The JOYS of quequeing!!

Ok BIG airport lesson- I can her some of you laughing right now- ALWAYS check the Departures check in sign before quequeing up! I guess I thought it was 1978 or somewhere near there because I turned the corner right by the lifts from the train to International, and there was a QUEQUE! And there were lots of Asian people quequeing up and China Air signs all over- so I took my place-not too awfully far from the front of the queque.

All the while thinking- "How cool is this? Right by the escalator, not many people here etc etc- and already dreaming of the leisurely dinner I would be enjoying in just a matter of minutes!" Except I didn't factor in the amount of people who knew people who worked at the counters and got to jump the queque nor did I notice that the CA flight numbers on the signs above the check in counters looked nothing like what was on my ticket- which I also didn't look at until an hour had passed and I was now 3rd or 4th in line.

I was not just in the wrong queque but in the wrong section of the airport- MY QUEQUE was at the complete OTHER end of the departure area and the queque there was not only longer, but filled with people who had "special" issues-like 7 boxes poorly wrapped to take on the plane, or the over the weight limit on baggage or the stolen credit card person. So another hour went along and when I finally made it up to the front, and checked in, most of the restaurants -if you can call them that- at the airport food hall had closed. I did manage to wolf down a decent Thai curry though- and it was especially delicious listening to all the different voices that were going on around me.

Then onto another really really long queque getting onto the plane. I was rewarded in the end by getting to sit next to a Taiwanese couple who live in NZ and were going back to Taiwan to visit their farm. He was a farmer and she was a school teacher and they were delightful!

At Taipei Airport, I got to wait for 4 hours for the flight to Ho Chi Minh- and there I met this really lovely young woman who is studying in NZ and going back to HCM to visit with her mother and 3 brothers....we had a delightful chat and the time went by really fast.

I am here now- queque-less in Ho Chi Minh- right in the heart at a lovely hotel called The Lavendar and am about to hit the streets. It is really only noon, but it feels like midnight!

Tomorrow lots of sights to see and lots of snaps to take. AND hopefully no more queques for a while ! [I did spot a beautiful botanic garden and pagoda on the way in, so I am going to find my way back there- oh and have a drink on the verandah of the Rex Hotel]
Ciao for Now