Early morning flight to Vietnam, and What have I done to deserve this? – Day 123 – Jan 3, 2026

3.30am comes early. I hop out of bed, shower and bring the fruit tray out of the fridge to come to room temperature. Joe puts the pastries in the microwave, and we wake the girls. It’s hard to get up this early, but before we know it, we’re all packed and downstairs in the lobby, waiting for our 5am shuttle to the airport.

The airport is awake and busy, even at this hour. The check in area is super big, and at the end of each row of check in counters, there’s a tall, ornate sculpture. Check in is a smooth exercise with all our luggage coming in at or below the limit – phew!

Security was a breeze, even though they needed to look through I think 5 out of our 7 trays through the scanners… We’d only left one container of lotion in the wrong bag, so pretty good for us!

Joe likes sitting still and waiting by the gate, fearing we’ll miss our plane if he doesn’t keep an actual eye on it. I like to roam and explore, much more so without bags, so when we’ve parked Joe by the gate, the girls and I go to spend our last Thai cash, and bring back some food to enjoy at the gate.

Joe just wanted a croissant, and the girls spotted McDonald’s and wanted McMuffins with sausage and egg. I saw the ham and cheese sandwiches in mini baguettes, and was sold!

Our flight left at 7.45am, and about half hour after take off, we were served a fried rice meal.

We discovered the tail camera view! How cool is it to sit and watch where your plane is actually flying?

And just like that, by 9.15am we were in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City! Even though it’s been officially named Ho Chi Minh City since 1975, Saigon is still widely used throughout Vietnam. Passport control looked like it was going to take foreeeeeeeever, but then an officer was opening up a new line, and went and hand picked families with kids for his newly opened line. We got lucky, and suddenly we were 2nd instead of last!

Once out of the airport with all our luggage, we found the right column and waited for our driver. I went to the ATM, as we didn’t have any Vietnamese cash, and we set off for our hotel. $1CA equals approximately 20.000 Vietnamese Dong, so asking the ATM for millions at a time is the norm…

Because we arrived so early, we get to the hotel around 10.30am. We check in, but our room is not ready yet, so we have to store our bags while we go exploring the neighbourhood. One of the staff at the hotel recommends we try Pho Viet Nam, which is just around the block. The first one we see seems full, and when we turn and look at the outside plastic tables, the staff wave towards another door further down, saying “same, same”. Sure enough, it’s the same place, with two venues! This second venue has tables and air conditioning inside, which is oh so welcome right now.

We sit down and the second the menu is in front of us and we look down, there’s a barking server next to us yelling “hurry hurry, what do you want?”. The girls have no clue, this is their first pho experience, I recommend the “well done beef” for Téa, I order “raw beef” for myself, and Joe looks bewildered. There are 20-25 different phos on the menu, and he doesn’t know where to look. At home in Vancouver, way back before we moved to Ontario, his favourite was always the “special”, which has it all. There’s well done beef, raw beef, meatballs and tendons, and I find it on this menu. I point it out to him, and done, that’s what he and Maylin are sharing. We all order a beverage each, and the server is happy now that we’ve ordered.

The phos arrive so fast. The beverages take forever to come, we’re half way done our meals when the drinks arrive. The soups are delicious, there are savoury and spicy sauces to add, and a giant plate of herbs and sprouts for the table. We doctor our phos, I add spice to mine, but Joe is sharing with Maylin so he leaves his milder.

The raw beef is soon cooked in the hot broth, and I get some stuck between my teeth. Not just any teeth, my bad tooth and its neighbour… Luckily, I think, I have a flosser in my bag, so I’m able to get it out. It hurts. It hurts so much.

After we leave the restaurant, it’s not quite 12pm, so our room won’t be ready for us to check in just yet. We decide to explore to make the time go faster, and so we walk up another block and cross the street. When you don’t know a city, and you need to find a washroom, those Starbucks signs sure are good to see!

After the washroom, Maylin is hot and I’m in pain. So much pain. Feels like the entire left side of my head is throbbing. Funnily enough, right across the street from our hotel, there’s a dentist. Joe had jokingly said “maybe you can get your tooth fixed there” when we arrived, and now, he suggests it again. It is starting to sound like the only sane thing to do.

At 1pm, I cross the street and go ask them when I can be seen. At 3pm I reemerge, root canal done. I’m numb and in pain, but go back up into the hotel room to see the rest of the family. Joe has found bugs, teeny tiny microscopic bugs, but lots of them. Not harmful bugs, just bugs. He doesn’t like it. He contemplates moving rooms, but decides to try staying in the room for the night.

We leave the room and the bugs behind, and go to the market. Our hotel is one block away from the largest market in Saigon city centre, and so that’s our destination. The market is PACKED, there are vendors in all directions, with wares from floor to ceiling. It is hot and cramped and vendors are shouting their offers to us from all directions. It’s overwhelming.

Then the vendors thin out a bit, making space for some food and drink vendors. It’s amazing how they’ll expand and contract their restaurant space depending on need, with tiny stools to sit on, and slightly taller stools for putting two and two together with a tray on top to create a table. We sit down and order some cool drinks and a small snack to carry us over until dinnertime. I want soft food, Maylin wants crunchy. We get half an order of summer rolls and half an order of spring rolls, to please everyone. They are delicious, and not too hard to chew.

From the market, we head back home to the hotel, where Joe resumes his bug squashing hobby, and I lie down for a moment. For dinner, we walk straight across the street to a small place with a good selection. I won’t be chewing on my left side for a while, so I order soft food. What Joe grew up with as congee, is called rice porridge here. It’s nothing like the rice porridge I grew up with in Norway! In Vietnam, rice porridge is with either chicken, pork, beef or seafood. I’m sure there are vegetarian options as well, but to get some flavour and something easy to chew, I get seafood. I love seafood, and this rice porridge/congee is great! The crispy fried garlic chips on top give some bite to an otherwise very safe and easy food.

After dinner, all we have to do is run across the street. Crossing streets in Vietnam, just like in Thailand, is an extreme sport. Cars and motorcycles and pedestrians alike show little to no regard for red or green lights. I must say though, motorists will do their upmost to not actually hit you, but it sure looks close at times. Oh, and did you know? There are two languages in Vietnam: Vietnamese and horns. The horn of a vehicle is used loud and often. I have no clue what they’re trying to say, other than “outta my way, here I come”.

We go to bed early, as our day has been full on since before dawn, and hope for a good night’s sleep.