Our entry into Vietnam was not without difficulties. On September 7th, when we were at the Bangkok airport and had already checked in online, we couldn't take off. One of our children's visas had the wrong date. We checked the visa details, including names, birthdates, and passport numbers for some, but not all. So, we contacted the Vietnamese Embassy in Bern from Bangkok, using a phone number they had provided. In the second step, we realized that we had probably woken the lady at the other end from her sleep. After many discussions with the ground staff and the embassy, it became clear: we couldn't enter. Our nerves were quite tense. The embassy informed us that it would take about a week for us to receive our visa...
So, we booked a hotel, returned to Bangkok, and waited. Fortunately, we had a helpful Vietnamese embassy staff member who sent us the visa after just one day. So, we rebooked all our flights and headed to the airport...
Finally arriving in Vietnam, we had to wait for a while at passport control before proceeding. Then, we went to our Airbnb accommodation. Our expectations were high, especially mine (Liisa), as I had hoped to have a great apartment in Hanoi. Unfortunately, reality was somewhat different than expected. It wasn't a total flop, but it was close🙈. Anyway, the accommodation was okay for 2-3 days, but for our family of five, it was quite small, very noisy, and not suitable overall.
In Hanoi, the life of the Vietnamese people takes place on the sidewalks. That's where you buy groceries, buy flowers, play tennis, and even slaughter animals. As a pedestrian, you navigate the streets. With three children and the traffic in Hanoi, it was almost a life-threatening experience. The smog was crazy too. Almost everyone wore masks on their scooters.
Anyway, we quickly realized that Hanoi wasn't quite our city. A trip to Ha Long Bay brought us back to positive thoughts and allowed us to breathe again.
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