Henkybaby From Netherlands, joined May 2008, 529 posts, RR: 0 Posted (8 months 3 weeks 5 days 19 hours ago) and read 4192 times:
.
Angkor What?
After two days in Saigon (yes, everybody still calls it that) it was time to go to Siem Reap. On my mad dash around the world I had planned 3 days there to relax and visit the famous Angkor Wat temples. I had however failed to realize that May is about the worst time to get here since temperatures and most of all humidity is soaring. Same went for Saigon so unfortunately I did a lot of pool-lounging there. It is a nice city though. Not really sure if it is a beautiful ugly city or an ugly beautiful city.
I was told by my hotel (Renaissance Saigon) to get to the airport a little early since they had been informed that VN was performing a system upgrade and there could be delays. Not a problem, since I wanted to check out the airport anyway. Upon my arrival it turned out there system was indeed down, since they could not find my reservation. Mind you, it had been changed by VN a total of 13 times (!) since I booked the flight 5 months ago. Most of them time changes but I was also changed to the VN829 from the VN827. After I explained it all to them and assured me that my Galileo reference was accurate it all came together. I was handed a boarding pass for an exit seat (15A).
From there on everything went really fast. No queues, no waiting, nothing. I was airside in less than 3 minutes. Unfortunately since I was flying economy I had no lounge access. Business however just seemed ridiculous for such a short flight. VN has no affiliation I know of so I did not try their airline lounge. Maybe I could have, since I found out later that is the lounge OW uses.
Main promenade
SGN airport has three levels. One where you enter with the main walkway/promenade connecting all boarding gates Next there are the boarding gates themselves on a lower level and up one level you find some restaurants. It is on that level I decided to nest myself. I chose the Singapore style restaurant that offers a nice view of the airport. Uncannily it is also above the gates where SQ departs from. What are the odds?
There was also a Tiger Airways heading for ... you guessed it: SIN. Who knew traffic was so high between these two cities?
The food in the place was pretty nice (nothing special) but it was extremely relaxed and better (in many ways) than a lounge. There were very view people there or at the airport itself for that matter. It felt almost deserted. With no people to watch what is there to do at an airport? Oh yeah, that's right..
The Philippines got pulled over for speeding
No less than 2 SQ's at the gate. One departed and one they towed to a different gate.
A VN A332
Don't know them, but they are aptly named
I kinda like the VN livery
Now isn't that the cutest little tow truck?
After two hours or so it was time to head to gate 8. There were quite a few people already there but no sign of any boarding related activity. It soon became clear that the 'system upgrade' also affecred the computers at the gate. They were slightly agitated...
Ze plane...
After a while a young female Captain arrived – I believe she was introduced as Barbara Flemming – followed by a much older Vietnamese FO. She looked the part I must say. Intriguing... No pictures I'm afraid. To compensate I took one of ATC.
The problems were eventually sorted and we started boarding. In no particular order, so I managed to be the first one on the plane (by sheer coincidence). That allowed for some cabin shots.
A321 cabin. I like the J product for a regional airline. Beats BA regional...
My seat and alas: no window.
Lots of legroom though
My new favorite window to take pictures out of...
Boarding was quick but we needed to wait for a tour group. Half the plane was eventually filled with Japanese elderly. That, I might add, takes a while...
The Captain herself did not make any announcements. The information we got was limited but sufficient. We took off rather calmly and never climbed above FL210 for the short flight to REP. It took less than 45 minutes. They did manage to squeeze in catering.
A rather inedible sandwich and a tiny chocolate. They also passed out a zillion forms you need to fill in to obtain a Visa on Arrival. You need to remember to take a passport picture otherwise you're in trouble. The couple next to me did not manage to fill in the forms on time and started blaming the crew for the short time they had and that they had to fold away the tables... Strange people...
As I said: no window. Did manage some shots of the outside. Some even through my new favorite window.
Now these are stunning
Final approach
Landing was smooth and uneventful. I tried to be one of the first at customs since I did not want to behind 50 Japanese to apply for my visa. Only a couple of quick snapshots of the plane and the airport.
The human visa production line...
Cambodia looks nice. The taxi ride to my hotel gave the impression of a friendly and organized country. Tomorrow I will spend at the temples. Today I will be at the:
and my
Overall impression of VN is very positive. The plane was clean, the staff charming and professional and the seats excellent. Of course a 45 minute flight is not a good yardstick but I would not hesitate to fly them in the future.
As always: feedback is appreciated, as are suggestions.
Azjubilee From United States of America, joined Apr 2000, 3085 posts, RR: 35 Reply 1, posted (8 months 3 weeks 5 days 12 hours ago) and read 3670 times:
What hotel is that in REP? Nice report... looking forward to visiting both places someday.
MHTripple7 From United States of America, joined Feb 2008, 583 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (8 months 3 weeks 5 days 12 hours ago) and read 3641 times:
Very cool TR, I hope to visit both SGN and REP in the near future. Please post some pics of the Angkor Wat!
Travel Service is Czech Charter airline. This a/c was leased to Indochina Airlines for few months as they did not have their own a/c together with the crew. The a/c has recently returned to PRG, to its base and will serve Travel Service's summer destinations.
Next Flight: Sep 27 PRG-VIE-INN, Sep 28 INN-VIE-PRG on OS operated by Tyrolean Airways
BA319-131 From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 6400 posts, RR: 52 Reply 4, posted (8 months 3 weeks 5 days 9 hours ago) and read 3395 times:
Hi Henkybaby,
Nice TR, really usefull as we plan to be using VN when we visit in December.
Quoting Henkybaby (Thread starter): they could not find my reservation. Mind you, it had been changed by VN a total of 13 times (!) since I booked the flight 5 months ago.
- Is that a record?
Quoting Henkybaby (Thread starter): VN has no affiliation I know of so I did not try their airline lounge. Maybe I could have, since I found out later that is the lounge OW uses
Yeah, heavy traffic. You have so many choices to fly between SIN-SGN: such as SQ (up to 3 fly per day), VNA, Tiger, JetStar, Garuda, Lion.
Quoting Henkybaby (Thread starter): The food in the place was pretty nice (nothing special) but it was extremely relaxed and better (in many ways) than a lounge.
Actually VNA has a separate lounge (near gate 19). You could have nice view to spot an airplane. But again, food was so average.
Quoting Alespesl (Reply 3): ravel Service is Czech Charter airline. This a/c was leased to Indochina Airlines for few months as they did not have their own a/c together with the crew. The a/c has recently returned to PRG, to its base and will serve Travel Service's summer destinations.
Since opening last year, Indochina Airlines has wet-lease of 2 aircraft from Czech. Then, they operate at loss, so they return one airplane back to Czeck. Only keep one for SGN-HAN and SGN-DAN route.
F1eddie From Ireland, joined May 2007, 424 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (8 months 3 weeks 4 days 5 hours ago) and read 2659 times:
I got to see both these cities a few years back. Alas though as a backpacker, so no flying for me. Did you see any Laos airlines. I heard some stories about them while i was there.
Your hotel does look nice. Where i stayed in REP was very nice for being on a budget. Did you have the children hassle you. The ones that hassled us actually spoke Irish to us, and they were only, at the max 14...
Did you see the war museum there. It was very sad...
Flown on EI, FR, BMI, TG, PG, FD, JQ, DJ, LA, NZ, SQ, DL, LX, LH
CityofAthens From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 7, posted (8 months 3 weeks 4 days 5 hours ago) and read 2649 times:
Well the photos were the highlight for me .... great skills, my favourites are the VN A330 - Beautiful aircraft painted in beautiful colours (an improvement on the older colours in my opinion).
The photos of the sky enroute to REP are stunning .... oh, and the old Cabin Pressure and Slide lights . The former lights red in a depressurisation, and the latter has a white light which illuminates if you forget to disarm the door when opening it (meaning you'll blow the slide and have a nice meeting with your manager later ).
The airport in SGN itself looks pretty new from what I can see; the VN uniforms are charming. Will certainly go one day ... unfortunately we just keep flying over all of these great places on the way to BKK or SIN ...
Henkybaby From Netherlands, joined May 2008, 529 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (8 months 3 weeks 3 days 14 hours ago) and read 2504 times:
Quoting MHTripple7 (Reply 2): Please post some pics of the Angkor Wat!
With pleasure! Cambodia is an amazing place with a troubled history. Not too sure they do not share part of the blame since all they talk about in their historical stories is war and conquest. They also do not seem to get along with the Vietnamese. Friendly bunch though and very entertaining. I will make sure to go again some day!
Siem Reap transportation
Funny
Adorable. I can see why Angelina took one home.
Me enjoying the daily light show
Angkor Wat
The Buddhist equivalent of me
The moat surrounding the temple complex
Surprisingly I found Angkor Wat not the most impressive temple. There are quite a few and the more ruined they were the more authentic they felt. To me at least. They are all called Angkor 'something' since they were part of the city of Angkor. A city that housed some 1 million (!) people around 1100...
This is the temple where they shot Tomb Raider with 'what's her name'...
Trees growing around a statuette. Everybody has this picture.
The second day I went to the floating village. This was my favorite but I love people. The village is divided in two. On the left the Cambodians and on the right the Vietnamese. As I said: they do not like each other. Surprisingly the tours only go to the Vietnamese side. Supposedly they have more of an eye for what the tourist want.
What annoyed me was that you pay $30 for the boat tour but exactly $0,00 goes to the people you are there to see. I can imagine that they do not like the foreign tourist with their camera's much.
Now here is one I am proud of...
Approaching the village
Yes. You see it right. Pigs.
And back around sunset
It was an interesting day but I do have some issues with these people zoo's. I know they are very important to the local economy but it would be nice if the profited more.
I can recommend Cambodia to everybody. If you can tolerate heat and humidity (and I mean HIGH heat and HIGH humidity) be sure to go in May or June. Less people so it feels much less Disney. Apparently in the high season it is boiling over with Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese and Americans.
EC001 From France, joined Jan 2009, 64 posts, RR: 1 Reply 11, posted (8 months 2 weeks 3 days 20 hours ago) and read 1867 times:
WOW! superb Trip report Henkybaby!
First off all I really appreciated all your plane spotting at the airport, and the great pictures as well. My parents have been to Vietnâm as well and found it to be an astonishing country with very friendly people!
And it's great that you didn't only content yourself to showing the "airborne" journey but also your stay in Vietnâm and Cambodia. Again amazing and very truethful photographies...(the people, the landscapes, the temple... )
BRavo! I'll be looking forward to reading your other TR!!
Sponsor Message: 
From Netherlands, joined May 2008, 529 posts, 
No pictures I'm afraid. To compensate I took one of ATC.
From United States of America, joined Apr 2000, 3085 posts, 
From Czech Republic, joined Jan 2004, 554 posts, 
From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 6400 posts, 
From Vietnam, joined Nov 2008, 54 posts, 
From Ireland, joined May 2007, 424 posts, 
The former lights red in a depressurisation, and the latter has a white light which illuminates if you forget to disarm the door when opening it (meaning you'll blow the slide and have a nice meeting with your manager later 
From France, joined Jan 2009, 64 posts, 
From Australia, joined May 2009, 32 posts, 
Sponsor Message: 
Printer friendly format
