SE Asia Day 0: getting there

I had a biggish post all set to publish while hanging at our layover city, but I am having major trouble posting pictures. So here is the short version.

We left SLC with only a 20 pound backpack each.

Not much for a month-long tour though SE Asia.

We hopped on a SWA flight to Seattle, where we had 8 hours to kill until our international flight to Taipei.
Instead of lounging in the airport like slobs, we got a fab deal on a from at the Hilton within walking distance of Seatac, where we started the vacation off right.

I dip int he hot tub and then we were whisked away by recently relocated Seattleite friend Stephanie

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A nap and a shower before heading back to the airport for a 1:00 a.m. Departure.

I had been up so late the previous nights that I had virtually no trouble sleeping most of the duration of the flight. For the last hour and a half I was watching the inflight movie "Lincoln", and just as the vote to pass the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was being counted, we started our descent into Taipei. There are a lot of announcements during decent and landing, and I nearly missed the vote, the surrender of the confederacy, and the tragic end to the movie. The credits were rolling as we taxied to the gate. Whew. 

We arrived Taipei at 5:30 a.m. And now we have 5 hours to kill.

The airport is not bad. They have a "relaxing green room"

And of course, being Asia, no shortage of cute cartoon figures. Hello Kitty is BIG.

The cafe takes USD and the lattes are half decent and only 3.50 each.

 Once we get to Bangkok, We have a hotel reservation there for one night, and then we are unsure of our next move. The general plan is to get transportation to Cambodia and spend a few days touring the temples of Angkor Wat. We need to arrange a Vietnamese visa and then head to Ho Chi Min City and the Mekong Delta.  Then we thought we'd make our way north through Vietnam. I guess I should get off the iPad and start reading my guidebook to figure out our next move!

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