September 29-October 1: 37,000 Feet Above the Pacific

We’re heading home.

I didn’t intend to add any more posts, but Tony and Mark predicted that I would have more to say before I got home. They were both prescient. I’m writing this on the plane from Seoul to Chicago. The Pacific is blue beneath us.

We spent our final night in Bhutan at the Nak-Sel Boutique Hotel and Spa. It was easily the nicest place we’d stayed during the entire trip, and so it’s too bad that the night we lopped off our trip had to be our second night there. Still, I think we’re all glad to be heading home. We’re just grateful that we were able to rearrange our flights so that we could make it to Bangkok in time to pick up our original itinerary. Which is not to say that the route from there to here was entirely smooth.

When we got to Phnom Penh, we found the transit desk unmanned. A transit desk is the spot where travelers go when changing airline. It gives them a place to shepherd their baggage onto their next flight without having to reclear security. With no one there to help us, we were kind of stuck. We couldn’t get any further into the airport, and we couldn’t really go back. After a couple minutes of scrambling around, we spotted a security guard and asked him for help. He was able to put us in the hands of an airport agent who could help us.

The agent walked us through security and got us settled in the waiting area. He took our passports and told us to stay put while he got us checked in. A warning bell probably went off in your head as you read that. One certainly went off in mine: Should I be letting some guy I don’t know separate me from my passport? Since neither Tony nor Jan seemed to be worried about it, so I let it be.

Thirty minutes later, the agent still hadn’t returned with our passports, and I was starting to get nervous. An hour later, and still nothing. Now Tony was starting to get nervous. Who knew that Tony shops when he’s nervous? Ninety minutes. Our flight appeared on the departures board, but check-in had not started yet. Jan was trying not to think about it. None of us really believed that the agent would steal our passports, but we were worried that he would get distracted by some other crisis, put our passports in his pocket, and then end up going home without returning them.

It was coming up on two hours since the agent left us, and I decided to try to find him. The area where he’d ensconced us was separated from the transit desk by a glass wall, so I wandered over to see if he would pop out at the desk. I was hoping he would see me and remember that we were waiting. A minute or two after I got up, I heard Tony and Jan talking with someone and looked over to our table. Whew! The agent had finally sent another employee to us with our passports and our boarding passes for Phnom Penh and Seoul. Jan later admitted that if check-in had started before we got our passports back, she would have agreed that we needed to do something.

The flight to Seoul was probably the most uncomfortable of the entire trip. For whatever reason, I started getting claustrophobic and had to really work to keep myself from panicking. Then I started feeling too hot. I slept fitfully and woke with a crick in my neck, and I was glad when we landed in Seoul. As I stepped off the plane and onto the jetway, some instinct made me touch my back pocket, which is when I realized that my wallet was missing. I dug frantically through my carry on and tried to think when I’d last had it. Could someone in Phnom Penh have picked my pocket? Tony urged me to go back to the plane immediately, and when I approached the stewardess and said I’d lost my wallet, she guided me back to my seat. It was there, buried under my pillow and blanket. Apparently, I’d forgotten to button my pants pocket, and while I was tossing and turning in my sleep, it crept out. The stewardesses—two more of whom had gathered—all seemed to be as relieved as I was to find it.

I have to say that I’m really looking forward to getting back home. While this has been an amazing trip, I will be glad to be back on familiar soil among familiar things and familiar people. And I can’t wait to see Mark in person and to feel his hug.

Thanks, everyone, for following along and for your comments. I’ve enjoyed bringing you all along with me, and I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride.