Well today's the day...Vietnam here I come!!!

I'd checked my luggage in, been through security and was just enjoying a coffee and cake in the departure lounge when airport security began instructing everyone to move . So we did, for a twenty metres or so, but they kept instructing us to keep moving. It wasn't just the passengers it was the retail staff too. It went on for probably half an hour or so (who knew Brisbane International was that big) and finally we stopped.

They then grouped us by flight number and we had to go through a security check again but were none the wiser as to what had happened. I later found out from some people from Kingaroy who were travelling to Ho Chi Minh City that the passengers from an arriving plane had disembarked the wrong direction and so hadn't been security checked on landing. While it was an inconvenience, it was reassuring to know that securitynwere on to it...though how the passengers could go the wrong way is a mystery.

Yes, I did say some people from Kingaroy! I never see anyone from Kingaroy in Brisbane, but go to Vietnam and run into two lots!

As it was night when we landed the only thing that I noticed as we descended, was the lights had a very orange glow, rather than the blue/white colour you normally expect, perhaps because their power supply is a different voltage.

As the tour bus drove me to the Vassai Hotel, I couldn't get over the traffic. Lots of what sounded like friendly, "Hey, I'm changing lanes; or you cut that a bit close." horn tooting. And the scooters!!!

They weave in and out of the cars like busy ants in a hurry to get back to their nest. The motorists in Brisbane have nothing to complain about with cyclists compared to this.

The scooters and bicycles seem to mainly use the far right hand lane and I'd say 90% of the riders wear surgical looking masks but made of fabric, I guess to reduce the amount of car fumes they inhale, and not all wore helmets. In fact I saw what I assume was a mother and her approximately eight year old daughter, and Mum had a helmet on and the daughter didn't! Lots of female passengers sitting side-saddle and four people on one scooter; a woman then child then another woman and lastly a poor kid hanging on at the end!

Now that it's morning I can see the Vissai Hotel is set amongst some very grand buildings as well as some very derelect ones. I can see lots of trees in one area out of my window, and am hoping it's a park where maybe I can hire a bike and go for a ride, or at the very least go for a walk. I hope we don't have to evacuate the building as I'm on the eighth floor and the fire stairs are external! One good thing though, they are right beside my room, so I'll be first down them, if only I can overcome my fear of heights.

My room is very grand, and funnily enough the bathroom has solved a few design problems I was having with how I would renovate my bathroom; it's exactly how I'd like mine.

As the bellhop gave me instructions on how to use the light controls etc, when it came to the air-conditioning, he said that 21 degrees was a good temperature to set it to. 21 degrees!!! What about conserving electricity! The toilet flush is interesting too, it must be about twenty litres! The first time I used it I thought the button had got stuck and went in to check it. (Can we fix it? Yes we can! ...even in Vietnam.)

Anyway that was the first day of my holiday, now I'm heading down for breakfast, ready to begin my second day.