I love to get emails from all parents and prospective adoptive parents (paps,) and often get asked similar questions. In light of my effort to share with the class, I thought I would answer a reader’s recent questions right here in the blog. I’ll be posting her questions along with my answers in separate posts. As always, please comment below or email me at rebeccah@adoptionblogs.com with any comments or questions.

How long were you in Viet Nam? Where did you fly into?

We flew direct from JFK Airport in New York to Bangkok, Thailand and then had a short flight from Bangkok to Hanoi. Our agency (Asian Children Services) took care of all our travel arrangements and my husband and I were both extremely happy with all of our travel accommodations. We flew on Thai Airlines and were thrilled with the service, comfort and amenities that we received onboard. Our seats had plenty of leg room and were equipped with personal screens that played unlimited newly released movie, television programs, music and video games. I’m vegan and my husband is vegetarian and our meals were outstanding! I even got a vegan cookie in mine, which was really exciting :)

Arriving in Hanoi was an experience in itself. The hustle and bustle and small size of the airport (compared to the ones at home that we’re familiar with) were very interesting. Entering through customs was a little nerve wracking, being our first experience with the language and the seriousness of the workers. We grabbed our luggage off of the tiny conveyor belt and made our way to our agency’s director who was waiting for us. We were met with the evening heat and aroma of Viet Nam and instantly felt like we had arrived.

We were in Viet Nam for 20 days. We actually got to go home one day early (we were prepared to stay for the full three weeks,) but Ella’s visa came through and we FRANTICALLY re-booked our flight so we could leave that same evening that we got her visa. I am so happy and grateful that we had so much time in country. Not only did it give us time as a family to bond and get to know each other, but we got to experience her birth country first hand. It was all around amazing, and we loved it. But…as much as we loved our time in Viet Nam, towards the end we were positively itching to go home. Looking back, that time we had together, experiencing Viet Nam, was priceless.

Photo © Rebecca Hess 2007

More Reading:
How to Get Around in Viet Nam
How to Preserve Your Adoption Trip
How to Keep in Touch in Viet Nam

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