left our jobs, went to Asia

Today we say bye-bye to the City of Angels - Bangkok, hop on the Air Asia flight and fly to Hanoi, Vietnam.

Jurga in Suvarnabhumi airport
As we (Jurga and me, at least) have been to Thailand 3 years before, it is somewhat mixed feelings while on a flight to Vietnam.

Little bit scary, as we have never been in the country and the socialism / communism is something that is not remembered lightly by the inhabitants of the country that was still occupied until 16 years ago by Soviet regime.

We have also been warned that the local people are much more aggressive in selling things that they want to sell, and that they hang on to you and not let go. Not like in Thailand, where one "no" is sufficient.

At the same time we were very eager to leave the comfortable "zone" in Thailand and go exploring the unseen.

The flight goes quick, I'm barely able to read 30 pages of "Verslo klase" ("Business class") and fill in the immigration / customs declaration card. Mind you, the latter is quite scary, because we definitely have items (2 laptops and 4 photocameras) that are more in value than allowed, in which case we ought to pay duties.

Vietnamese immigration and customs declaration card

Elze and Andrius at work, filling out the immigration card

Last thing that I think about before the touchdown, is the comparison between Bangkok and Hanoi from above. While Bangkok was sea of lights, stretching from one horizon to another, Hanoi seems more like a small village. Dimly lit and a bit frightening.