Day 263 - Travel to Hong Kong (only just) - 26th April, 2005

We set off for Hong Kong today, leaving our New Delhi home at 5:00am. We were sad about leaving Suzanne, Rob and the family but excited about getting on the road again. Well at least I was.

We get to New Delhi airport and go to check in. "Sorry sir, no record of your reservation. Looks like it has been cancelled". I had checked with American Airlines in London about a week ago to confirm this reservation so there must be some mistake. There certainly was some mistake. All our onward flights with Cathy Pacific had also been cancelled.

After much sweat, pleading, cajoling, steaming (Julie) they found us 4 seats on the flight we were supposed to go out on even though it was already overbooked. It still don't know how they did it.

The 4 hour flight was uneventful enough. I had a laugh though (we were split up in the aircraft) when I saw an old Indian woman come up to the front of economy class and start opening all the lockers in the galley. At first I thought she was looking for a glass of water or something to eat. Then I realised that she was looking for the toilet. Why she thought there might be one in a 2 foot by 3 foot locker I do not know.

But it led me to think. Many of the people on the plane looked like they really came from a remote village somewhere in the wilds. The toilet seats had footprints all over them. They could speak neither English or Chinese so they could not converse or understand the air hostesses. If she could not find a toilet in an airplane how would she understand about flushing it, where to put a used towel, what to do in an emergency? I had mean thoughts about how air travel really ought to be reserved for educated western folk like me but only for a moment mind. I think it was the moment I used the toilet on the plane and found it looking much like a lot of toilets I had come across in India.

There were quite a few amusing cross cultural conversations too. One very plump proper sort of English lady really gave a big Punjabi Sikh man a dressing down. He had the misfortune to sit next to her on the flight. He then proceeded to make a mobile phone call at the top of his Punjabi voice (very intense and aggressive sounding). She took great exception to this and shouted at him to shut up and keep his conversations to himself. There was some exchange of words but I am not sure if either party really understood what the other was saying. The next 4 hours must have been quite uncomfortable for both of them.

We got to Hong Kong International airport without too much trouble. Getting through all the formalities this time around seemed much smoother (it is our 3rd visit to Hong Kong airport on this trip). We decided that whilst we were here we should sort out our ticket problems so we could be sure of our onward journey to Cape Town.

Oh dear what a disaster. All our onwards flights seemed to have been cancelled somehow. Not just the New Delhi to Hong Kong which we had overcome but our flight out of Hong Kong to Jo'berg and onto Capetown. OK so lets not get to excited about this. We haven't got to get back to work or anything. Except that we have made accommodation bookings in Cape Town and we have friends waiting for us in Nairobi.

Our original itinerary had us booked into Hong Kong on the 26th. A quick 3 day lay over here to have a look see and then onto South Africa on the 29th. Not any more. The earliest they can get us out of here is May 4th. That's 5 days longer than we planned. The immediate concern about this is the cost. We are here during trade fair season and the cheapest of the cheapest rooms are about £70 per night. Along with that, this place rates as the most expensive place after Japan that we have been to so far. It's going to cost a fortune to sit this out.

Worse was to come. The Cathay Pacific assistant said he could see no records of the onward flight by British Airways to Nairobi. We should go and check with them the status of this flight. Cathay put us on stand-by for 29th and 30th April and May the 1st and confirmed a booking for the 4th May. We will get one of these in the end. So we have to keep checking now to see how early we can get out. A real pain as we don't want to waste time going to airline offices and ringing them us.

We check with British Airways about the Nairobi flight and they informed us that this flight has now been withdrawn from their schedules. They no longer fly that route. Oh great. Book me on the flight then cancel it. How we get to Nairobi has yet to be decided and it looks like I will spend all tomorrow down at the British Airways office trying to work out flights based on a stand-by booking with Cathay. Ummmmm and it was a going so well.

We get to our cheap pre-booked dormitory hostel place and find that they have rented one of the beds in our 4 bed room to someone. Did we mind sharing? The only alternative is a newly refurbished 4 bed family room that costs an extra HK$250 (about £20) per night. So we take that. But because of this trade fair business the cost of this room goes from HK$900 per night to HK$1,200 per night from tomorrow. So now we have the possibility of having to stay here for 6 or 7 nights, I am beginning to panic.

On the way back from our supper at MacDonalds (yeah OK but the boys haven't had one in 3 months, the plane food was rubbish and we are not, after a long day travelling, going to start them on Chinese food today) we find a small hotel willing to offer us a room with a double bed and a single (in a room no bigger than 2 double beds) for HK$650 per night. Trouble is - no internet. This place has a decent 2mbs LAN link which I must say is half decent. So do we go for the "sleep 4 of us in beds made for 3" or stay put or ........?

Answers on an email please by no later than ...........