Buga: 27.01.2020
On Tuesday, January 14, 2020, the first city change in Asia was on the agenda. Even though I have changed cities several times in Canada, I am still a little nervous every time. It's not just a new city that awaits you. It's also a different hostel, which will be my home for a few days, different roommates (also called 'roomies' here, short for roommates), sometimes a different culture, and definitely a different environment that you have to get used to. I don't think I will ever get used to it, as the excitement is always too great ;)
So, I checked out of the hostel in Ho Chi Minh at 8:00 in the morning and took the public bus to the airport. So, one last time I had to endure the traffic and honking in the big city - I definitely won't miss that. When I arrived at the airport, I followed the routine that I now definitely had ;) Drop off luggage, receive boarding pass, empty water bottle, go through security checks without any problems (where you have to take off your shoes as a standard procedure here), refill water bottle, look for the gate, wait for about 30 minutes, and definitely DO NOT stand up and get in line at the first call, because everyone does that. The Vietnamese, in particular, seem to believe that if they stand at the back of the line, the plane will leave the country without them.
The flight went as expected without any problems, and I landed in Da Nang after 1 1/2 hours. I had expected a similar drama at baggage claim as in Ho Chi Minh, but luckily that didn't happen. From Da Nang, I took a shuttle for about 1 hour to the beautiful city of Hoi An, in the south.
When I arrived at the hostel, I unpacked my backpack in peace and quickly made new friends. In a small group, we had something to eat and then went to the bar in the hostel.
Quickly, the small group became a large group, and we took a shuttle to a party at another hostel. The shuttle brought us home very late :)