Off to Hanoi!

It's been a busy week leading up to our flight to Hanoi. Our friends Bryan and Wendy visited the first part of the week, Bryan having just finished the Haute Route (a challenging ski/mountaineering expedition in the high Swiss Alps). It was great fun showing them around Lisbon, and now we're off on our own less grueling adventure.

But leaving Lisbon's airport was not without challenges: chaos, crowds, and long lines can create considersble anxiety if not hysteria. We were queued up in immigration behind about 100 departing passengers when a gaggle of clueless Europeans blatantly pushed ahead of everyone stating their flight was leaving soon. Turns out they were no earlier than the rest of us which precipitated a mob outcry of hurled insults and general mayhem. Finally a security guard forced some of the guilty line jumpers to the back of the queue, much to the general crowd's enthusiastic applause.

Turkish Air to Istanbul was nothing special but the long haul from Istanbul to Hanoi was incredible and we were able to actually sleep a bit and enjoy wonderful Turkish cuisine before arriving in Hanoi. We checked into the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi which is a soft landing for sure. We've been here before and it just gets better with the years. So after a good night's rest we head to the Melia Hotel: the TCC (Travelers' Century Club) conference starts tonight and we look forward to seeing old friends and learning about new destinations on our horizon. Please stay tuned!Read more