Annual Trip for BELTEI Management Team (Phnom Penh-Hanoi).

First Day: Phnom Penh to Hanoi

On May 13, 2016 at 3:15p.m all the management team dated to arrive at Pochentong International Airport to wait for the flight from Phnom Penh to Hanoi, Vietnam.

There are H.E. Director-General and his family; Mr. Deputy Directors General; Deans, Campus Directors and their wives were accompanied with to trip to Hanoi at that time.

Some of Campus Directors were sitting at the waiting hall before checking in because the plan flew at 5:00 p.m. We felt happy to wait for the annual trip because we spent the whole year for work so that it was the relaxing time.

I was one of them to arrive at Pochentong before 3:00 p.m, but I was sitting at the coffee shop in the airport for a drink coffee, reading news on my iPad in order to wait for the flight. When I was reading the news on BBC website, I saw my Facebook alert. I suddenly checked it, and I saw Mr. Yoeun Kean, a Campus Director of BELTEI 10, posted on Facebook to show that he arrived there, too.

The flight started at 5:00 p.m. and it transited at Vientiane airport, Laos around 20 minutes and continue to Hanoi.

I took a photo on Vietnamese flight. Mr. Khat Soeun, the administration office chief, was on my right side. What I noted Vietnamese flight was the cool smoke. When the flight took off, the cool smoke was on the board which I have never seen it before. I found that it was only me to note it, but one of Canadian was also mentioned like me as well.

The flight flew around one hour from Phnom Penh to Vientiane airport, Laos and it transited there around 20 minutes to wait for the same flight to Hanoi. The new passengers got on the board to Hanoi. It means some of the passengers who got on the flight from Phnom Penh to Laos. Some seats were empty, and they will be fulfill with the new passengers from Vientiane to Hanoi, Vietnam.

We arrived at Noibai airport, Vietnam around 8:30p.m.  We also had dinner at there until 9:50p.m. Then we got on the bus and moved to Hanoi city to stay there one night.

On the bus, there was a Vietnamese tour guide, were telling the information to us about culture of Vietnam. In fact, he is a Khmer Krom, he can speak three languages, Khmer, English, and Vietnamese.

Some of us were listening to him, but some were exhausted and closed their eyes.  For me, I was simple, and I also listened to his voice to tell us about something in Vietnam. What I remembered is "The Vietnamese Street Life".

He mentioned that in Hanoi city, there are crowded of people to live in. The population in Hanoi is about 9,000,000.00. Hence, most of people cook meal in front of their homes (street). Some of sellers also sell coffee or food on the street, too.

When I looked at the right side from the bus, I saw the flats are narrow and small . They are about 2 or 3 meters wide, but they can sell products and live.

Here is a restaurant of the hotel which we stayed in for the first night. The hotel name is The Ann Four Stars Hotel. The ONYX House is the place where we had buffet in the early morning.

When I entered the hotel room, it looked cleaner and more comfortable then the hotels at Saigon, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Singapore, and Malaysia. It was unbelievable that Hanoi where is the root of communist country, but the city is developed too fast.

All the management team have stayed in this hotel with a sweet night sleep because we were tired to spend the whole evening on the flight and travel on the bus to the hotel. However, we were still happy to wake up early to see the good view of Hanoi, Vietnam.