Destination: VIETNAM

Day 1

We set off from Changi Airport on the 18^th of September 2007. Destination: Vietnam. Spirits were high as we finally boarded the Vietnam Airlines flight VN744.

After settling down, we soon got very bored and I realised that the VN plane and stewards were of a low standard. This has left me a bad first impression of Vietnam as their national airlines is a representation of their country. Thus bad airlines = bad country.

I believe that this would also without a doubt leave behind a bad impression on other visitors to the country. For a start, the government could revamp their airlines and improve it to better promote their country. After all, the first impression is always the deepest.

we were bored on the plane

Perhaps I was too quick in my judgment, but we shall soon see.

We arrived in Hanoi in the evening and many unfamiliar sights greeted us. Before the trip, I had no idea what Vietnam was like. I imagined it to be more or less developed in the major cities, perhaps slightly below the level of Malaysia. Being the capital of Vietnam, I expected Hanoi to be a little more developed than what was in front of us.

The tallest building I could see was about 3 storeys high. I thought to myself that if the 22 storey HDB flat I live in was brought to Hanoi, it would be a skyscraper.

This level of development, or UNdevelopment was certainly shocking to me. As I lay in bed that night and thought of the adventures that were in store, I realised how fortunate I was to be living in Singapore, when our neighbours in the region were all lagging behind us.