4 AM came quick. We were up late packing, reunited after seven weeks of separation. Tim got home at around 6PM and after a short visit with our great neighbours, we set to the task of packing. Going to an all inclusive does not require a lot of thinking when it comes to packing; camping and travelling to ‘exotic’ places takes some careful contemplation. From our experience in Asian countries, sometimes you can’t just go buy the missing items. For example, clothes shopping in Thailand was a challenge with the average size being for a 5 foot skinny girl.
4 AM never feels good. We start the morning with sunshine, even in the face of darkness. Two glasses of mimosas will put a smile on anyone with a sense of taste.
The cab ride was short, we enjoy our proximity to the airport. Winnipeg is a very good place to travel from. Most places are quite cheap and many hubs are within a couple hours. First stop for us is a bit counter intuitive because we are going east before going west; Chicago ORD.
The random security selection we get every time we travel is a bit annoying but at least someone is keeping us safe. The flight was uneventful and pleasant. We arrived to ORD and settled into the lounge for an hour.
We purchased United Airlines, mainly because of price, $1200 and only 26 hours of travel. If you are accustomed to going to Asia you know that’s a serious bargain. The problem is United, although Star Alliance, is not exactly a high quality airline; at least in cattle class. Our flight from Chicago was 13 hours in the back of a Boeing 777; not as nice as a 787, but comfortable enough. The food wasn’t great but they had really good ice cream.
Without incident we arrived at Narita International, Japan. Five years to the date and almost hour we had arrived back (Thailand 2013). This time our experience in NRT was quite different. With lounge access we were very comfortable. The United lounge was amazing, not only the biggest we’ve seen but the food was above average. The automated beer pouring system added the perfect amount of head to every glass of beer I enjoyed. Tim had sushi and said it was the best grocery store quality he ever had; huh?
We grabbed some duty free Rye whiskey and set off for our gate. They were paging us and we were very excited to get upgraded to business class. What a difference that would make for the 7 hour flight to Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam.
Supper in First Class
The service was great and the food, although a bit fishy smelling, was amazing. Being able to lay back and get some rest was incredible. We woke up to some more Champaign and ice cream. Yum! The flight was very good.
We landed, clear customs, got a SIM card for our cell ($16 Cdn for unlimited data for 1 month); taxi ($12) and arrived to our hotel. First impression, wow, clean city, very friendly people and it feels safe, above average. We walked to the local 7-Eleven, bought some beer, soda, ice and wine. Prices are very good and the staff were very friendly and helpful. Time for a drink and sleep!
