Rygsækrejsen 2015-2016: VietJetAir from Phu Quoc to HCMC and Da Lat

fredag den 1. april 2016

VietJetAir from Phu Quoc to HCMC and Da Lat - delayed forever

At 7 PM we left our nice room and resort and headed to the Phu Quoc airport with a taxi. A short drive later we were at the airport, very quiet this morning and check in was easy. We made it through security in no time and then realised our flight was delayed. 30 minutes - then one hour. That also meant that our connection in HCMC was gone, so when we eventually took off with our flight we didn't even have to wish for a fast flight - it was too late. Unless of course the next flight was just as delayed. Which it wasn't.

The Da Lat flight left according to schedule from HCMC at 11 AM so we got our luggage and headed for the VietJetAir counter where a very nice woman gave us a free change of flight to the later departure - leaving at 8 PM. A lot of hours to spend in HCMC where check in wouldn't open until two hours before departure which meant that we had to sit outside at one of the nice cafés with no A/C and look after our stuff.

On the upside being stuck here meant we had access to some of the few ATM's that will let us take out more than two million Dong per transaction. There are a couple at the airport where the limit is five million Dong. Two million with the added fee's is ridiculous - it is not even USD 100 plus fees. Five minutes later and we were loaded with 10 million Dong. You feel so rich here in Vietnam. And we still had five hours and fifty five minutes to wait until check in would open up.

Five hours later we both reached the "end of the Internet" having spent most of the day surfing web pages and updating Facebook. Internet at the airport is free and fast. Perfect for missed connections. Just before check in was about to open we got a mail from VietJetAir - announcing another hour of delay. We checked in at 6 PM, our flight got delayed until 9 PM but we had good dinner at the airport so when we finally made it to Da Lat airport some 30 kilometres outside of Da Lat town we were happy to see the shuttle bus waiting for us. We were dropped off a bit from our hostel, took a taxi, got our room just before midnight and crashed on the bed. Two 30 minute flights and 17 hours of waiting and a bit of bus and taxi transport in one day. It would have been slightly faster to take the bus and the boat but who cares. We are here and the place seems nice.