Finally Home

Okay we have been home for awhile now, but I thought we should finish our blog and explain our trip home...

We had just spent the morning totally relaxing. I got a manicure/pedicure and a head and shoulder massage and Mike got an hour long foot massage. We wanted to be relaxed for our trip home. We were all packed and ready to go. The shuttle bus to the airport picked us up at 11:00am. While we were on the bus we began chatting with the guy next to us. His name was Kun and he was Vietnamese. He was heading to Ho Chi Minh City on the same flight as us. We had a great time chatting, as Kun spoke amazing English. Kun is a Vietnamese diplomat, which coincidentally - or not so coincidentally - ended up helping to get us home.

When we arrived at the airport we headed to check in. When we presented our passports we were told we could not get on the plane. My heart sank. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The man told us we could not get on the plane because we didn't have a current Vietnamese Visa. We didn't think we needed a Visa because we didn't plan on leaving the airport, but since this fight was not connected to out other flight we technically did have to leave the airport and clear customs to pick up our bags and transfer them to the next airline. Oops! Big mistake.

Kun was in line behind us and asked if he could help. We explained the problem and he phoned the Vietnam embassy in Bangkok for us. He convinced them to do a express Visa for us and stay open until we got there. The next problem was changing our flight to Ho Chi Minh so that we had enough time to get to the embassy and back to the airport, but didn't miss our flight in Ho Chi Minh to Seoul. We found a flight on Thai Ariways to Ho Chi Minh city leaving two hours later than our original flight. It would still get us to Ho Chi Minh on time for our next flight, but we only had two hours to get to the embassy and back. The embassy was an hour away. I just wanted to cry - my heart was beating so fast, but I knew I had to keep myself calm. I just kept praying. I thanked God for Kun and for providing a later flight, then I asked him to continuing providing for us and help us find a taxi driver who understood English and was honest. He provided both. This is a miracle in Thialand! The first driver we came to spoke good English, agreed to use the meter, knew where the Vietnam embassy was, and realized the rush we were in. I felt like we were on the Amazing Race.

The taxi driver got us to the embassy in 45minutes. He agreed to wait outside and didn't charge us for the time we were in the embassy. Once we got inside we still had to wait in line, fill out all the paper work, and to top it off, go get passport photos! So, we got directions to a photo booth and ran down the road to get photos. Once again it felt like we were on the Amazing Race (I think Mike and I would do well). We both kept our cool even though our adrenalin was pumping. I just kept praying. When we got back to the embassy we had to wait about half an hour for them to process our Visas, but each minute felt like and hour.

After we got them we raced back out to our taxi - who was thankfully there and had not taken off with our bags. He once again broke all speed limits and got us back to the airport with some time to spare. We checked in and tried to begin to relax, but I couldn't really relax until we were in Seoul and knew we were on our flight home to Vancouver.

So much for a relaxing trip home and coming home with some money (it was a thousand dollar mistake). But I can't say I'm mad, I'm actually thankful. Never have I had to trust God so closely. He provided every step of the way. Some would say it was a coincidence but I know it was my heavenly Father.

Our trip was full of adventure, some good and some not so good. I know how much my husband loves me, when he was willing to step out of his comfort zone and travel across the world for me. He was also sick much of the time, but he didn't blame me for making him come and spend all this money. He graciously suffered through his pain and made the trip unforgettable. I love you Babe.

Thanks for Reading. From the Rays.