Our guide and driver picked us up at 5:15 AM and the hotel had prepared box breakfasts for us. Although we made excellent time getting to the airport we were surprised at how many people were on the road even at this early hour.

We said our goodbyes to Gerry and Sue as they were flying back to Chicago via Tokyo while we are retracing our flight via China. Our 2 plus hour flight for Guangzhou left on time. As we emerged from our plane in Guangzhou we were met by a young man with our name on a sign who acted as our transfer agent, leading us through the steps needed to clear immigration and ultimately taking us to the business class lounge where we would wait for our next flight. Nice touch!

Unfortunately we learned our flight to Vancouver was going to be delayed by two hours, meaning we will miss our flight to Seattle. I called Alaska Airlines (using Skype) who told me that China Southern is responsible for rebooking us. I talked to the local agent who said she would alert their Vancouver rep about the issue. Hopefully it will be resolved by the time we get there.

We did depart after the two hour delay (it was a maintenance issue) and we arrived in Vancouver just as our scheduled flight to Seattle left.  The good news is we were met at the airline door by a representative of China Southern who told us we were booked on an Air Canada flight leaving in two hours and our luggage was noted and will be on our flight. We were directed to the local agent for Air Canada who promptly issued our boarding passes and assured us that our luggage will be on our plane. Now that is service! Friends later told me that we got “special” service because we were flying business class. I wonder?  If it were the case it was worth the money we spent for the tickets.

The flight to Seattle went smoothly; and indeed our luggage arrived with us. It was cool and rainy when we landed but it felt good after all that heat and humidity we had in Bangkok. We retrieved our car and in a couple of hours were safely home on Miller Bay. We even managed to stay up a few hours before heading to bed, hoping to get back on a regular sleep schedule ASAP.

Reflections on the trip:

• Gerry said the trip would be on his “top 10” list. I think I would agree. Experiencing these 1,000 year old temples was something. Yes, we saw a lot of Buddhist temples but that is no different then seeing all those churches when you visit Europe.
• My favorite site was Inle Lake, Myanmar.  I think it might have been everyone’s favorite because of its diversity and beauty. Bagan and Angkor Wat are certainly high on the “to do” list. Would I go back?  No, because there are other places I would want to see first.
• The people of these countries were truly friendly and welcoming (something to be said for following the tenets of Buddhism?). I felt safer there than I have in many other places in the world I have visited.
• The weather was pleasant except for the last few days in Bangkok.
• Yes, the food was repetitive but it was healthy eating and there were ample opportunities to feed our cravings with other cuisines.
• Prices were much lower than we have experienced when visiting many other parts of the world. It is a cheap place to visit.
• Having private drivers and guides was really nice. I would certainly recommend it if you consider going to this region of the world.