Classic Budget Travelling!

Dramatic first day of Vietnam, to say the least.

We should have noted the ominous sign of the electronic signboard breaking down at the budget terminal. We experienced massive turbulence somewhere in the middle of Vietnam whilst on Tiger Airways (Daph screamed, Dwayne got his really sweaty palms). With a thunderstorm in the backdrop, our arranged pickup isn't really a pickup afterall. He shoves us into a cab and the cab drives off. Then, in the pouring rain, he asks us... "where we going"? The Ritz Hotel. And he didn't know what that was. OMG. (and i did not have the hotel's address, not like its Hilton or Sheralton).

Thank goodness for Ho-H0, a 3 mins call to her allows her to give us full details of the hotel's address. Lay Thai To. Dwayne fishes out Lonely Planet, finds the location and points it out to the driver. The driver is superman - thunderstorm, highway, using two handphones, one radio receiver, reading our map, and its a manual car. OMG.

So we reach where we're supposed to be and we see this shabby sign that says "RITZ HOTEL". Can't see the hotel but the sign points to a dark alley which looks even dirtier. We look at each other as we peer into the alley. Its still raining heavily. And the driver only speaks vietnamese. OMGGGGGGG GG GLHF.