We have made it to Vietnam!
We spent our last day in Laos collecting our passports from the Vietnamese consulate, visiting a temple and having a chill out at the hostel. We had booked a tuk tuk to the airport for 5pm through the hostel. The two Germans who were sharing a dorm with us were also on the same flight and their tuk tuk arrived at 10 to 5. Ours still hasn't arrived at 5 past so we double checked and although they didn't say so, it was clear that there wasn't one coming! Finally, someone arrived at 20 past 5, which wasn't too bad, but being a bit nervous about the flight I was a bit on edge! However, we arrived at the airport just as check in was opening, so if we had got there any earlier we would have just been stood in a queue.
We checked in, passed passport control and managed not to get my vape confiscated at security! A bit of a wait in departures and we were soon on the plane just after 7.30.
I was a bit freaked at this point as it was a small propeller powered plane. However, the flight was pretty smooth and really fast! We were out and in our car by 9pm. We had booked a taxi through the hotel we are staying in, so we got greeted by a guy with Shane's name on a sign at arrivals! I wanted a photo but he was on a bit of a mission so I didn't get one.
We arrived at our hotel and taken to our room, which had been upgraded for the first night! It was a massive room with a balcony overlooking the street but both of us were pretty tired so we watched a film on the TV and went to sleep.
Today we were up and ready for not only our first day in Vietnam but also Shane's birthday! We started with our free breakfast and then the lovely lady at reception talked us through a map and the best things to do. We went for a bit of a wander around the old quarter, feeling very overwhelmed! After sleepy Laos it is a massive culture shock! But it is amazing and we are already liking Vietnam!
One of the things Shane felt he would miss out on by not being at home was dead pool being released in the cinema. Therefore we decided to go watch it for his birthday. We got a taxi to a shopping mall, which was built underground. It was a massive centre with so many shops, the cinema, an ice rink and a water park! We were early for the film so walked around trying to take it all in! We then headed to the cinema and watched the film, which was really good, so funny!
Another taxi took us back to the old quarter and we went back to grab some money and are now heading out to do some shopping! We are going to spend tonight celebrating Shane's birthday with some food and probably a fair few drinks!