When you fly international, you’re in for some fun surprises right now. It’s not as easy as arriving 2 hours early any longer.
In the 6 months we were in Vietnam, we had a total of 6 flights (to Osaka, Tbilisi, Lisbon, Frankfurt, Munich & Chiang Mai) cancelled. As such, I’ve been preaching Agility; the ability to buy accommodations closer to departure and travel with fewer plans.
Friday, September 12th, we moved to Hanoi planning our departure, unsure of the destination. Monday, our flight from Munich to South Africa was cancelled, so we had no urgency to get to Germany. Tuesday, 9/16, we picked Croatia and by Saturday, we had arrived.
Why Croatia?
Croatia is one of few non-Caribbean countries open to US citizens. They also don’t require a Visa for stays < 90 days. It’s non-Schengen, which means if other European countries open up, they will be more accessible from here and we can start a new 90 days just over the border before we have to find our subsequent destination. Croatia does require RT-PCR COVID test less than 48 hours prior to arrival.
COVID Testing
Finding a COVID testing center verified for this specific test proved to be a little more difficult than it should’ve been. Eva scoured Google and didn’t find any hospitals or facilities that assured us in in a language that we could understand that they had the correct tests. So she emailed several and eventually received a reply from the Ha Noi French Hospital confirming that the could accommodate our schedule.
The tests cost ~$146 each. I’m not sure if it would’ve cost that much elsewhere.
Schedule
Thursday Sept. 7 @ 7am, Arrive at Ha Noi French Hospital, RT-PCR COVID Test involved Nose & Throat swabs (not enjoyable)
Thursday Sept. 7 @ 2pm, Pick up results of COVID Test (negative!! which is good)
Thursday Sept. 7 @ 10pm, @ the airport for departure
Our flight actually left at 12:30am on Friday, but although we’re playing things loose, we try to leave plenty of time to get lost on the way to the airport, misplace a couple documents, potty, people watch, have a glass of wine and squeeze through security. In hindsight, I highly recommend arriving at least 3 hours ahead of an international flight. Especially if you’ve taken my tip about the Priority + Lounge… you can’t go wrong if you can relax with a drink after the long lines.
Hanoi Airport
We arrived at the airport early and went to check our bags. The check-in gate asked to see our documents, COVID test, how long we planned to visit Croatia and where we were staying. Because of previous cancelled flights, I hadn’t booked lodging, planning to book something when we arrived. They told us we MUST have accommodations for the entire time of our visit. AirBnB to the rescue! I quickly reserved a place I’d been eyeing, but quickly realized it wasn’t automatic approval… I had to wait for a response. Time ticking… nerves & bad words. She approves. We check our bags and they reluctantly set us on our way. Checkpoint 1 down.
Then we get in a LONG line of Vietnamese folks, surrounded on all sides, even blocking the entrance, with family members waving and video recording their loved ones having their boarding passes checked. On a Thursday night at 11pm during COVID. They had one person checking passports and tickets against your face for all passengers. Checkpoint 2 down.
Then security. Another really long line. Dump your stuff and undress and then pull your cables and shoes and belts and bags and jackets on any way you can. Checkpoint 3 down.
Next is immigration. And these guys were serious. Wave you up. Point where to stand. Scrutinize your passport, your visa stamps, ask questions. Half the time they called over other people to do the same and then escorted the person into a room at the side of the airport. I didn’t know if it was a random bag search and was very much questioning if we were going to make our flight. But… checkpoint 4 down.
At the gate, we had to show our passport, COVID test and ticket again to the attendant at the gate – checkpoint 5.
In Dubai, 5 more checkpoints, the most concerning of which was the last one. We got through customs, security, ticket check and then, just as we’re about to board our flight, the lady checks something on her screen, doesn’t like our look, calls over her supervisor and he tells her, against her protests, to just let them (us) through.
In Rome, 3 more checkpoints, COVID Test, state your business, check our passports and our intentions.
In Croatia, 24.5 hours after departing Hanoi, the looked at our passports, asked how long we were staying and told us to enjoy our stay. 1 checkpoint and they didn’t ask to see our COVID results.
I stopped at an ATM to get money for a cab. In Vietnam is was 200VND=$1USD. I picked up 4000HRK but didn’t pay attention to the conversion rate. When we arrived at our destination, I couldn’t see the decimal point and was thinking it was about 4000HRK. I tried to give it to him, but he refused saying I owed him 400HRK. That I almost gave him $800USD for a 30 minute cab ride. But WE ARRIVED! Croatia is amazing. I love Europe. Ancient stone architecture, clean streets, fashion and glorious food! But I’ll save that for another time.
Tip:
You can manage your Flights and AirBnBs in Google Calendar and use the Location and Time fields.
This will give you immediate access to the addresses for Taxi drivers including the ability to open the address in Google Maps and will help you if/when you’re lost. For flights, you’ll have departure times and confirmation codes. For lodging, you could have check-in and check-out times. Best of all, you can easily share your calendar with your spouse and/or family.
