Day 1. Our flight departed at 1am so it has been a very long day. However it was mitigated by the fact that Singapore Airlines sprang a surprise at check in time. They "selected " us from the queue, along with possibly some others, to offer to upgrade us to Business Class at a 60% discount on the gap fare. We looked at each other and then Bob took the plunge and said yes. He can't sleep in airline seats because he refuses my solution of taking a sedative so the thought of being able to lie flat was too attractive to resist. The flight wasn't long enough as a result but at least we had four hours of sound sleep after our glass of French champagne.
Saigon airport has a new terminal since we were here five years ago and they had plenty of staff checking passports so we were out at the taxi rank within 30-40 minutes even though we arrived just behind at least one other large flight. The taxi ride to the hotel was a different story. The taxi was modern and the driver was competent but the traffic was horrendous. Just as we were about to puĺl away the taxi contoller pushed another passenger into our cab presumably because his hotel was near ours and the airport was frantic. The road was worse and the police blocked our driver from taking his prefered route because it was "log jammed". We then went round and round the mulberry bush, or so it seemed and it took us over an hour to reach the hotel. Fortunately our fellow passenger was interested in a chat and helped to pass the time. He is a Fenchman who has lived and worked in Singapore for many years for a consultancy company. He spends most of his time flying between Singapore and nearby SE Asian countries to attend meetings. He loves Singapore and has made his home there with a wife and young son.
Our hotel is comfortable and we have had a shower and been to the local supermarket for milk, water and beer so we are off to a good start. Hopefully we will get to explore further tomorrow after a decent sleep.
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