets. The lady then said that she could not let us on the plane, that we need to show her proof of bus or plane tickets leaving Thailand 30 days or less from today.
Of course, I panicked and I wanted to yell at her and say, how come no one informs you this before buying the plane tickets? Gregory, with his calm voice, said that it was the traveler's responsibility to know. He calmly said, we'll plan the trip to Laos right now. He took his laptop. Calm in stressful situations is one of the qualities that I admire most in Gregory!
Luckily, he had already done some research and in no time he bought the tickets online. The trouble was that it wasn’t allowing him to finish the "I'm not a robot" check and it was getting very frustrating. I went to ask for help at the AirAsia counter. A lady came to help us and just when I called Gregory to show her the problem, the computer processed the payment. I thanked the lady and she asked, for what? I said for bringing us good luck.
We went back to Thai VietJet and showed the lady the tickets to Laos. She gave us back our passports and our boarding passes. Phew, good thing we got to the airport early. We then went to find the lounge, which has become one of our favorite parts of the trip but when we got there, I asked if they would charge us (recently we found out that we are only allowed to get 3 people in). Since they didn’t know the answer, we decided to skip it because we only had around 40 minutes. The bummer was that we spent our last Vietnamese dong buying Tiger Balm, and now we didn’t have any money even for water! Gregory and Sunshine went back to the lounge and smuggled out a few bottles.
The flight was short. I can not say that it was pleasant because it was F*&^%$^& freezing on the plane. I took out the extra blanket that I always carry with me and my sweater. I was just upset that it was going to worsen the cold that I have been fighting!
An hour and a half later, we landed in Bangkok. We were all happy to recognize the big, modern airport. We got a Grab and drove to the city which is pretty far away. I fell asleep in the taxi. I was not feeling well. When we made it to our hotel, we were a little bit disappointed because it wasn’t as nice as other places where we had been staying but at least it was clean.
Today we got up early because we are leaving Hoi An. I wasn’t ready to go. I really enjoyed this small town full of life and lanterns and all the restaurants and cafes! We actually stayed 2 extra days already but we never made it to the beach because of the heat!
After breakfast, Kim gave us a bag of traditional Vietnamese fruit. One is called rambutan and the other is bong bong. It looks like garlic when you peel it but is sweet and a little bitter. She also added that the bong bong is very expensive. We thanked her and then we took a group picture with the folks from Argentina who were leaving as well. Carolina and Pablo are traveling Vietnam by motorcycle. They ended up at our hotel because Kim hosted them through Couchsurfing.
The drive to Danang was very smooth and fast. It is only 40 minutes away and is becoming another popular destination for tourists. It has a beautiful beach and it is a bigger city. There are many villages to go around and well, I wouldn’t mind coming back here!
When we got to the ticket counter to check in at the airport, the lady told us that we couldn't go to Thailand because our flight out left 33 days from today. Gregory told her that we had plans to go to Laos so we would be out Thailand before the 30 days were up. The lady then asked him if he had proof that we were going to Laos. He replied that we still hadn’t bought tickets. The lady then said that she could not let us on the plane, that we need to show her proof of bus or plane tickets leaving Thailand 30 days or less from today.
Of course, I panicked and I wanted to yell at her and say, how come no one informs you this before buying the plane tickets? Gregory, with his calm voice, said that it was the traveler's responsibility to know. He calmly said, we'll plan the trip to Laos right now. He took his laptop. Calm in stressful situations is one of the qualities that I admire most in Gregory!
Luckily, he had already done some research and in no time he bought the tickets online. The trouble was that it wasn’t allowing him to finish the "I'm not a robot" check and it was getting very frustrating. I went to ask for help at the AirAsia counter. A lady came to help us and just when I called Gregory to show her the problem, the computer processed the payment. I thanked the lady and she asked, for what? I said for bringing us good luck.
We went back to Thai VietJet and showed the lady the tickets to Laos. She gave us back our passports and our boarding passes. Phew, good thing we got to the airport early. We then went to find the lounge, which has become one of our favorite parts of the trip but when we got there, I asked if they would charge us (recently we found out that we are only allowed to get 3 people in). Since they didn’t know the answer, we decided to skip it because we only had around 40 minutes. The bummer was that we spent our last Vietnamese dong buying Tiger Balm, and now we didn’t have any money even for water! Gregory and Sunshine went back to the lounge and smuggled out a few bottles.
The flight was short. I can not say that it was pleasant because it was F*&^%$^& freezing on the plane. I took out the extra blanket that I always carry with me and my sweater. I was just upset that it was going to worsen the cold that I have been fighting!
An hour and a half later, we landed in Bangkok. We were all happy to recognize the big, modern airport. We got a Grab and drove to the city which is pretty far away. I fell asleep in the taxi. I was not feeling well. When we made it to our hotel, we were a little bit disappointed because it wasn’t as nice as other places where we had been staying but at least it was clean.
Gregory was not happy with our small room and I was not happy that breakfast was not included. We left the hotel looking for a place to eat. We ended up eating in the V8 diner, which looked like it had come straight out of America, where we ate Thai food. Afterward, we went back to the room to rest.
At night, Gregory and I walked to a shopping mall called Terminal 21. It was designed like an airport where each floor was a different country and it was decorated with some of the popular attractions. San Francisco had two floors and of course, they had the Golden Gate Bridge and a cable car. London had the red phone booths, double-decker buses, and so on. The very top floor was Hollywood and that’s where the movie theater was. We checked the movies and saw that they were playing Avengers Endgame which Gregory and Daniel really want to see.
On our way back home we noticed a lot of girls standing on the sidewalk. Gregory told me that Bangkok is well known for its nightlife and prostitutes. I also noticed a few beggars and children sleeping on the street. Not a pretty sight if you ask me.
At night, Gregory and I walked to a shopping mall called Terminal 21. It was designed like an airport where each floor was a different country and it was decorated with some of the popular attractions. San Francisco had two floors and of course, they had the Golden Gate Bridge and a cable car. London had the red phone booths, double-decker buses, and so on. The very top floor was Hollywood and that’s where the movie theater was. We checked the movies and saw that they were playing Avengers Endgame which Gregory and Daniel really want to see.
On our way back home we noticed a lot of girls standing on the sidewalk. Gregory told me that Bangkok is well known for its nightlife and prostitutes. I also noticed a few beggars and children sleeping on the street. Not a pretty sight if you ask me.
For pictures please click here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/inycDvHXtoRCFLEy7
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