The trip from Phnom Penh to Maryknoll, New York is always long but this time it was longer than usual, involving five separate flights from Phnom Penh to Bangkok to Tokyo to Houston to Washington, DC to White Plains,NY. I left Cambodia at 7:00 AM Sunday (New York time) and got to Maryknoll, NY at 2:00 AM Tuesday, a total of 43 hours en route. And I arrived without my luggage.
The first flight is normally just an hour from Phnom Penh to Bangkok followed by 8-10 hours of waiting overnight in the Bangkok airport for an early morning departure to the U.S. After I arrived in Bangkok about 9:45 PM, I walked around a bit in the waiting area and found these airport cleaning women, the night shift, eating a meal together on the floor below. Then I found some empty seats in a quieter corner of the waiting area and was able to stretch out to sleep for six hours.
The first four flights were not bad but when I got to Washington, DC, the final flight to White Plains was canceled for mechanical problems even as we were boarding. That was 9:00 PM so the airline decided to fly us to LaGuardia in New York City instead, and then sent us to White Plains by taxi. We arrived at the White Plains airport at 1:00 AM Tuesday morning. Of course, the airport was closed but I was able to persuade the LaGuardia taxi driver to then take me to Maryknoll eleven miles away, and I finally got to the Maryknoll Lay Mission building about 2:00 AM. My luggage didn't make the trip from Washington and I had been wearing the same clothes for more than two days so I just washed everything I was wearing at 2:00 AM and got to bed about 3:00 AM. This picture is at the Washington airport with the U.S. Capitol in the background.
The first flight is normally just an hour from Phnom Penh to Bangkok followed by 8-10 hours of waiting overnight in the Bangkok airport for an early morning departure to the U.S. After I arrived in Bangkok about 9:45 PM, I walked around a bit in the waiting area and found these airport cleaning women, the night shift, eating a meal together on the floor below. Then I found some empty seats in a quieter corner of the waiting area and was able to stretch out to sleep for six hours.
The first four flights were not bad but when I got to Washington, DC, the final flight to White Plains was canceled for mechanical problems even as we were boarding. That was 9:00 PM so the airline decided to fly us to LaGuardia in New York City instead, and then sent us to White Plains by taxi. We arrived at the White Plains airport at 1:00 AM Tuesday morning. Of course, the airport was closed but I was able to persuade the LaGuardia taxi driver to then take me to Maryknoll eleven miles away, and I finally got to the Maryknoll Lay Mission building about 2:00 AM. My luggage didn't make the trip from Washington and I had been wearing the same clothes for more than two days so I just washed everything I was wearing at 2:00 AM and got to bed about 3:00 AM. This picture is at the Washington airport with the U.S. Capitol in the background.