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We're here! We made it! And we're still alive!
We left New York at around midnight, on the... uh, this whole time difference thing and spending so much time on the plane has really screwed up my internal clock/calendar. It was mignight on the 3rd, I guess. I was so tired that I actually fell asleep while the plane was taking off, and even the rather violent turbulence hardly woke me up. The flight to Anchorage lasted lasted between 6 and 7 hours (we're not sure!) and they gave us food and plenty of stuff to drink, which was nice. Also, the plane we were on had a little personal tv for every seat, with a zap that you could use to play little video games! China Airlines rocks!
I slept for a couple of hours after the meal, and was hungry again by the time we got to Alaska. The airport there is a major transit point (mostly for Korean Airlines passengers, it seems) and was full of people. Luckily, we didn't have to wait long, only long enough for the new crew to take over and clean things up.
One thing I noticed, getting off the plane, was that my feet had swelled up horribly. I had trouble getting my shoes back on! Is this is what it's like when you're pregnant?
The next leg of the journey, Anchorage to Taipei, took about 9 hours. They have us 2 meals, snacks, and lots to drink. The flight attendants had really adorable uniforms, too! And they were very attentive, refilling water bottles when needed, offering us tea or water or orange juice every hour.
Nothing really exciting happened on the plane, except for us getting really dry and our legs needing stretching every once in a while.
Once in Taipei, we realized that for some reasons, while our tickets said our next flight was at 1pm, our boarding passes said 7:30am. It was 6:30, so that meant no waiting around for six hours in (what looks like, anyway) a very boring airport. We got on the 7:30 plane, then served us a meal, and arrived in Ho Chi Minh City this morning a bit before 10.
After getting through customs (on the plane we had to fill in a form with some very unclear requests: what is the registration no of mode of transport or whatever?), we were approached by a laid-back taxi driver who took us to a hotel that obviously pays him commission. No matter, it's clean and reasonably priced (but then again, pretty much everything is, here) and has a nice bathroom with a hot shower. In fact, there is no cold shower, even the sink won't give cold water. Not like were going to drink it anyway, so that's fine.
We slept the afternoon away, and I nearly died because M-P got cold and turned the air-con OFF (hello! we're in a room with no windows or air circulation! We're in Vietnam and she's COLD??? M-P whines: "But I was freezing!") and I woke up horribly sweaty. Actually, that might have been a good thing, otherwise I would have slept until tomorrow, at least.
We thought we'd walk to a restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet, but a smiling cyclo driver persuaded us to let him give us a ride. A cyclo is like a bicycle with a people-basket (small seat) in front. As you can imagine, we're somewhat bigger than the average person here and it was a squeeze, but very fun. And it seems to be the only way to cross major streets: there are armies of motorcycles, here, and they won't stop for you, or even slow down. In fact, the best was to avoid getting hit is to cross really slowly, because then they have time to swerve.
M-P says: Crossing the street is the most hazardous thing I have ever done in my life!
So now it's 9:25pm, we've just eaten and I'm about ready to fall over, despite my afternoon nap. This internet cafe has fast connections, which is great, and, like every thing here is cheap.
I think I'll let M-P have a go at the computer, now.
We left New York at around midnight, on the... uh, this whole time difference thing and spending so much time on the plane has really screwed up my internal clock/calendar. It was mignight on the 3rd, I guess. I was so tired that I actually fell asleep while the plane was taking off, and even the rather violent turbulence hardly woke me up. The flight to Anchorage lasted lasted between 6 and 7 hours (we're not sure!) and they gave us food and plenty of stuff to drink, which was nice. Also, the plane we were on had a little personal tv for every seat, with a zap that you could use to play little video games! China Airlines rocks!
I slept for a couple of hours after the meal, and was hungry again by the time we got to Alaska. The airport there is a major transit point (mostly for Korean Airlines passengers, it seems) and was full of people. Luckily, we didn't have to wait long, only long enough for the new crew to take over and clean things up.
One thing I noticed, getting off the plane, was that my feet had swelled up horribly. I had trouble getting my shoes back on! Is this is what it's like when you're pregnant?
The next leg of the journey, Anchorage to Taipei, took about 9 hours. They have us 2 meals, snacks, and lots to drink. The flight attendants had really adorable uniforms, too! And they were very attentive, refilling water bottles when needed, offering us tea or water or orange juice every hour.
Nothing really exciting happened on the plane, except for us getting really dry and our legs needing stretching every once in a while.
Once in Taipei, we realized that for some reasons, while our tickets said our next flight was at 1pm, our boarding passes said 7:30am. It was 6:30, so that meant no waiting around for six hours in (what looks like, anyway) a very boring airport. We got on the 7:30 plane, then served us a meal, and arrived in Ho Chi Minh City this morning a bit before 10.
After getting through customs (on the plane we had to fill in a form with some very unclear requests: what is the registration no of mode of transport or whatever?), we were approached by a laid-back taxi driver who took us to a hotel that obviously pays him commission. No matter, it's clean and reasonably priced (but then again, pretty much everything is, here) and has a nice bathroom with a hot shower. In fact, there is no cold shower, even the sink won't give cold water. Not like were going to drink it anyway, so that's fine.
We slept the afternoon away, and I nearly died because M-P got cold and turned the air-con OFF (hello! we're in a room with no windows or air circulation! We're in Vietnam and she's COLD??? M-P whines: "But I was freezing!") and I woke up horribly sweaty. Actually, that might have been a good thing, otherwise I would have slept until tomorrow, at least.
We thought we'd walk to a restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet, but a smiling cyclo driver persuaded us to let him give us a ride. A cyclo is like a bicycle with a people-basket (small seat) in front. As you can imagine, we're somewhat bigger than the average person here and it was a squeeze, but very fun. And it seems to be the only way to cross major streets: there are armies of motorcycles, here, and they won't stop for you, or even slow down. In fact, the best was to avoid getting hit is to cross really slowly, because then they have time to swerve.
M-P says: Crossing the street is the most hazardous thing I have ever done in my life!
So now it's 9:25pm, we've just eaten and I'm about ready to fall over, despite my afternoon nap. This internet cafe has fast connections, which is great, and, like every thing here is cheap.
I think I'll let M-P have a go at the computer, now.
