Hong Kong Arrival
I left Russia on the 19th of April and traveled via Seoul, Korea (pronounced Sey-oul, not soul like I had thought) to Hong Kong.
Arriving in Korea was quite interesting because the people at the desk in Vladivostok couldn’t access my ticket for Cathay Pacific’s flight from Seoul to Hong Kong. So I was told to check in at a transfer desk in Korea. Well, Cathay pacific doesn’t have a transfer desk in Seoul, so when I arrived I was stuck in the airport in some sort of limbo.
While I waited for people to sort out my predicament in Korean, I read about the brand new airport I was in and how it had more than 12 seperate security zones and was designed to efficiently move people, baggage, and equipment in a beautiful and healthy building. I must add that my actual experience of moving throughout the airport was the best I’ve encountered so far, and the security checkpoints were very good because hey managed to keep me stuck for quite a while.
In Brussels, on my way to St. Petersburg, I had a similar problem. Although the people in England were able to validate my tickets all the way through, they couldn’t send my luggage. Therefore when I entered Brussels I needed to exit the airport with my luggage and reenter and recheck my luggage before going onto Russia. When the immigration official saw this, he said “You have entered and left Belgium in the same day,” and I answered, “It is a beautiful country.”
In Korea, however, that type of solution wouldn’t work. It seems that my luggage had been checked through to Hong Kong, and I had to accompany my luggage. I couldn’t (without paperwork) simply go through customs and immigration and then reenter the airport. Also, by this point, the security officials had sat me down to discuss the situation amongst themselves… no one wanted my suggestions.
In the end, they let me through to the gate and told me to wait for a Cathay Pacific representative. This I did, and when one arrived the first thing they said to me was, “You don’t have a boarding pass do you?” They printed one up for me and were extremely helpful, and the rest of the trip was quite enjoyable. I’d highly recommend Cathay Pacific as the best airline I’ve traveled so far, and the Seoul airport as the nicest airport structure I’ve been in. (They could use a few more airline transfer desks though.)
Arriving in Hong Kong was quite an amazing experience. My dad had mentioned at dinner that his son was travelling around the world and would be arriving in Hong Kong before he would get there. I would be arriving at night, and he was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get in and find a hostel. One of the other guests at dinner told him not to worry and that his company would take care of it (he wanted to meet this world traveller).
Well, my dad relayed on to me that someone might meet me at the airport and take me to a hotel. I was happy that I wouldn’t have to figure my way around the town late at night, but I wasn’t expecting what I received.
At the gate, just upon disembarking from the plane, there were two airport representatives holding a sign with my name on it. They picked me up and whisked me away through the airport in a beeping golf cart. As I passed all of the first class people from my flight staring at me, I wondered what exactly I was getting myself into.
beepbeepbeepbeepbeep went the cart as it swosshed me through vip lanes for health quarantine and arrived at immigration. I went through the lane and my two airport friends were waiting on the other side with my luggage in a cart. Then through customs I went and there they were on the other side as well. As we walked into the arrival hall, there was another person with my name on a card who I discovered was my driver. The airport escorts said their goodbyes and I was off in a Mercedes S500 with reclining back seats for the drive into Hong Kong.
Let me tell you, after 3 weeks in Russia on a train and with sagging cots and no hot water, this kind of treatment was just preposterous. I rode the entire way on that golf cart with a crazy smile and did crack up laughing twice while playing with the various controls in the back of the car. I’m not sure I’ll be able to readjust to the hostel lifestyle after this part of my trip is over.
April 30th, 2005 at 8:21 am
The back seats are air conditioned too
. And to think dad almost splurged and bought one of those. Take car pictures… its the only thing that matters lol.
April 30th, 2005 at 12:40 pm
On my first trip to Hong Kong, they didn’t have our hotel room so they upgraded us to a multi room suite with 1 and 1/2 baths. The main bath was three times the size of Grandma & Grandpa’s bathroom. This was 10 years ago. We had just left Shanghai, where there were brown outs, very few people who spoke English, the hotel pool was cracked and under repair, and the room in this “luxurious” Western style hotel was as small as a cracker box with a closet the size of a small broom closet. We were on a three week business trip and no place to store anything. But it was a nice adventure. We got to tour the Shanghhai zoo in a limo. Yes we went on the sidewalks and down the stairs in a limo. Enjoy Hong Kong and the extra perks. Make sure you go to Stanley Market If you have any room for souveneirs this is the place to go. Even I can get there by myself by bus. I am sure you will take a trip to the top of Victoria Peak. The view of the harbor is spectacular. There are hiking trails up there that I haven’t been on. You pass the American consul’s home on the funicular on the way up. It is the large white house hanging off the cliff on the right. We went to a party there many years ago. it was neat to see a piece of America. Be sure to watch the laser light show. It is new since I was there the last time. Uncle Roy says it is spectacular. I am glad to hear that Seoul’s airport is nice. Uncle Roy and I are leaving for Hong Kong on Saturday by way of Seoul’s airport. On the way back we will stay in Seoul. I am glad you survived the train in Russia. Uncle Roy and I got detained by the transportation police on a train from Wuxi to Shanghai. Liquor was not involved. They didn’t like our visas. I though for sure we were headed to a Chinese prison. We met a bunch of young Chinese who were very interested in practicing their English. That more than made up for it. We enjoy hearing about your adventures and look forward to seeing the pictures. Aunt Anita PS Chrissy got tied up in Bangkok for an extra few days and will not be heading onto Tailand.