After laying in bed in Hanoi for two full days feeling completely sick I was eager to get on the plane for Hoi An, a resort town in the south-central coast of Vietnam. It was a beautiful day and it was going to be a very quick flight to what we had been told was paradise.

The afternoon flight started out fine and I sat wrapped in a blanket with my head on Ofer’s shoulder. About 30 minutes into the hour long flight the sky got very very dark and the plane started bouncing through the clouds. By this time we had been on 30-some flights since the beginning of this trip and I was getting better at flying in turbulence. I looked out the window and logically recited to myself, it is turbulent because we are going through a cloud, once we are out, it will smooth out again.

But the clouds didn’t let up. The ride got extremely rough and the pilots told everyone including the flight attendants to take our seats. As the plane was being thrown around through the clouds we were also being completely pummeled by rain. Of course I have flown in the rain and snow tens of times in my life but they were nothing like this. There was so much rain we could hardly see out the windows at all. And when we could see all there was were more dark clouds.

Any passengers who stood up to go to the restroom, or get something from the overhead compartment were promptly and sternly told to sit down over the intercom by the flight attendants, this was not a good sign. The entire plane was scared. People were getting physically sick and shrieking when the plane took a few nasty drops and banked quickly from side to side. Ofer and I were holding hands and my entire body was completely tense.

Ofer, knowing me very very well, put his forehead on mine and looked into my eyes the whole time. He would give me reassuring kisses and tell me everything was going to be fine.

The pilot announced for the flight attendants to stay seated for landing. Landing??? The ground was nowhere in sight! We watched as the televisions in our seat backs showed our elevation. According to the readings we were nearing the ground although all we could see were sheets of rain and clouds. Even at 50 meters from the ground we couldn’t see anything, we all just held our breath as the plane tipped from side to side.



At about 2 meters from the ground the plane was suddenly thrust back up into the sky, as if we were taking off for the second time. The engines roared louder than the cries of the passengers around us. I felt like we were in the exact scenes that we all have seen on TV and in movies of planes fighting and losing battles to the weather. If anyone on the flight wasn’t scared before, they were scared now...including Ofer. The plane made a large circle and after about 15 more harrowing minutes we landed safely on the ground. Everyone on the plane clapped and took deep sighs of relief.



So much for a quick flight to paradise.

Paradise was drenched. We all deplaned onto the tarmac in our sun dresses and flip flops just to be pounded by the rain and wind as we ran to the terminal entrance. Ofer and I were so happy to be alive, we didn’t care at all to be getting soaked, or that it was going to take forever to get our bags or a cab. We later discussed the flight and Ofer told me that this was the first time on the trip that he thought to himself, “We could be at home in San Francisco, safe...we are asking for trouble taking all of these flights and visiting places off the beaten path.” Once we were on the ground we knew that it was fear that was talking. Accidents can happen anywhere, we could get in car accidents, get hit by a bus, caught in a fire, or suffer a brain aneurism in the ‘safety’ of our own town. We always do our best to take flights with well known airlines, we always book hotels through international sites, we are cautious of the taxis we get in, we have never eaten food off the street or drank the water in a country we didn’t believe it would be safe. That is pretty much all the control we can have and we are happy with it.

Once we had our luggage in the taxi Ofer and I relaxed for the journey to the resort. Apparently it was too soon to relax. The roads to the hotel were completely washed out due to the rain. We were so fortunate to have gotten a very responsible and attentive driver, which we were both incredibly grateful for. The day was still dark and it was hard to see due to the rain, not to mention that there were very few streetlights, and the ones that were there were not turned on.

It was impossible to see the lines on the road and the rain was so thick we couldn’t see a car until it was very close. To make matters worse there was a huge number of bicyclists and motorcyclists on the roads fighting the weather and unfortunately and very few had reflectors or light turned on. We had a couple of very close calls with cars and bicycles that were driving on the wrong side of the road.

We safely got to the hotel and expressed our extreme appreciation to our driver for being so careful. Ofer and I felt like we had traveled through the pits of hell in order to earn our spot in paradise. The resort had a gorgeous pool, a view of the ocean, champagne during check-in, two restaurants and a bar with live music. We both were very satisfied to stay indoors and out of the rain. We settled in and relaxed thankful to be safe and in such a beautiful place for the weekend of my 29th birthday.