Are we ever going to get there

After a great flight we arrive, after months of packing, weeks of stress, days of cleaning, hours of luggage hassles we are here.

We are instructed to go to the Landing Visa counter where about 30 people are queing, but we are given forms which we complete, attach photos, pay some money - Visa's obtained, and we head for immigration leaving the 30 people still waiting for visas. We go through one at a time me, Matthew, Mikaela, Joshua, Isabella and .............. Alexander has a problem he is sent back to the Landing visa counter. After only a few minutes he comes over to were we wait on the Vietnamese side and says "they said my visa isn't valid and I have to go home". I didn't know if to laugh hysterically or sob hysterically but I was most definately hysterical.

After frantic phone calls to contacts, of which at 10pm, they were never going to be successfull here we were stranded at Ho Chi Minh Airport, 5 of us in Vietnam and one of us still in No Man's Land and it's 10.30pm. We didn't have a clue what to do except maybe sleep at the airport until the morning. We knew someone was picking us up at the airport but we knew if we went through the arrival gates Zander would be on his own. After trying to catch someone who looked like the could help us we managed to get a lady who told us that he should go back to the Landing Visa and ask them to look up his file number. After another hour his Visa was extended - the original one had the wrong dates, it had him arriving in June for a month but they finally extended it - it did cost him another $75.00 but I couldn't care less we were all in Vietnam. The plus side was the person collecting us was still here. So here we stand amongst an enormous amount of luggage in the heat of Vietnam after an adventurous journey but thankfully altogether for what I can't help but think will be the last time we arrive somewhere as a family, all 6 of us together.