We are here in Hanoi!! Arrived by bus from the airport about 11:30 p.m. Everyone present and accounted for. Mostly an uneventful trip, though some of the group members might have their own stories to blog about. For some, this is their first transcontinental flight.
If memory serves me correctly (and at 60 that is indeed open to debate), this is my ninth visit to Vietnam, though the first to Hanoi and the north. It doesn't seem to get any easier. We arrived in rain and somewhat muggy conditions, though not as hot as I thought it would be. It is the rainy season here now, though it never seems to stop the motorbikes.
We are all resting now and looking forward on Monday to the city tour.
More later.
If memory serves me correctly (and at 60 that is indeed open to debate), this is my ninth visit to Vietnam, though the first to Hanoi and the north. It doesn't seem to get any easier. We arrived in rain and somewhat muggy conditions, though not as hot as I thought it would be. It is the rainy season here now, though it never seems to stop the motorbikes.
We are all resting now and looking forward on Monday to the city tour.
More later.
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ReplyDeleteTravel advisory: Unlike the US, some countries' visas actually state when you have to leave the country.
ReplyDeleteWhy should you care? Because I did not realize that until a few hours ago. The result was that for a while I was holding not one, but two return tickets out of Vietnam, even before the trip had started. Let me explain.
My return flight from Vietnam was booked for one day AFTER the expiry date of my visa for Vietnam. Being used to traveling on a US visa, I did not realize that for some other countries an expiry date doesn't just mean you can't re-enter after that but stay for as long as you need to. It can actually mean you absolutely, positively have to leave by that date! I was made aware of this at the check-in counter in Detroit when AA would not let me board my flight. Unless I bought another return ticket then and there, I had to miss the entire trip. And that is how I came to buy a second return ticket.
But fear not, for this tale has a happy ending. Fortunately, I was able to get a hold of the travel agency that helped organized our trip, and before I left Chicago for our final destination Hanoi, I was able to reschedule my original flight, and then return the ticket I was made to buy in Detroit.
Lesson: Next time you travel to another country, make sure what those dates in your passport mean.
So, definitely much more eventful for me!