The longest day

 I've been on west-bound flights before that are in the air around sunrise or sunset.  Because of your direction of travel, you are treated to glorious extended light shows as you race in the same direction (albeit not as fast) as the sun.

Yesterday was not one of those days.  We did see the sunrise as we pulled away from our gate at PDX shortly after 7 am.  But the first leg was due north and by the time we touched down in Seattle the sun was up - for what would turn out to be an extremely long time.  

Our second leg, Seattle to Seoul, began shortly after 11 am.  The flight was mainly over water, but took a northerly path paralleling Alaska until we cross the Aleutians.  More open water, then across the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia, then more open water as we passed east of Japan until turning and crossing Japan and then on into Inchon.  After nearly 13 hours in the air, the time was now about 4 pm Sunday.  We had crossed the international date line, but the sun had been high in the sky the entire flight - so bright that all the shades were down the entire trip.  

South Korea is now added the the list of countries I've spent a few hours in, but have never left the airport.  It joins Japan, the UK and Iceland of countries I've "been to" but can't really count, since I never cleared customs.

As we were deplaning in Seattle, an attendant noticed Shirley was having some issues walking up the steep jetway ramp.  They had a spare wheelchair and offered her a ride, which she accepted.  We were unaware that when they did this, they updated her profile so assistance was standing by at each of the next two legs AND we were allowed early boarding and plenty of time to get settled in.  Best of all, when we reached Hanoi, we were escorted to a priority line for clearing immigration.  While most queues and lines that extended to the back of a huge room, we only waited on the one person clearing in front of us when we first arrived.

Our first two legs were on Delta, with the final leg to Hanoi on their partner, Korean Airlines.  We paid for upgraded "Economy Plus" on Delta - which included a few extra inches of leg room, and a complimentary kit with blanket, pillow, travel sundries and free beverages.  On Korean, we sat in regular economy, but were treated to the best service I have ever experienced on an airline.  There had to be at least 10 flight attendants and they spent the entire four-hour flight serving food and beverage. The meal provided was actually quite tasty (and served with real metal utensils).  There was an ice cream course, refills of wine, coffee service and more.  

When we reached Hanoi, the attendant whom had originally escorted us to our seats returned and asked us to stay back until others had exited.  She then came and escorted us again off the plane until we were met by the wheelchair attendant on the ramp.  This gentleman took us up to customs where we were met by another man. I had arranged for expedited clearance when I applied for our visas, so I really can't say if it was the wheelchair or the service upgrade that got us through so quickly, but it worked. By the time we cleared immigration, we had two attendants in tow.  The wheelchair guy and the person from the visa service company.  He asked what our luggage looked like and ran off to the nearest point where the baggage carousel first emerges.  Soon, he returned with our two suitcases and our little entourage headed out into the transport area.  We quickly spotted our guide, Phil Nguyen, who was holding a sign with our names. He suggested we hit the restrooms before the 45-minute ride to the hotel and while he did so, he summoned the driver to pull the car around.  

Our little troop headed to the awaiting Toyota SUV, where everything stowed nicely in the back.  Shirley and I were seated in the car's back seat and Phil and our driver, Hao took the front.  Phil explained that the two of them would be our companions for the next four days until we flew out to Seam Reap on November 2.  I'll do another post about them later.

Our day ended around 11:30 pm when we reached Aira Boutique, our hotel in the Old Quarter of Hanoi.  While it was dark and a little rainy during our ride, we could see that the architecture in this area is predominantly French Colonial.   We were treated to a fruit juice drink upon arrival and check-in was a breeze.  The hotel is very comfortable.  Our room is on the fifth floor with a small balcony.  We are on a side street, but just about 50 yards from a major surface street and the horns honking started almost on queue at 6 am.

Our longest day ended as we hit the sack a little after midnight on Monday morning.  We had awakened at 3 am on Saturday and here we were 29 hours later.  It indeed was a long day.