From the Olympic Park, it took well over an hour to get back to the airport thanks to the awful traffic of Beijing. I settled up with Henry for the tickets and a few bucks for tolls. After tip, the total for the day came out to be ~$200, which I thought was pretty reasonable as we had a private car and driver for over 12 hours.
To say we were exhausted was an understatement. My friend was doing better than I was. I was pretty much ready to fall asleep standing up. After all, the last time I got a full night’s sleep was the previous Thursday back home. It would be Wednesday morning in Beijing in just a couple of hours. I was more than ready to check our massive bags in, and head to the lounge for a nice hot shower.
There were two problems with that plan. I assumed that China Southern had a pretty substantial operation in Beijing; thus, their check in counters were operated continuously through out the day. WRONG. We arrived to find the counters deserted. I went across the aisle to the Korean Air counters, where they were closing up shop, to ask if they knew when China Southern was open. The answer was two hours before departure. It was about 9 PM at that point, and our flight was scheduled to depart at 1:40AM. If the Korean Air agent was correct, that meant we had a two-hour wait before we could even check in. Not exactly welcome news at this point, but we didn’t have any alternatives. So we found a quiet spot around the corner, and set up camp.
Like good millenials, we busied ourselves with BS’ing on the internet. I did get bored fairly quickly, so I started aimlessly wandering around the check in area. Of course, I passed by the China Southern counters regularly to see if they opened any earlier. Sure enough they did, as there was another flight departing before ours. There were a couple of bouncers policing the line, who didn’t want to let us in as we were “too early” for the Ho Chi Minh city flight. But a flash of my Delta Platinum Medallion card, which grants me SkyTeam Elite Plus status as well, was enough to convince the bouncers to let us through. Boarding passes were in hand and the checked bags were off our hands a few minutes later.
It was off to security where we encountered another snag. Both of us triggered something that required secondary screening. With the TSA back home, secondary screening consists of a bored clerk glancing inside your bag for a second and maybe swabbing your bag for explosives. Secondary screening is a completely different animal in China. I could hardly keep a straight face as they sniffed every single bottle in my toiletry bag. My friend fared far worse. Everything in his bag right down to the last piece of lint was removed and scrutinized. He had been away from home for almost a year, so naturally he had a lot of stuff with him. Thus, screening took quite awhile, and my friend was understandably fuming by the end of it. He was probably thirty seconds away from swinging fists. Of course, I would have to back up my boy there and jump right in with him. That would have been entertaining and all. But visions of the gulag began dancing in my head, and I thought better of it and got us out there.
And now for that shower… Oh wait. I was hoping the new SkyTeam lounge would open by the time we rolled through Beijing. SkyTeam’s website seemed to suggest the lounge was already open, but my hopes were dashed after receiving invitations to whatever contract lounge we would have access to anyway with Priority Pass at check in. The lounge wasn’t without its upside. It was directly across the hall from our departure gate, and it had plenty of seating. Everything else was… meh at best. It was poorly lit, not very clean, and both vittles and beverages were not attractive. Food offerings consisted of cup noodles, dried out dim sum, and sandwiches that might just make gas station sandwiches seem gourmet. Snow beer was the only beer on offer. It might be the world’s most popular beer, but Snow is probably one of the worst beer I have drank, maybe on par with Keystone or Natty Light. There were no showers, though given the state of the rest of the lounge that might have been a positive. All that whining aside, it was a far more comfortable place to wait than the hard benches in the terminal. We did find a couple of comfortable chairs in a quiet corner near some coveted power outlets, so we settled in there.
China Southern Airlines 6041
Beijing (PEK) – Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)
Depart: 1:40AM
Arrive: 6:30 AM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 37D (Economy)
March 29, 2017
I was toying with the idea of paying for an upgrade for this flight since it would be the second redeye in two days for my friend and I. Heck, it was my third redeye in five days and, as I mentioned earlier, I have not slept more than a couple of hours since I left Houston. Sleep deprivation was starting to get to me, so a little bit of money to ensure comfort would be more than worth it. However, my friend talked me out of it and I’m glad he did.
The gate was practically deserted when boarding began, which is unusual in this day and age of air travel.
Our boarding passes were scanned and I made my way down the jetway in a zombie like state. It wasn’t until we sat down for ten or so minutes before it finally clicked: this flight was going to be empty. In fact, only ten more people joined us in economy class. It was a glorious sight and definitely conducive to getting some rest on this flight.
The last time I remember being on a flight this empty was back in 2000. My family and I were returning from a vacation in the Pacific Northwest, and the first leg of the return trip was a Delta flight from Seattle to Portland. The 757-200 operating our flight was late arriving from New York. We were pretty much the only the only passengers on the flight, and the door was shut as soon as we boarded. With a near empty 757 on short leg, climbout was an absolute blast. Fortunately, we pulled up next to the 727 that operated our redeye flight to Dallas. No such luck on the flight to Dallas, as we were the very last passengers to board and took the very last seats. I spent that flight crammed in the middle seat. Unable to sleep, I watched the awful movie playing on the flickering overhead CRT screens with the audio piped through the old tube headphones.
As I mentioned previously, I’ve had awfully good luck with empty middle seats while flying economy of late up until the Hainan flight to Beijing the night before. I suppose the travel gods decided reward me for my suffering on that flight, as this was like hitting the jackpot. Or the loads for this route could be just that bad. Whatever the reason, I was just thankful to actually have some space.
Whereas Hainan’s cabin color scheme was red, red, and more red, China Southern’s was very blue. The seats were fairly standard in width and pitch. Padding was a bit lacking; thus, the seats were on the firm side and very similar in comfort to the United 787 I flew to London.
I passed out even before the boarding door closed. The next thing I remember I was shaken awake by a flight attendant asking if I wanted to eat. More curious about what kind of meal would be served in economy on such a flight than actually hungry, I said yes. I figured it would a small snack; however, a tray bearing a full meal was placed on my tray table. I don’t remember the choices, but I got the stir-fried fish and black fungus with rice. It’s far tastier than it sounds. Everything was piping hot and delicious. I passed out again after eating and woke up in the middle of our decent to the unmistakable smell of cigarette smoke and the crack of dawn outside.
I couldn’t tell if it was a passenger or crewmember smoking, but the smell seemed to emanate from the front of the aircraft for what that is worth. Though it was unpleasant, it did pass. Touchdown at Ho Chi Minh City was smooth and ahead of schedule. We pulled into a remote gate next to a Vietnam Airlines A330-200. Prior to this trip, I have only used a remote gate once in my life for a mainline jet. This was the second one of the trip. While most people detest them, I actually like them quite a bit. It’s a throw back to the romance of the “golden age” of commercial aviation. Secondly, as an avgeek it is a great opportunity to get some unobstructed shots of the aircraft.
A bus was waiting for us, and the doors shut as soon as the last passenger was onboard. The driver must be practicing for an audition of the next Fast and Furious movie as we tore through the apron as if cops were hot in pursuit. A fellow passenger nearly ended up in my lap while taking a couple of fairly sharp turns. But we all made it to immigration in one piece, so that’s what counts. It seemed as if we were the first flight of the day to arrive as the immigration hall was a ghost town. Vietnam recently implemented an electronic visa program. Just submit an application online and email notification of approval will be provided. A paper copy of the visa approval is required for entry, which kind of defeats the purpose of the electronic program in my opinion. At any rate, we were both stamped into the country after a quick check of our documents.
After becoming instant millionaires after a trip to an ATM, we hailed an Uber and headed to our AirBnB in District 1. Overall, I’ve been very apprehensive about the whole AirBnB craze. I can appreciate its usefulness for large travel parties, but I still prefer the traditional hotel in most cases. So you can imagine I was a smidge apprehensive when my friend suggested we find an AirBnB for our time in Vietnam. Taking a step back, it’s funny that I have no problem staying in a room that’s used by hundreds of strangers a year, but I have an issue staying at someone’s home. My friend insisted on AirBnB, and I caved eventually. Man was I shocked when we arrived. This place was amazing.
There were two bedrooms both equipped with ensuite baths.
And a small, but fully equipped, kitchenette.
The owner even included a wifi hotspot with unlimited data for use during our stay. All of this cost us just $50 a night. To top it all off, it was fantastically located right in middle of plenty of restaurants and shops. I can’t say I’m an AirBnB convert, but this was a great first experience.
Showers and naps were the first order of the day, before heading out for some banh mi. Banh mi is one of my favorite Vietnamese foods. It is a sandwich filled with Vietnamese cold cuts, pickles, and fresh vegetables served on warm French bread. My favorite banh mi back home is from a restaurant in my hometown of New Orleans. The owners of the restaurant are a husband and wife team with a great story. They met during the Vietnam War, or War of American Aggression since I’m in Vietnam after all, while he was serving with the US military. After the war, they married and she immigrated to the United States bringing along her family recipes with her. Those recipes are the same ones used in the restaurant, and they’ve been serving up great food for a couple of decades now. Their original restaurant in outside of the city closed to make way for a Wal Mart Super Center a couple of years ago. But they reopened at a new location in Mid City after a fairly lengthy hiatus, and it’s as good as ever.
A quick Google search showed one of the most highly regarded banh mi shops in Ho Chi Minh city was about a 20 minute walk away, so that’s where we went. It was no frills assembly line type operation. There was a fairly lengthy line when we arrived, but it moved quickly. I'm pleased to say it was well worth the wait, and set me back under $1.
Both of us were exhausted from the last couple of days, so we took it easy our first day in Ho Chi Minh City. Exploring was limited to the immediate area near our AirBnB, which really wasn’t all that exciting and we were bored. There was a legitimate and highly related massage place nearby, that we hit up to kill some time. It was exactly what the doctor ordered after all those redeyes the last few days. We emerged relaxed and thoroughly refreshed.
Later that night, we headed back to the airport to pick up my friend’s wife. Her EVA Air flight departed Taipei on time, but for some reason they were put in a holding pattern just before arrival in Ho Chi Minh City. We made it to the airport before I noticed the hold on Flightradar24, so we were stuck waiting it there. Despite the relatively late hour, the entire arrivals area was buzzing with activity and made for excellent people watching through the thick haze of cigarette smoke, as it seemed everyone was chain smoking except us. There was a massive crowd of people waiting for arriving passengers. It was amusing to watch them anxiously glance as at their watches and smartphones intermittently while intensely scrutinizing the passengers emerging from the terminal. Their anxious looks turned to that of pure joy as they spotted their loved ones, and it was certainly heartwarming to watch their reunions.
A gentleman who was waiting for his daughter and grandchildren struck up a conversation with me after he saw my Texas Rangers t-shirt. His daughter and her family live in the Dallas area. You could definitely hear and feel the excitement in his voice when talked about their upcoming visit. This would be the first time he had seen them in five years as the trip is very expensive. That struck me quite a bit, and I could certainly relate to him given my own experience. Before I got into the frequent flier racket, I had not seen my family overseas in nearly a decade. Nowadays, I see them at least once a year. Jumping on these overseas trips at seemingly the drop of a hat feels like a relatively easy endeavor. Heck, I’ve even flown to Singapore over a long weekend just to make sure I re-qualified for elite status. I have done and seen so many things I only could dream of as a kid. While I have been very appreciative of being able to do these things before and I think I’m even more appreciative now.
My friend’s finally arrived about an hour late. It took another 30 minutes to find an Uber that wouldn’t cancel on us, and we were off to this late night barbeque restaurant. The food was excellent and the beer was ice cold.
During dinner, my friend’s wife asked how the AirBnB was. We exchanged knowing glances and decided to have a little fun with her. In short, we told her it was a hot mess with a lot of problems, including signs of a potential rodent problem. As you can see from the pictures above, the apartment was as clean can be. But better to set the expectations low at first, I say! Anyhow, she totally bought it and rationalized that we would only be staying there a few days. So one thing I left out before was that the apartment was located on the third floor in a colonial era building. It was accessed via steep and narrow spiral staircase were quite a bit of junk was stored, which gave further credence to our tall tail. Furthermore, the staircase is not lit at night.
When we started to go up the stairs, I’m sure she was thinking along the lines of, what the hell did these two idiots get me into again. As for my friend and I, we were laughing like a couple of idiots as we walked up the stairs. Until, we got to the second story where all heck broke loose. I was in the middle of a fit of giggles, when my friend’s wife let loose a blood curling scream and jumped back toward me. My friend turns around to see what’s going on, and his got wide and then he started really hustling up the stairs. At this point, I was still wondering what the hell is going on, and then I saw it: a giant rat just scurrying by. Though she was mollified when she actually saw the apartment, I’m not sure she has totally forgiven us yet. Well… Boys will be boys.