The airport was not overly crowded, which seemed a little surprising. There were lots of planes coming and going, all full. We were to meet the guide at the front of the airport so we headed to those doors.
Then it was apparent why the lobby wasn’t slammed full – they make everyone waiting stay outside on the sidewalk. THAT was packed, although there were rails keeping an aisle to the doors open. Our private guide, Thuan, had worked his way to the front and had a sign with our names on it.
Not hard to pick out the two big white guys towering over everyone else either!
He gave us directions toward the curb and fought his way back through the crowd. He started giving us an overview of the city and talked about what we would do. Traffic was typical for a city this size – he said that our hotel (the Caravelle) was in the center city and normally a 20 minute ride. It was going to take about 45 minutes with traffic, though.
Ho Chi Minh City is about 8 million people, so again it’s rivaling NYC population-wise. They have the place all decked out for the holidays (Chinese New Year), too and it’s beautiful.
The Caravelle Hotel -- don’t know any history on it yet, but it is the height of elegance. We were told to have a seat in a little alcove off the lobby and Thuan took care of the check-in process, which had no glitches whatsoever. They brought us cool washcloths while we waited.
It is much, much warmer here than in HK. Those jackets weren’t needed, and the long pants weren’t especially appreciated, even.
Thuan told us that for the next day’s events we should dress cool and casual – shorts were going to be perfectly acceptable.
Interesting thing about the hotel – no ice machine. We have a fridge in the room, but no ice bucket. While wandering around looking for one I ran into a bellman who said he’d bring me some, which he did.
The pics from the hotel speak for themselves. We are on the 18th floor, so are sufficiently removed from the street that it’s very quiet.
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| Lobby |
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| Our room |
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| View from our room |
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| View from our room |
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| View from our Room |
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