Airports

I wanted to post now because I have free internet in my room and I don't know when that will happen again! Pardon any typos, bad punctuation or spelling- the keyboard is a little weird and I'm trying to get used to it.

I am finally at my destination of Hanoi although it has already been an interesting trip. It started with a call from Parker Friday morning at 5:30 am letting me know that he couldn't get on the flight to Hanoi. Long story short, he needed a Visa, which we were told he didn't, and he isn't going to make it to Vietnam. The good news is that he is now going to do some traveling around Thailand while I'm here and we will meet up on Friday in Bangkok to enjoy Thailand together. Anyway, now I see that this was a signal for things to come... My flight from DFW was delayed several hours and I had to be put on another flight to Hong Kong (my connection city from Los Angeles) which I barely made. I, of course, ended up sitting next to the biggest person on the plane and am sore from all of the weird positions I had to sit in because he was basically in my seat the whole eï hour flight. Needless to say, the Ambien only worked for 5 hours and the rest was filled with watching movies, reading and just general excitement.

I made it to Hong Kong with more than enough time to catch my flight to Hanoi (10 hours to be exact) so I had breakfast and a beer and then went to my gate to wait it out. Somewhere in there I managed to fall asleep and miss my flight all together. I woke up just as it was leaving the gate! I was able to re-book for the following day at 2:55 pm (which is a full 3 1/2 days after I left and 20 hours after my originally scheduled flight) and resigned myself to staying in the hotel airport. It turns out that they only had rooms on the penthouse available so I ended up staying in the nicest hotel room of my life. They greeted me as I got off the elevator and carried my stuff to the room- bizarre! Honestly, I really didn't care- I was just so excited for a bed- but the plush robe and slippers sure were nice.

I woke up stupid early (4 am) because of the time difference and spent quite a bit more time in the airport. Just so you know, Starbucks tastes the same everywhere and I hope we travel to Hong Kong when we're on the Amazing Race because I know that airport backwards and forwards.

I finally made it to Hanoi but my luggage wasn't so lucky; even though I had a full day lay over in Hong Kong, it is still in LA. I feel like I won because I beat it here (that's for you Shawn, Laura and CJ) which is a minor victory but I'll take it. Hanoi is interesting- very crowded, bustling with life and full of motorbikes (and apparently it is ok to text while driving a motorbike even though there are no stop signs, traffic signals or anything- weird). Everyone has been very friendly and welcoming which has made all of this much more pleasant. If one was to add up all of the things that went wrong, it would probably equal a nightmare trip but I am enjoying myself and am in good spirits. I still know that I am on the trip of a lifetime!

I am excited to explore the city after a good night's rest. I'm not sure that will be possible because honking one's horn is encouraged here which amounts to a very loud hotel room. I am staying in a very friendly place that is $15/night and just doesn't compare to my penthouse suite from last night. Either way, I am happy to be back where I feel more comfortable. I have long been more of a hostel rather than resort kind of girl and it feels more like home.

I wish I had pictures but my cable is in my luggage which isn't with me. I promise to post again when I'm able. Oh, and here is a parting lesson: never accept what the banana girl is carrying and allow her to take a picture- she just wants money. See, I'm already learning!

Miss you all!