Ottawa, Ontario June 30 2023

 Hello all; I arrived home late on June 22,  with no thanks to Air Canada. Everything went excellent until I arrived at Customs in Montreal. Before I got to the Customs officer, an employee of Air Canada  with a scanner, and she was checking all in-coming passengers.  She informed me that my flight, (due to depart in two and a half hours), was cancelled, and to go to their counter after Customs. There, I was told that it would be at least six hours before a flight to Ottawa was available. She then said, " we have one departing for Quebec in two hours if you would like that." When I asked if they would guarantee that flight would then go on to Ottawa, she said, " it only goes to Quebec city, but that is closer than Montreal!!!." I declined the offer. I got to Ottawa airport at Ten P.M.

All my travels outside of Canada were excellent and on time. That included flights in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Of those countries, all drive on the same side of the road as we do, with the exception of Thailand. It is not safe to walk in the so called, "old", sections of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city, due to motorbikes. They drive and park on sidewalks, so one must be extremely careful to even walk one block.

Asia was hot, more so than usual for this time of year, however, one could not have asked for better treatment from the people. In Vietnam, the Americans have done a lot to build hospitals and establish businesses, which has improved their image. This time, I did not see one person wearing a Canada hat or backpack....which most Americans did at one time to gain, or at least try to get accepted.

I will soon have another update, for my next adventure, a return trip to Istanbul. I expect to be away for most of the month of August. It is my plan to use up some of my Air Miles for that trip, and finding days with flights  with available seats for Air Miles passengers will take some time. Take Care 

 

Pattaya Thailand, Monday June 19,

Hello all; This will be my last report from Thailand for this venture.  I will be departing from here at noon Wednesday our time, and heading to the Bangkok Airport by taxi, for my return flights home. I am scheduled to be departing  BKK at 23;45 Wednesday evening for a ten hour flight to Vienna, Austria. That is noon Wednesday in Ottawa. There will be a five hour stop in Vienna, change planes and off to Montreal and later, on to Ottawa around six P.M. 

A short time before departing Canada, a friend asked me how many flights and hours had I logged. He was aware that I have recorded every flight, type of aircraft, airline, make of plane, etc since my first flight many years ago. To date, I have logged 1176 flights, and been airborne for 2384.47 hours. Someplace between Vienna and Montreal, I will pass the 2400 hour mark....100 days in the air. My shortest flight was 8 minutes. We lost an engine on take off from Calgary Alberta on a flight to Lethbridge. It was a twin engine Twin Otter aircraft. I record when the takeoff run begins, and note when the rubber hits the pavement at the end of the flight.

My two best days here away from the beach was first, last Friday when we visited the Pattaya Orphanage where I have worked in past visits here. We spent about an hour there with friends , and agreed to allow our photos being used on their website....(Pattaya Orphanage). Before departing, I gave them a 50 USD donation for an Ice Cream Day. That will be some day soon when they call the ice cream truck and it will come by and each child will get the ice cream of their choice..

Yesterday, with a friend and Thai family member, we drove out to Khao Chi Chan where an image of Buddah is laser etched in the mountain side.....massive.

Take care all, and I will report in after my return at the end of this week. I will  then have some details of my next outing. 

Pattaya, Thailand Sunday, June 11, 2023

 Hello all; Here we are in Thailand, having arrived on Friday evening at about nine after a one hour and ten minute flight from Saigon. We took a taxi from Bangkok airport and everything is still going great. Everything that is over which we had control. 

After each stay at a hotel, Booking.com with whom I book all hotels, asks for a report on the hotel from which I departed the previous day. For my report on the Hanoi hotel, I indicated that in my opinion, the hotel was greatly over rated, and it did not have many of the features advertised. I was asked for additional follow up information, which I supplied, and that is where the situation stands. In my view, the hotel is no more than a three- four star....not five plus as advertised.

The second issue arose on the taxi ride from Saigon airport to my hotel. Long story made short, the driver showed a phoney taxi license, and over charged me by about three times the normal rate. There is a toll gate upon exiting the airport grounds. The driver asked for 100,000 Viet Nam Dong...about ten dollars. He gave it to the person at the gate, with no change back. I found out later that the toll is ten thousand VND, about a dollar. The driver and gate operator are in my view operating a scam. Upon arrival at my hotel, the driver charged us 450,000 VND. I asked for a receipt...the driver went thru the motions, stamp and all....then sped off. The rate is on average, about 150,000 VND. The paper was blank, except for a stamp that is only a blob. I will take this scam racket up with the Vietnam embassy when I return to Ottawa.

Traffic is rather unusual by North American standards in VietNam. They, along with Laos and Cambodia drive as we do in Canada...right hand side. Thailand is left side. There are about nine million people in Saigon and six million motor bikes. Sidewalks are used for bike parking, and walking is a danger at all times. We spent the last day in Saigon at the zoo....one of the oldest in the world. Very nice, plenty of vegetation, and a huge Botanical garden. One could not ask for friendlier people than you find in Vietnam.  

Saigon...(Ho Chi Minh City) June 3, 2023

 We checked out of the Hanoi hotel and took a taxi to the airport just after breakfast. Everything went as planned, and after a flight of an hour and 45 minutes, we arrived here in the south of Vietnam. At one time, this area was known as South Vietnam, but after the war, it became one country. To me, there is a great difference  between  these two major cities. Saigon, as most people refer to it here, has always been a modern city, wide streets and sidewalks and many modern buildings. Hanoi , old quarter is crowded, narrow streets and much older structures. Much credit has been given to the different government styles of the past.

Today, we toured the War Remnants Museum near to our hotel. This historical place contains , as the name suggests, the left overs from two major wars...first with the French, then later, the Americans. There is everything from "Tiger Cages", to a guillotine, and many aeroplanes. As harsh as this place depicts history, it is all facts that did transpire.

They have had a lot of rain here in the last week, mostly showers, but often. The forecast for the next seven days is no better, with 80 to 90 percent probability....each day. The weather will determine how much we get to do, as it is not something we can ignore....no open top bus tours for example. I will have more on this in my next update in a few days.