Bound for Laos

(Learn more about this province and its capitol, Luang Prabang.)

As soon as I finished work yesterday, I dashed out the door, hopped on my bike and then peddled madly to my bank to withdraw the necessary money for my airfare to Laos. After my brief visit to the bank, I rushed to the Flight Centre, which was soon to close for the day, to finalize all the details with my travel agent, who must be commended for delivering exceptional customer service.

When I got home, I took some time to review the itinerary.

On December 3, I begin the first leg of my journey to Laos. My flight leaves Lester B. Pearson International Airport (Toronto) at 6.30 am Eastern Time and arrives at Kennedy International Airport (New York City) at 8.15 am Eastern Time. Since this is an international flight, I know that I must be at the airport three hours prior to departure. Therefore,  I must be there no later than 3.30 am that morning.

At 12.40 pm Eastern Time, I depart Kennedy International Airport on a Seoul-bound Korean Airlines flight, which will take fourteen hours and thirty minutes to reach its destination. On December 4 at 5.10 pm local time (3.10 am in Toronto), the flight arrives in Seoul.

At 7.25 pm local time (5.25 am in Toronto), I depart Seoul on a different Korean Airlines flight. Four hours and fifty-five minutes later, at 10.20 pm local time (8.20 am in Toronto), I land in Hanoi.

After spending about seventeen hours in Vietnam, I embark on the final leg of my journey. On December 5 at 6.25 pm local time (6.25 am in Toronto), I leave on a Lao Aviation aircraft for the land of a million elephants. An hour later (7.25 pm local time; 7.25 am in Toronto) I arrive in what was once the royal capitol of Laos and now designated by UNESCO as a world heritage city, Luang Prabang, where I will be greeted by Steve Rutledge and Mike Yap.

After combining wait times at the various airports (about 25 hours) with my time in the air (about 22 hours), I will have spent about fifty hours on my journey to Laos.