Lessons learned in the last 48hrs:

1. You need a visa to get into Vietnam and yes you can get one at airport but no, you have to ask for some letter before you leave...helpful tip if you google something don’t just read the answer you want and skip the rest. 
2. No one was super sad to spend one more night in Melbourne. 
3. Getting to airport 2 hrs before flight is not enough time to fly to Vietnam. Everyone was checking like 10 bags and boxes each for Chinese New Year. 
4. Sprinting through the duty free section of the airport desperately trying to make a flight you were supposed to be on yesterday asking every passer by in full on sprint where gate 6 is? Hearing your names and last call for your flight called is something I don’t need to do again. 

I let Todd tell us when to leave for airport. We’ve never missed a flight though I much prefer to get there super early and chill. 

Today we left 15 minutes after our planned time which still would have gotten us to the airport 2 hrs early. I requested an Uber that kept trying to send me a Prius(there’s 6 of us with bags so ya Prius was a no go). We walked across street and got a cab. 

Getting to the airport we realized after taking in and HUGE line trying to check in that it was going to be a loooong shot that we got to the front of the line before our departure time. We were the last people in line. I contemplated upgrading mine and Todd’s  ticket so that we could use the priority check in line but the woman assured me that with this airline it was always nuts and we’d be ok. When we got to check in line with 15 minutes before our departure time I was literally shaking trying to just get the boarding passes so we could run for it. We’d endured a fiasco getting these Vietnamese visas only to find that they listed Austin a girl. Which the airline said they could deny us entry for. Basically signing something saying if we got stuck there we wouldn’t hold airline responsible the lady handed me priority express passes for security and passport control, told me to “stop shaking but you’re gonna have to run”. 

We’ve got electronics coming out of our ears so normally I’ve got security down to an art. So now, now if all times I’d screw up and forget the 2 iPads I have in MY bag. Ahhhhhh!!!  Again we go through security. Now it’s 5 minutes passed our flight time. I’m bouncing up and down in the short express passport control line. I Fly to the counter when it opens up. An unfriendly man greets me with “Who sent you here?” I shove the express passes now in a jumbled mess from my extensive baggage screening on the counter...”those don’t mean anything” he relies. I believe my glance over my shoulder at the obviously 30+ minute non express line behind me, and the panic on my face he made sure I knew he begrudgingly was going to approve us by taking forever to clear us. 

Now we have to run. You know you’re late when even Todd, the eternal optimist when it comes to making flights it’s right there with me. Freaking Duty free!!! Who for the love of all things shops in the airport???!!!!  So now we’re running through a mall basically, Micheal Kor, Channel, Coach. Why why why. I need gate 6 gate 6. I hear the announcement as we sprint past a plethora of alcohol  and perfume.  “Final boarding call flight 764 to Ho Chi Mhin City Passengers Richards, Sarah, Richards, Austin........”. Well there’s 6 of us that will take a couple seconds. “Where is gate 6?!”  I glance back to make sure we haven’t lost anyone everyone in tow I seen a gate agent I recognize from check in bringing an empty wheelchair back. I see his arm motion to the left when he sees us as if he’s directing traffic. He then looks over his shoulder to wave at gate agent. Who’s standing at the door hand out for our passports. I’m out of breath, I have to pee, I believe there’s no way we will ever see our luggage again as the last thing I heard as we sprinted off to gate was agent calling someone telling them they need to turn the conveyer belt back on or come get our bags, but we made it. It was harrowing to say the least but it got done. We didn’t even care where we sat. 

Landing 8 hours later we still had the issue of picking up this visa. A corner in the airport that gave off the same vibe you experience at the DMV signaled we’d reached our bureaucratic destination. We waited in line again in the fluorescent lights. A happy faced officer finally waved us over. Handing him out passports and paperwork he let us know he’d need $20 in cash to print the paper I had a copy of in my phone, that they had send me🙄....ok. So he stopped his game of bejeweled(not kidding) long enough to hand us change and then handed me a new pile of forms to fill out(never saw the printed copy of our paperwork.) I actually have everyone’s passport numbers memorized now so it went faster than expected. We then handed over more cash for the visa, some more for the stamp, I wouldn’t of minded so much if the process had gone a little faster. Eventually we had our visas and passports and got to stand in yet another line. For the first time that day we picked the fast line. We made it out just in time to see them loading our bags(which by some miracle had made it) into the cart where they haul off all the other sad unclaimed bags.   

We got a cab. The driver in the minivan quick to say we’d need two cabs. “Nope” I exclaimed remembering the 20plus similar vans we’d become experts in India at smashing ourselves into. 

Our first glimpses of Ho Chi Minh and the notorious Motorbike traffic. We arrived at the hotel. I think they felt bad we’d had to loose a night. They offered to show me the presidential suite which occupies the whole top floor of the hotel. It was massive but here’s the logic behind saying no to a presidential suite upgrade: I had two rooms that were great and had a hallway and door between me and the kids...I guess I needed the hallway between us more than the living room, kitchen(ya really didn’t need that), and office. 

The hotel has a club level that we can grab snacks and drinks at. The kids have eaten their weight in macaroons which I never buy as they are so expensive they never seem worth it. 

We decided to go on a tour of the area and try some local food. I found a tour operated by local college students who drive you around on the back of motor bikes and take you to some sights. 

We were met by an exuberant host in the lobby. He looked like he was 12 and was about as tall as Hannah and Sierra but was so excited to show us around. He stumbled through our names practicing several times, Sierra and Todd being the hardest. 

We walked to the street and found our 5 other guides/ divers. 3 young girls and 2 other young men greeted us. We paired off and were fitted with helmets and then off it was into the amazing traffic which like India flows with some kind of magic I don’t understand. We all had smiles on our faces as this is truly better than any roller coaster at Disneyland. 

We stopped at several places trying various Vietnamese specialties, all the kids were super good about trying things. Noodles, banana and sticky rice, some sort of wrap thing, sugar cane juice, Vietnamese coffee, or orange juice, and lastly Todd tried baby duck embryo, ya it was a s gross as it sounds, complete with feathers and beak. Our guides were super friendly, Sierra found her driver a cute young girl shared her love of Taylor Swift. They exchanged Instagram contacts. It was overall a fun filled look into the culture and people.