Hello all from China!
It was tough getting up at 4.30am today as it was just 1 degree in Melbourne, but my excitement for my trip spurred me on to get out of bed!!
Mum and Dad drove me to the airport (our car's windscreen was frozen!!) and I boarded my first flight, a 9 hour one to Hong Kong. The seat next to me had been double booked, so the woman allocated to it was upgraded to premium economy (lucky her!!) and I sat next to an English man named John for the flight who was absolutely lovely. We shared our lollies! He moved to Christchurch a few years back and was making a 40 hour journey home (suddenly my 17 hour one didn't seem so bad!) to visit family.
The flight was pretty good. My chair wouldn't go back properly so the flight crew dismantled it and fixed it which was pretty cool! The food was pretty good and I managed a few hours of sleep as well as watching 'A Dog's Purpose' again.
Upon arrival in Hong Kong I went through security and walked through with two men from Melbourne who had been sitting behind me on the flight. They were flying to Hanoi to meet their son/grandson and travel with him. We all got a shock when officials scanned our temperature using a radar gun type device. Apparently some sort of flu has been going around here.
I had a four hour layover during which time I converted my leftover Indonesian money from my trip in April, charged my phone and wandered around aimlessly recalling parts of the airport that Mum and I had been in last year when we visited. I got pretty bored and just wanted to get going!!
I got a shuttle to a smaller part of the airport and waited for my connection to Chengdu. I was one of very few non-locals but chatted to an Aussie girl who was moving to Chengdu for a university program for a couple of weeks. Whilst talking to her, a hostess checked my Chinese visa (which I organised myself) and told me it was invalid. My stomach dropped, but luckily she quickly realised she had misread it and was incorrect.
The second flight wasn't as good. No movies, and an annoying little girl behind me who kept kicking my seat. I asked her to stop and her Mum clearly didn't like discipline as nothing changed - very frustrating! The turbulence was also pretty bad.
We finally landed at 10.30 and I went through immigration and collected my case. It took a while and I was just starting to get nervous it had been lost when it finally appeared!!!
I went through the arrivals gate and was met by Lian, a friend of a friend. Two years ago in England whilst travelling in Cornwall I met Shine, a girl who is from Chengdu but lived in England at the time. She's now working in Africa but kindly put me in touch with Lian. Lian is so lovely, she's never met me and she picked me up at the airport and is letting me stay with her!
We drove through the city (it's really hot!!) and saw the buildings all lit up. Now I'm back at Lian's. She gave me half a watermelon and a spoon, set me up in her spare room and turned the air conditioner on. I will sleep very well - it's been almost 22 hours since I left my bed in Melbourne!
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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