Good morning from Tokyo!
We're about to head back to the airport in a few minutes after spending the night here to catch our Vietnam Airlines flight to Hanoi.
The night prior to our departure from the U.S., Pascal and I met in Des Moines, staying at the Super 8 so that we could catch the early morning flight and also leave our cars at the hotel for free for 2 weeks.
I got there before Pascal did and was feeling a little tired. When I got to the room, I looked in the mirror and did a double-take. Christ! There were gigantic red spots right under my eyes, like I'd been bitten by large mosquitoes. Two under my right eye and one under my left, right where the little hair follicles are. What in the world was this???
Frankly, I was concerned. The swelling was very noticeable and it was starting to itch like crazy. I had no idea what it was but it certainly didn't look like something I wanted to treat in a third-world country.
So, at midnight, I went to the Des Moines emergency room, cursing this very unusual affliction and especially the bloody bad timing of the whole thing.
At the hospital I explained what was going on to the nurse, and he couldn't quite see what I was talking about. WTF? I went over to the mirror, and I had nothing there! What in the world was this??? Felt like I was trapped in some funky Twilight Zone episode. My eyes looked completely normal and weren't even itching.
When I finally spoke to the doctor I'm not sure he even took me seriously, and at thispoint I was starting to wonder if I'd hallucinated the whole thing (except that Pascal saw it so I do have a witness). He prescribed me some Benadryl and that was that.
So, by the time I got back to the hotel, I only ended up getting a few hours of sleep before our flight.
Des Moines to Chicago, and then from Chicago we boarded a direct American Airlines flight to Tokyo. Thirteen and a half hours.
Normally I start going a little bonkers after 5 or 6 hours on an airplane, but this had to be the most enjoyable flight of all time. I slept just fine, and was reading such a great book that I was actually disappointed when we landed. The book (Up Country, by Nelson DeMille) is a thriller set in modern-day Vietnam, but the main character (as well as the author) is a Vietnam War veteran and so I ended up getting quite a remarkable history lesson in the process. It also reminded me quite clearly that we're about to take a trip to a Communist, totalitarian police-state, kind of like visiting Soviet Russia during the 80s.
One of the amusing parts of the flight was when we crossed the international date line, which it showed on the little map screen with the location of the plane. Pascal, who'd just woken up, looked at this in some confusion and said: "Is it midnight already?" When I burst out laughing his brain snapped back into place and he sheepishly went back to reading his own book.
Once in Tokyo, we had almost 24 hours to kill before our connecting Vietnam Airlines flight to Hanoi. We took the subway to Narita and found our hotel, then wandered around aimlessly before eating dinner. Naturally, sushi was included.
We didn't go into the heart of the city because the last train came back at 10:00, and a taxi ride would cost a staggering $250!!! It's an expensive city, and reminded me of the last time I'd been here, transiting through the airport with Kyle and Chandi on our way back from Thailand, where just a bowl of Ramen noodles cost $10.
This morning before I took a shower in the hotel room I was sitting on the john and noticed some buttons on the left, a kind of toilet remote control. Being ever curious by nature, I thought to myself "hmm, wonder what this does" and pressed one of the buttons.
I heard this mechanical whirrrrr from inside the toilet. Uh-oh. All of a sudden, pssshhhhhh! This jet stream of warm water shot up between my butt cheeks. WHOA!!! I practically flew off the toilet in surprise, and it took me a few awkward seconds to find the appropriate stop button. OK, now I know what that's for...
When we land in Hanoi this afternoon, we're not even going to get a hotel. We'll be meeting up with a French-speaking guide and take the overnight train from Hanoi to Lao Cai in the northwest mountain area, where our 5-day overland motorcycle journey will begin. I don't expect many internet cafes along the way, so this will likely be our last email for about a week or so.
Wish us luck!
Cheers,
Gabriel
