Hong Kong Airport -- The Final Jump

---

---

HONG KONG!!!!!

Not much time to write, but praise Hong Kong airport for FREE internet access. It took an hour and a half to contact my parents in Manila trying to get the Sam's Club AT&T card to work on the pay phones here, but I eventually got through...otherwise, I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to be picked up in Manila. Potentially problematic, thankfully averted.

The 747 ride was remarkably without incident, for a 15 hour affair. We took a spectacular route over the North Pole, though unfortunately, much of the Canadian and polar route was covered by thick clouds so I couldn't see the ice below, and slept through most of it besides. I was quite awake, however, to see the Siberian landscape shortly after sunrise: a limitless stretch of tundra in all directions. It was hard to believe any person could carve a living out of such surroundings, and even more difficult to believe a place of such harsh conditions and vast expanses could be meaningfully controlled by distant Moscow. As we passed through China, I saw little homes nestled along the sides of tall peaks and pale yellow-green mountains. And for the final approach to Hong Kong International Airport, the South China Sea glistened a beautiful bluish-green hue as we made our descent to the runway amidst the peaks, both natural and artificial (they make a point of building vertical). And to think, all these different lands I was passing over but not on (aside from Hong Kong) had a soundtrack--United allows its passengers to listen to the air traffic on one of the on-seat radio channels, and it was a treat to hear the accents abruptly change from American to Canadian to Russian to Chinese, the latter two mixing in radio calls to our plane with other planes, but those in other languages.

The food was meager back for the economy class groundlings, with chicken and noodles for the first meal, half a cup of bean curd ramen for the "snack" and chicken with brown sauce and rice, the latter of which, though small in servings, was actually quite tasty. Fortunately, Quizno's came to the rescue during a stretch when I was particularly starved.

Oh my, a whole train of children just passed the internet station here. I think I should get going too--flight to Manila in less than an hour. Next report will be from the Philippines (perhaps I'll write more about my very short Hong Kong experience then)!

---

Comments

[Antonette Goroch]

Thanks for the tour!
Hi Josh! Thanks for making the effort to post this travel blog. Your descriptions make me feel as though I'm taggling along after you. Wonderful vistas and interesting comments! Keep it going if you can and have a wonderful time.