I Spent Two Weeks In A Quarantine Camp in Vietnam
By: Chau Trieu
Tags: Quarantine, Vietnam, Quarantine Diaries, Hanoi, Covid 19

Spending one day in Frankfurt before taking off

My flight was scheduled to depart at 3:45 PM on September 16th at Frankfurt Airport. Surprisingly enough, in my three years living in The Netherlands, I had never set foot in Germany. So I turned this opportunity into my last trip in Europe and finally visited the country.

I took the overnight Flix Bus from The Hague Central Station to Frankfurt Airport on September 14th. After checking in at an airport hotel, I took the train to the city center and spent a whole day there. It was quite amazing to be traveling while of course, still complying with the safety regulations, before leaving Europe for at least a year.

You can check how I spent my precious one day in Frankfurt here.

Boarding the plane

I arrived at the airport at 12 PM on September 16th. I thought arriving that early would get me to check-in fast. I could not be more wrong. The queuing line was 10m long and I waited for nearly an hour before finally reaching the check-in counter.

Before getting on the plane, each passenger was given a safety kit containing a blue full-body suit, shoe covers, a face mask, a pair of eye goggles, and plastic gloves.

Passengers getting dressed up (taken by the author)

We were also asked to fill out a health declaration form for the government to keep track of everyone coming in from foreign countries.

Getting off at Noi Bai Airport

As soon as we got off the plane, we were gathered by the medical staff waiting at the airport. They waited for us to get our luggage and took our passport as they called out and crossed off our name on their list to make sure nobody got out of the airport and that nobody would escape the quarantine area.

Then, all of us got into three cars which drove us to the quarantine location, which was about 30km away from Noi Bai airport.

Arriving at the quarantine camp

As we reached the camp, we were given a package of personal stuff like a soap bar, a toothbrush, a toothpaste, a face towel, two toilet paper rolls, a string of shampoo packets, a packet of washing powder, and a cup.

Then, we were led to our own rooms. Each room had three bunk beds for three people. On the bed, there was a rectangular pillow, a camo blanket, and a mosquito net. There were a toilet and a bathroom to be shared between every two rooms.

My messy bed after unpacking

Life in the quarantine camp

My daily routine

My day started at 6:30 AM because my roommate had a habit of waking up early and it was hard to continue sleeping when there were noises in the room. No one intended to make noise, it was just a small room.

At 7 AM, an announcement that breakfast was ready was on the speaker so one of us headed downstairs to get our meal. For 14 days, our breakfast options were: (1) sticky rice with pork floss, (2) soy milk and soft bread, and (3) white rice with sautéed minced pork with tomatoes.

8 AM was when the medical staff would visit each room and measure our body temperature. Then, I spent the whole morning either reading my book or going back to sleep.

In case you’re wondering why I was not on my phone, the Wi-Fi was shared between 20 people so I figured I’d do something better with my life than waiting around for my Facebook to load, which took forever.

Our lunch was served at around 11 AM. The lunch options were far more diverse and filling.

My lunch

After lunch, I would take an hour's nap.

At 3 PM, the staff was back to measure our temperature for the second time.

I found activities to do until 6 PM when dinner was ready.

My dinner

Walking around the site at 7 PM after finishing my meal was the only sporty activity I had in a day. I was in charge of throwing out the garbage after dinner so I took this chance to get my body moving for a bit.

At 8 PM, I and my other two roommates turned off the light and went to bed. We never really slept right away but rather listen to music or read a book before finally dozing off at around 10 PM.

In the bathroom

There was a shower in each bathroom but the water ran really slowly. Whenever I wanted to take a shower, I had to fill a basin with water first. It was not the most pleasant showering experience. I felt uncomfortable at first but once I got used to it, it was endurable.

Doing the laundry also happened in the bathroom. There was a bigger basin for washing dirty clothes. In front of and behind our room, there were two hanging racks for six people to hang their clothes and let them air dry. Luckily, the weather during those two weeks was really nice. It was hot enough for the clothes to dry but not make us sweat. There was no air conditioner so hot weather would be torture.

Ordering stuff from outside

There were two options: either you ask the guard there to buy what you need for you by noting down your request and your phone number in a notebook placed in the hall, or you contact your family and ask them to bring it to you.

I opted for the second option. My brother was free so I texted him to bring me a 4G sim card. My forced social media cleanse ended after five days.

COVID test

We went through two COVID tests. They were seven days apart. Honestly speaking, it was not enjoyable but tolerable. A nurse would take a cotton swab and carefully slide it up your nose. It went to near the top of your nose, where it’s close to your eyes. Everyone couldn’t help but shedding a few tears because it was physical and natural.

The total cost

My flight was one of the first to undergo the new regulation about paying quarantining fees. Before that, the government had been covering everything for every overseas flight. They could no longer do so after having done it for nearly five months. Each of us had to pay 3,148,000 VND (approximately $135) for our two weeks in the quarantine center.

How were my two weeks in quarantine camp?

Overall, it was a fine experience. The living situation was not too shabby. The food was good. I got along well with my roommates. Though, I did wish the Wi-Fi could have been better so I did not have to waste 14 days doing almost nothing since most of my work requires an Internet connection. The bright side was, with all the time I had, I did get to read lots of books.

The most exciting thing has to be that none of us was tested positive with COVID-19 (yay!). After two weeks, we finally got home.