Adventures in Asia

This might sound a little strange coming from two people who have made their home in a country only recently introduced to the "modern world". But to tell the truth, in some ways John and I aren't the most adventurous people. Sure, going to PNG was kind of a big deal. But John had been to this side of the world with his parents before, so it wasn't exactly a strange new place for him. And as part of a missions organization we had plenty of guidance and help along the way to get us through the red tape to get to PNG in the first place. But when it comes to venturing out on our own, we've sometimes been a bit chicken. Or maybe just a bit miserly - either way, it's had the same effect. We've travelled across the world but not bothered to really see the world we're travelling through.

So this time, since we don't know if or when we'll be returning to this side of the world, we decided to actually see some of it. I have a friend in China, and John's sister and her husband live in Korea, so we decided to pay them all a visit and let them show us around a bit.

Our first impression of China? Well, let's just say their airline service wasn't extraordinary. In one long day we were to travel from Port Moresby, PNG's capital, to Brisbane, Australia, to Hong Kong, and then to Beijing, arriving shortly after 10pm. We made a hotel reservation close to the airport, and if we got through customs quick enough we'd have time to catch the free shuttle from the airport to the hotel. Well, plans are made so they can be changed, right?

7pm, Hong Kong airport - John, Tikvah and I and two other passengers from our last flight are being helped by a high-heeled, smartly dressed flight attendant. We were supposed to be on our next flight by now, but a delay in the previous flight and a short layover means we're getting bumped to an 8pm flight to Beijing. No worries, right? Just as long as Tikvah goes to sleep, we'll be good to go. At present I'm sitting cross legged on the airport lounge floor while John chases a sleep deprived and therefore very hyper Tikvah as she (literally) runs circles around him and twirls her way through the big empty spaces.

8:30pm, aboard the flight to Beijing - Tikvah does not want to settle down. In fact, she's screaming and making everyone miserable as the plane taxies the runway. I'm convinced all the people around me think I'm torturing her somehow. I'm not, but I'm about ready to if she doesn't quiet down! Nothing seems to settle her down and all I can do is hold on and hope she wears herself out, very very soon.

10pm, aboard the flight to Beijing - I'm sure it could be worse, but it is hard to imagine how. Our plane is just now leaving Hong Kong. After boarding, the nice Australian pilot informed us that they hadn't been granted permission to fly over a certain airport, so we would have a 40 minute delay. About 10 minutes later, the 40 minutes was stretched to a 1 1/2 hour delay before we could take off. John noticed that most of the Chinese travelers seemed rather ambivalent about the delay, leading him to wonder if that kind of thing happened often on the Chinese airlines. Well, all but the lady who shouted an obscenity when the pilot announced our delay - but then, she was speaking English, so she probably wasn't Chinese anyway! But at long last, the plane engines roared to life and we were up and away.

Tikvah slept fitfully during the 2 1/2 hour flight, and therefore so did I. Two or three times as we flew toward Beijing she awoke, screaming, and I would try desperately for what seemed like forever to calm her down. She would eventually give up and go back to sleep. Then I would gingerly adjust whatever appendage of mine she happened to be squashing or straining this time and then close my eyes to await her next call.

I'll spare you the exciting details of the next few hours. Suffice it to say that we landed in Beijing, didn't get our luggage, talked with the Air China dude for a while about how we would get our luggage and wrote down how much our stuff was worth if we never got our luggage (now that was comforting!), paid more than $20 for a 5 minute taxi ride because the free shuttle to the hotel quit running several hours before, and then finally, at long last, crashed into our beds at the hotel while the clock read 3:30am. Figuring in a couple of time zone changes, we calculated that it had been about 25 hours since we had woken up to leave the guest house in Port Moresby that morning (or the previous morning, technically). Talk about a ridiculously long day! So far, we thought, China has not exactly impressed us!