As a continuation of our round the work trek this last fall (please excuse the delay in posting all of these...) We are off to get suits made and enjoy some small town low key Vietnamese culture.
The previous posts, and the entire trip can be found here:
http://2mos.ca
Anyway onto the flight!
We arrived at Hanoi Airport in the rain, the last remnants of Typhoon Nari still providing occasional showers. Vietnam Airlines has a priority line for domestic check in, and after some drama from the family in front of us checking half a dozen bags, we had boarding passes in hand and were going through security. The domestic waiting area at HAN is tiny, exclusively using bus gates.
Vietnam Airlines operates a business class lounge, spacious but crowded when we arrived with a 777 and A330 both departing within half an hour of each other for Ho Chi Minh City. We were able to stake out a table by the window, with the AC on full blast beside us, and as soon as the SGN flights were boarding essentially had the place to ourselves. The lounge has a good self-serve drink selection and a manned bar for more complex orders. The buffet food options weren't appetizing at all, but the soup options were pretty great - they essentially have bowls with a pile of dry rice noodles and various dehydrated flavourings and toppings underneath that you pour hot water over and eat. It's no replacement for northern pho, but much tastier than instant ramen for a pre-flight noodle fix.
Comunistical Airport Lounge
Food offerings of instant noodles and white bread.
Luke Warm Chunks of Meat and Veg
Kraft Single anyone? Skyteam Partner Air France might not be amused with this cheese offering hehe!
We enjoyed our time in the lounge and waited to get underway
The Faux Pho was pretty good and the beer was ICE cold. So really - not bad.
Priority boarding was offered, but it didn't really matter unless you wanted to nab a seat on the bus to the aircraft.
Pardon the glare from the bus windows - off we went to a remote stand....
Our A321 for the quick trip south was brand new, with a sparkling clean interior and nice, comfortable, but standard business class seats.
We were seated in the second row, and the flight attendant was quick to come around with a refreshing cold towel and a choice of juice or water.
The climb out was bumpy on account of the storm, but once we were above the storm it was a smooth ride most of the way to DAD.
The inflight snack for our one hour flight was a warm mini pizza with a tiramisu for dessert. We weren't really expecting a hot snack, but the tray was offered and we felt obligated. Tom opted for a cup of tea in their cute lotus-shaped china, and Ben asked for something harder. The flight attendant responded that the flight was dry, however they have tea, coffee, soda, and beer....so clearly not understanding the "dry" part of the equation, Ben went with the beer.
Descent into Da Nang was incredibly turbulent as we dodged clouds in the storm. Our flight path seemed tortuous, taking us out over the South China Sea and then back inland. More worryingly, the flight attendant in the forward jumpseat didn't have her seatbelt done up correctly, with the shoulder straps tucked under her arms. Upon landing safely at DAD and pulling up to our remote stand, the same flight attendant struggled to open the door, and had to ask the training FA on board for assistance. Not a vote of confidence safety-wise for Vietnam Airlines.
After a quick bus to the terminal, we were picked up by a prearranged driver on the other side. The rain had cleared and the typhoon had moved on, and we strapped in for the ride down to Hoi An.
Thanks for reading! hope you enjoyed the report.