Greetings from the Other Side of the World--Days 1 and 2

 I have always wanted to visit southeast Asia.  Don't ask me if there was a specific moment or incident where the interest in this part of the world began, because I can't lay a finger on same.  Maybe it was the war with Viet Nam.  Or seeing the movie Bridge Over the River Kwai.  Or reading Graham Greene's The Quiet American.  Or watching M*A*S*H.  Let's just leave it with this is a part of the world I am intrigued by and frankly, never thought I'd have an opportunity to visit.

Well, a few years ago, the good folks at Viking cruises (no children, no casinos, small ships) began offering a cruise that began in Hong Kong and ended in Bangkok, with stops in Viet Nam and Cambodia.  Sold! although it took quite a few years to encourage my husband that this indeed was a good idea.  It took a bit longer to sell My Friend Jeanie™ on the idea; her husband Bill was decidedly more enthused.

(A word of warning: if you ever provide your physical address to Viking, you will receive copious--and I do mean copious--full color, obviously expensive to produce marketing materials.  I have seen it postulated by more than a few that if Viking spent only half as much on their marketing, they could drop the prices of their cruises.)

On Monday, we left Minneapolis for a 13 hour flight to Seoul/Inchon.  

The happy adventurers

Following a three hour layover, we then flew from Seoul/Inchon to Hong Kong on Korea Air.  I note this because I was very impressed with the plane as well as the service.  The video screens were large; we were served a three course meal with actual silverware; the flight attendants were kind and tolerant of us when we didn't understand their English or Korean.

A screen grab from our flight to Hong Kong, showing that we were near both Vladivostok, Russia and Beijing, China.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would find myself in this part of the world

This was a nearly 4 hour flight, for a grand total of 17 hours in the air.  By any measure, that's a lot of seat time in a 24 hour period.  I was enormously grateful to sleep spread eagle after being upright for so many consecutive hours.

We finally arrived on the Viking Orion shortly after 1 a.m., only an hour later than I had anticipated.  The overnight staff greeted us with champagne, relieved us of our luggage (Dan and I agreed we are getting far too old for schlepping) and we fell into bed in preparation for what will be a cursory informational day here in Hong Kong.