Wow, what a long day(s)! Thailand and Cambodia are 13 hours ahead of Madison so we tried to stay up late on Tuesday night so we could sleep on the plane during our flights and get over jet lag. Since we waited until Tuesday night to pack, we had plenty to do to keep us awake.

Our schedule was to fly from Madison to Detroit (a little over an hour), then Detroit to Seoul, South Korea (14.5 hours), and then from Seoul to Siem Reap, Cambodia (5.5 hours). In total, it would be just over 21 hours in a plane and take about 27 hours of real time.

The cab picked us up at 5:15 AM and we had an uneventful flight to Detroit. We had about 3 hours there so we spent some time in the Sky Club relaxing and eating breakfast. When we arrived at the departure gate, they called our names to the desk. That often means that there is a seat change usually to first class on domestic flights. But on an international flight? Where the seats recline into beds? That wasn't possible! Sure enough! How lucky are we? Keely has always wanted to fly first class international and when better to do it than on a 14.5 hour flight!

We boarded and it was everything we imagined and more! It was amazing! We had our own menus, our own personal TV screen and the seat could be adjusted in whatever direction we wanted! The captain came around and introduced himself to us, the flight attendants never let our glass get empty, and the food was great. For desert, I had an ice cream sundae and Keely had chocolate covered cream puffs. Fantastic! But wow, 14 hours is a really long time! We played some virtual backgammon against each other on the TVs (Keely didn't explain the rules to me and somehow ended up winning!) and watched a movie and some TV shows. Keely loved the socks and slippers they gave us and I loved the fact that the chair laid flat and I could sleep on it like a bed.

We arrived in Seoul at about 4:00 in the afternoon local time on Thursday (around 2:00 AM Madison time) and felt great. We spent our 2 hour layover walking around the airport, looking at all the fancy stores. It's a beautiful airport, very clean, very nice. Then it was time to board our last flight. We didn't have first class this time but we had the row to ourselves which was nice. We landed in Siem Reap at about 10:00 PM local time (9:00 AM Madison time). The temperature when we left Madison was about 28 degrees. We arrived in Siem Reap to temperatures of 85 degrees! What a difference! And that was at 10:00 at night!

The hotel picked us up in a tuk tuk - a passenger vehicle popular here. It's a scooter with a buggy on the back so we could feel the breeze as we drove. Our driver had cool towels and water for us. The streets are crazy! It's pretty much a free-for-all when it comes to passing and intersections! We were given a refreshing, sweet beverage when we checked in and were shown to our room overlooking the courtyard and pool.

Tomorrow, our guide picks us up around 8:30 to take us on a tour of some of the ruins and temples. We hope to have lots of pictures to share tomorrow! For now, we made it! It was a long day but pretty fun considering we sat on a plane for 21 hours. Can't wait to see everything tomorrow!

Kevin