SMOTH – We departed May 10th from Pearson airport in Toronto, to great fanfare from our two adoring families (thanks guys.) Actually boarding the plane was incredibly simple, and our seats were fairly good on the plane itself. As for spending 13 in a metal tube, it wasn’t THAT bad, although I wouldn’t want to make a habit of it. We filled the time by watching bad TV and movies (and Planet Earth). Little turbulence, no hassle, no crying babies. An altogether pleasant flight (albeit 13 hours long.) But then we landed in Beijing.
Getting through customs was easy, and we were looking forward to getting some rest at the hotel we had reserved, which was allegedly right near the airport. I say allegedly because absolutely no one seemed to have heard of it. Between a very strong language barrier and our inability to connect to the airport Wi-Fi, and our general state of exhaustion, we couldn’t get our act together. Finally, on the suggestion of some English-speakers from California who helped us, we got the address of the hotel translated into Mandarin and showed it to a cab driver. He gave us an enormous flat rate (which we begrudgingly accepted) and drove us in a roundabout way to a hotel. I say a hotel, because we quickly found out it wasn’t OUR hotel. No, we had been taken somewhere completely different. But at the end of our ropes, we decided to cut our losses and book a room. The stay was fine, and we slept like babies.
In the morning, we returned to the airport, and bought breakfast with our remaining mainland currency. Being at the airport, it was pretty expensive. You can see me in the above picture fanning myself with wads of money. We bought a fairly meager breakfast of hardboiled eggs and fried mystery meat, then proceeded to board our flight to Hong Kong.
This flight was great, being only 3 hours long, and quite comfortable. Despite the Pilot promising us rain on arrival, we were greeted by a dry, overcast city. After successfully navigating Hong Kong’s lovely airport, we boarded a train to take us to the city proper. Here we were greeted by Bonky’s aunt Elaine, who we are staying with while in HK. She taught us how to take a shuttle bus back to their apartment, a perilous journey up a mountainside. The view from Elaine (and of course, her husband Gary’s) apartment is spectacular.
After resting and eating some lunch, we headed back out into the city to see the markets. Never in my life have I wandered around such an interesting and dense city. People selling everything from handbags to foot massages crowd into the street markets to hawk their goods. It’s overwhelming but absolutely brilliant. We toured the various markets including the ladies and jade ones, and headed for water to see the famous HK light show. Unfortunately, we were so tired we could barely function. So we reluctantly decided to return to the apartment to get some much needed rest. The rest of the week looks so exciting, this taste of Hong Kong merely whet my appetite.
Sojourning With Smonk 