After my adventure to leave Quebec, I find myself with the rich of this world.
I'm in business class. I searched the internets and the Newark-Tokyo flight, in Business, costs a little over $10,000…one way. Except that luck runs after me.
24 hours before departure, I receive an email offering me an upgrade for less than 10th of the price. I jump at the chance.
So, I find myself at the front of the plane in an electric Lazyboy that turns into a bed with all the little things possible and imaginable, such as a memory foam pillow and a Saks Fifth Avenue comforter, personalized service and a delicious meals. They even provided me with pajamas.
The toilet is huge, I have never seen one so big on an airplane. I finally understand how it is possible to become a member of the Mile High Club.
I thank my lucky stars for offering me this comfort for the next 14 hours.
The flight passes close to the North Pole. So I peer through the porthole. Maybe I'll see Rudolph, the little red-nosed reindeer, doing some flying practice. No matter how much I scan the sky, I don't see it. Maybe the temperature, its -77F at 32000 thousand feet altitude, has something to do with it...
The next flight, from Tokyo to Hanoi, is much less comfortable. the width of the seat is not sufficient to accommodate the shoulders of North Americans. Fortunately, it is a very interesting young man who sits down with us and the discussion makes us forget the discomfort.
After a transfer to Tokyo and 30 hours of travel, we finally arrive in Hanoi around midnight.
Vietnam - Why?
As soon as I returned from Colombia, I started looking for my next destination. Several country attracted me. Nicaragua, Ecuador, Ivory Coast,… I wanted an exotic place where I could easily indulge in motorcycling while integrating myself into a new culture.
I juggled between countries until I received a Vietnamese lady in my AirBnb. Chi Tran is very much in love with her country and talks to me about it enthusiastically. It was when she told me that the Vietnamese alphabet is the same as ours that the scales tipped.
A country offering exoticism, a new language, ease of buying a motorbike, new cuisine, beautiful dive sites,...the perfect destination.