The Eastern Migration

Sunday saw us giddy with excitement as it was finally time for our adventure to begin. We were exhausted from all of the farewells and late nights leading up to our departure, so we were looking forward to some sleep on the plane. This was definitely not to be, the flight we were on was packed! No chance of our 'row-mate' not showing up and no chance of an upgrade to business class (Mel's wishful thinking). The flight was extremely bumpy, squishy and the food wasn't the best, but we made it to Dubai in one piece and the in-flight entertainment was great!

After a ridiculously long bus ride from our plane to the terminal (perhaps our experiences were exaggerated slightly due to the lethal mixture of excitement and emotional and physical exhaustion), we made it into Dubai International. We claimed our meal ticket (thanks Emirates) and went in search of a shower. Dubai has showers in the bathrooms, which is awesome, and we went prepared (they don't provide towels). After a very long wait we both managed to get showered. We then wound our way to the food court where a Burger King meal seemed like the logical option! After a short wait we boarded our plane to Ho Chi Minh. Luckily this time the flight wasn't as full, so we managed to have an empty seat in our row. More space, better food but the inflight entertainment wasn't as good. This however, meant that some good shut-eye was caught up on.

A mini 'forrest' in Dubai International.

About to board to Ho Chi Minh City.

We landed and joined the 'line' to get our visas. All we can say is, 'Thank goodness we come from Africa,' because the cluster of people was absolute chaos! After about an hour we acquired our visas and set off to get our baggage (we hoped it was still there after waiting for so long for our visas). We exchanged some money, bought a sim card and set off in search of a taxi to take us to our hotel. Luckily the lady at our hotel had told us how much a taxi should cost, as the driver wanted to charge us triple the price - our first attempt at bargaining got him down to a far more reasonable price. We were in awe of all of the lights and people in Ho Chi Minh, it's busy everywhere you look!

The 'line' for the visas.

Chaos at the visa window.

Still smiley :)

Our bags waited for us!

HCMC - We have arrived!

Bright lights.

After a hair-raising taxi ride (no rules to the road here), we dropped our bags off in our hotel room and then went in search of a beverage. We found a place on the corner of a street that was selling two beers for 50, 000 Dong, score! We each ordered a 330ml can of local beer - 333 - and were provided with a quaint little table and two plastic chairs perched right on the edge of the side walk (nice and close to the maniac 'drivers' tearing up and down the road centimetres from us).

Once we had finished, we walked along the street for a bit and noticed that all of the little street-side cafes were selling bigger beers for way, WAY cheaper (12, 000 Dong to be precise) - we were ripped off! The pavements were jam packed with rows and rows of local and foreign patrons sitting on tiny plastic chairs, facing the road. Some people were even sitting in the road! We squeezed our way through and were seated at a (surprisingly) empty table. We ordered two beers and marvelled at the activity before us. Our beers arrived, 450ml bottles of Saigon Green, and the waiter handed us the bill - 15, 000 Dong each. We were ripped off again! The cafes either side of us were selling the same beers at 12, 000. These two little birdies are in the big city now... time to get street smart - fast!