Day 9: Goodbye Vietnam!

I awoke at 545am naturally to catch my private car that I had booked to take me to the airport.  Rob and Iwao had awoken to say goodbye. It had been a really great time with them and I'm not sure what the trip would have been like without their company.  I'm glad I have some friends of which we can share our stories of Vietnam together, both from Canada and Spain.

I said my goodbyes to my sleepy travel buddies and headed out the door of the Blue Paradise Hotel across the misty early morning streets of Hanoi into the car.  The sun was about to rise and during the 30 min drive to the airport the big orange disc made it's way slowly up into the sky.

The drive seemed rather uneventful to me, which I thought was a bit weird because we almost got into several accidents, saw scooters carrying fridges and dozens of tied chickens, and saw a herd of buffalo blocking the highway. I guess being in Vietnam for a week takes the insane and unbelievable and makes it regular.  Perhaps I was starting to feel like a local!

I arrived at the airport on time and after some confusion with the airline staff and a change in boarding gates that nearly gave me a heart attack I've made it onto the plane which is where I'm writting this final Vietnam blog entry at 32000 feet.

In reflection, I could not have predicted the fondness and sense of friendliness that I got from the country.  I was only in Vietnam for a week but it had felt like I had been there for much longer. I'd seen many unforgettable sights and made friends with some unforgettable people and for these reasons I will always look back on Vietnam as another fantastic trip of a lifetime!  Farewell Vietnam!