My bed awaits me after a very long trip!

2/21/2010

Thirteen and a half hours non stop, from los Angeles to Seoul, South Korea -- where I met up with Brad Queisser, who flew in from Washington, DC. We had a three hour layover, and then a five-hour flight from Seoul to Hanoi, Vietnam.

Before today, I'd never been to Korea, or even passed through the Seoul airport, which is uber modern, but my brief taste left me hungering for more exposure to Korea one day. I can highly recommend flying on Korean Airlines. Excellent service, very friendly staff eager to be helpful, and very respectful.

We arrived in Hanoi around 10:30PM local time, and it's now nearly 1AM Monday morning, February 22nd.

In the fifteen years since I'd last been to Vietnam, many things have changed. The Hanoi airport is now more modern, and the Communist bureaucracy that plagued the airport when I was first here is gone. Baggage was fast and we walked right out to meet our guide. The airport is about 35 minutes from downtown Hanoi and the drive gave Brad and me time to meet another couple who'd arrived from South Bend, and our guides. A light mist and cool temps. A beautiful night.

Off to bed, gotta get up early.

And that's the way it looks from Hanoi, Vietnam!