I woke up at about 9:00 AM, which is pretty late compared to my recent mornings. The reason was that I did not sleep well during the night for some reason. I even had a light headache when I woke up. When I checked my WHOOP score, it showed that my health monitor metrics had worsened, but it was not terrible. I had much worse scores when I got sick in Mongolia. That is why I could not get up, even though I had gone to bed early the night before.
Since I was going to check out that day, I packed everything and left my room with all my belongings. When I went downstairs, there were familiar faces after spending three days at the hostel. I checked out first and got Breakfast Set B, just like the day before. After I finished eating, I headed to my go-to coffee shop in Vientiane.
If you stay in Vientiane and are a budget traveler, I highly recommend WOOD WOOD HOSTEL. Depending on the season, you can stay there for about $5 per night, including breakfast (with coffee or tea), access to a living room, and a dining area.
Surprisingly, I felt better as I walked outside. I finished updating my blog at the coffee shop, which took only about an hour and a half. By that point, it was already after 12 PM, so I went to a random lunch spot that I found while walking down the street.
The baguette picture on the menu intrigued me. The restaurant had both indoor and outdoor seating and was owned by an older woman and a young man. When I ordered, she signaled him to take my order instead because I looked like a tourist. He showed me a new menu on his phone and recommended a sandwich. For some reason, I wanted to eat bread, so I ordered it. It cost 45,000 LAK (about $2).
I had 145,000 LAK in cash, so after paying for the sandwich and an ice cream (2,000 LAK), I had 98,000 LAK left. I figured that as long as I had around 40,000 LAK for the bus fare to the airport, I would be fine. The sandwich was not particularly memorable, but the portion was decent, so at least it filled me up. The ice cream I bought at another shop was not worth it. It was far too sweet for me.
I kept walking toward the Starbucks located near the bus stop. Since I still had a couple of hours before the bus departure, I needed a place to kill time without using any more cash. That is why I decided to go to Starbucks.
Before entering, I asked a couple of military men if the bus stop was the correct one for the airport bus, but they did not seem sure. I gave up and went into Starbucks. It was a pretty small store, and I ordered the cheapest drink available, a small iced Americano. Everything is expensive at Starbucks, but it is what it is.
I asked one of the employees, who seemed to be new, whether the bus from the stop outside went to the international airport. He was not sure either, which made me a little concerned.
About ten minutes before the scheduled departure time, I left Starbucks and went to wait for the bus. While waiting, I saw many different kinds of taxis and tuk-tuks. At that point, I had already decided that I would take a taxi if the bus never showed up.
Five minutes after the scheduled departure time, the bus still had not arrived, which I had already anticipated. I quickly changed my mind and decided to stop a taxi. It was not difficult. A regular white car stopped after I waved my hand. The male driver got out of the car with a small smile.
I asked him how much it would cost because I only had 80,000 LAK. The airport was only about 10 to 15 minutes away, so I was pretty sure that amount would be enough. He said, “100,” but I replied, “I only have 80.” He accepted it, saying, “Only for you,” and I got into the car. I was pretty sure he had originally set the price higher than normal.
It took only about ten minutes to get to the airport. The airport I was heading to was Wattay International Airport. Based on my previous experiences, I had imagined it would be much larger. However, it was actually a very small international airport, and there was not much to do inside. The seats were packed with groups of travelers.
I found a seat and relaxed until check-in time. While I was waiting, a heavy rainstorm suddenly began. I was glad I had quickly decided to take a taxi instead of waiting longer for the bus; otherwise, I would have been completely soaked.
Although the long check-in line bothered me a little, I successfully received both boarding passes for Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta. After completing all the procedures, I waited again. The number of gates was very limited compared to other airports. There was also no water dispenser where I could refill my bottle. I ended up buying a bottle of water, even though paying for water always feels a bit ridiculous.
Boarding began slightly behind schedule. Since everyone boarded late, the flight also departed late. The flight itself was only two hours long. I spent most of the time trying to sleep while sitting in the middle seat of a three-seat row.
While watching a young group excitedly react to the takeoff and landing from the seats in front of me, I was reminded of my first flight. Back then, I was nervous but excited and fascinated by the strange sensation of a plane taking off. Nowadays, I no longer feel that excitement, just like many other adults.
After arriving, I headed to the international transfer area, where only a few passengers from my flight were going. The staff performed a quick security check and allowed us to pass.
I then headed to a VIP lounge. Of course, I did not pay for it myself. I used a promo code offered by Trip.com. Inside the lounge, I did not see anyone who looked like me. Everyone wore clean, stylish clothes. Nobody carried a large backpack. Instead, they had elegant suitcases and small bags.
The lounge was smaller than I expected. It basically consisted of chairs and a buffet area. Although I was allowed to stay for three hours, I ended up leaving shortly after eating.
The reasons were:
- I did not like the feeling of being part of a VIP crowd.
- There were a surprisingly large number of Japanese people there.
I think I stayed in the lounge for less than an hour.
After leaving the lounge, I continued to see many Japanese travelers. I assumed there were several flights to Japan departing around that time. It was already about 11 PM.
Since my next flight to Jakarta was the following day, I needed to find a place to sleep. Although I knew the sleeping pods would be expensive, I checked the price anyway. They cost $7 per hour, which made the decision easy.
I kept looking for a quiet and empty area. I was surprised by how many people were still at the airport despite it being almost midnight. Eventually, I found an empty space near Gate 18. Only a couple of people were there, and some of the lights were turned off, making it the perfect place to sleep.
One thing I did not like about Tan Son Nhat Airport was the lack of charging stations. There were only a few random power outlets attached to the walls. I gave up on charging my electronic devices that night and fell asleep at about 1 AM, according to WHOOP.
