Departure

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The Plan- meet Eric in SFO after work and catch a Chin Airlines flight to Hanoi via Taipei.

The Reality- Call in the morning, agent says SFO is slightly oversold but ANC looks good. I call Eric but it goes to voicemail- he's already on a plane to SFO. I go to work with my flight kit, a change of clothes, and my day pack. Through the day I coordinate with Eric and try to get out visa paperwork printed. Busted printers and blocked webpages on company computers make the later difficult, street noise in SFO and quick turns in my schedule make the former difficult. In the end I am successful on both fronts- the paperwork is completed and we agree to meet in ANC. For Kuban this means a long journey: DTW-SFO in the morning, spend the day with a friend in San Fran, then fly SFO-SEA-ANC on Alaska before continuing on to Hanoi via Taipei.

After work I change and go to check in for my flight to Anchorage. The flight is half empty and I get a row to myself. It doesn't recline but I'm able to lay down and get some sleep. Halfway through the flight it occurs to me- I left the visa paperwork in my flightkit (which is in the crew room). $%^*(**^(*&^. Call Eric and leave desperate sounding E-mail. I'm hungry, so finding the airport bustling on arrival at midnight is a pleasant surprise- FOOD (yay). Transfer to International terminal figuring the check in won't be open yet fora flight that leaves in 3 and a half hours, but it is. Almost all Phillipinos (fisherman?) with TONS of boxes. The lines moves slowly, but I'm I no hurry. 2 hours later Eric arrives... with paperwork!!! My lord and savior. The flight is pleasant and the aircraft is clean. Surprised that the 747 doesn't have personal TVs, but I'd rather be sleeping anyway. Taipei transit is smooth. They are making everyone check luggage larger than a purse for the Hanoi flight, but somehow Eric walk on with no trouble carrying a giant backpack. Confidence and swagger I suppose.

Arrival in Vietnam is somewhat confusing. We try to collect our visas, but it takes many gestures, shurgs, and hopeful smiles. Plus about 30 minutes with no lines. We clear immigration, get a stamp and proceed to customs. No one is home... so we get no stamp here. Hope that doesn't bite us on departure. We have requested a car to drive us to the Hotel (taxis here are notorious for various hotel scams), but don't see a guy with our name on a sign in the arrival lounge. Uh oh. Many stand around with pieces of paper rolled up, so we go around asking them to unroll. No name. We look for an internet terminal to check e-mail and see if the hotel sent instruction. No luck. More unrolling requests. No luck. Eric is getting restless. We find the guy. Drive to the hotel. Nutty bastards. No such thing as right way (left/right lane, on-ramps are also off-ramps). Bicycles mix it up with scooters, cars and big Russian lorries. Right of way is assigned by mass.

Hotel is on a back alley. The beds are hard, but we have A/C and a bathroom with hot water.

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