Secretly, I have been looking forward to this part of the trip most of all. I mean who can resist 20 hours in transit. As it turned out, it wasn't too bad. I sat next to a retired Korean gentleman who was on his way back from Santiago. Although his English was poor (and I didn't want to show off with my fluent Korean - hana, tul, set, net, etc.), we were able to communicate on many topics ranging from international travel to the various qualities of noodles in the Incheon airport. I think I would love his lifestyle - he's been traveling the world for the past 9 years. In 3 months time he's going to be going to Africa (again).

You know what they say - time flies .... when you cross the international dateline (going west of course). That means that 22 May 2012 was the 2nd shortest day of my life (after 31 May 1968). Ironically, by the time I reach Hanoi, I would have been through a total of 22 hours of consistent daylight.