Tibet Day 1: St. Anthony to Zhanjiang

Packing for this trip proved to be somewhat troublesome. This is the first trip I've ever taken where I had to be prepared for some large swings in temperatures. It is quite common for high-altitude places to get quite warm during the day when in direct sunlight but only to have the temperatures plummet to single digits overnight. In addition, I was also visiting southern China (30C) and Kathmandu (40+C !). I was hoping to borrow a large backpack from my sister but my planned return trip to Toronto didn't materialize and I was forced to use a regular suitcase. I packed lots of layers and hoped that laundry opportunities would present themselves during the trip.

As usual, my trip started with a 5 hr. drive to Deer Lake from St. Anthony yesterday and I spent the night at a B&B. I had to catch the 6 AM direct flight to Toronto. Ordinarily I would balk at getting up so early for the flight but I didn't have any choice this time. This was the only direct flight to Toronto by Air Canada plus it gave me lots of time to connect with the flight to Hong Kong.


The flight to Toronto went off without a hitch and was on-time. When I arrived in Toronto at 7AM I immediately went looking for breakfast. I made a beeline for the Tim's at the foot of the escalators in the Terminal 1 Domestic section. Let me just say that I am so happy that Tim's introduced oatmeal to their breakfast menu. Bagel, oatmeal, yogurt, and decaf coffee and you've got yourself a healthy breakfast without blowing your daily allowance on fat.

This was also the first time I ever went to the International section of Terminal 1 in Toronto. It was a good long walk along the upper floor and you had to pass through 2 checkpoints with your boarding pass. It was smaller than the Domestic section which surprised me -- I expected it to be bigger given that Toronto is the largest airport hub in Canada. I suppose there was a separate US section as well.

So, I arrived at my gate and took a picture of my plane:

This is a B777-200ER docked at gate 177. I called Mom and Dad in China to let them know I was on the way and then spent the next 2 hrs. wandering the airport and surfing the internet. Boarding went smoothly and we pushed back from the gate on time. But then we just sat there on the tarmac for the next 30 min. The pilot then explained what was going on -- they were having trouble separating the tractor from the nosewheel of the jumbo jet! Well, that was a first for me. They finally managed to separate the plane from the tractor and they called out an inspector to make sure there was no permanent damage. We finally took off 1 hr. late. Although I had 2 hrs. to connect in Hong Kong, the delay did make me somewhat nervous since I wasn't sure how long I would need to connect in HKG.

The pilot then informed us that we wouldn't be taking the polar route that runs close to the North Pole. Instead, we would be flying south of Alaska. I was actually disappointed to hear this as I thought it was pretty neat to be flying close to the North Pole. The good news was that the alternate routing wouldn't take any longer and we would still fly over Russia, Mongolia, and then through China into HKG.

The flight itself was uneventful. The meals were alright but nothing to write home about. I was quite envious of my siblings when they said that on their Cathay Pacific flight they had salmon and unlimited cup-a-soups! I think I watched 2-3 movies on the inflight entertainment system and rested my eyes for the rest of the trip. (Yes, I am incapable of sleeping in economy class on airplanes...one day I'll give first class a try but I'm a very light sleeper).

Sixteen hours and change later we arrived at Chek Lap Kok airport in Hong Kong. The 1 hr. delay meant I only had a little over 1-2 hrs. to connect so I didn't have time to take pictures or look around. Fortunately, the connection was quite painless. I headed for the Transfer section and showed my ticket at the airline counter. They asked for the luggage tag from Air Canada (very reassuring) and printed out my boarding pass. I had to line up for a security check before heading off to my gate. It quickly dawned on me that I was walking to the opposite end of the airport! But, I was going at a good pace and I arrived with an hour to spare.

HOW TO TELL YOUR AIRPORT IS TOO SMALL #1

When I arrived at the gate....I was immediately confused. I was at a cluster of 4 gates which were impossibly close to each other. There was no way an airplane could dock at these gates! When I looked closer I realized that the gates lead to two parking spots and a road and I saw some parked airport buses. This was my first experience with a "virtual gate" and HKG has 7 of them. Apparently HKG is slated for expansion in the near future and I could see some construction work across from the runways.

Half an hour later we started boarding and we walked through the gates and onto the buses. The buses then - wait for it - took us back to the opposite side of the airport (sigh) and out onto an open area of the tarmac where a small Embraer jet was waiting for us. We got off the bus and transferred onto the plane.

The flight out to Zhanjiang was uneventful as well. We flew out over the South China sea and while I could see the water below us it was cloudy enough to prevent me from seeing the shoreline. It was raining when I arrived in ZHA. I went through customs and immigration which was painless enough. Interestingly, in China they ask for and keep your luggage chit to ensure that you are the rightful owner! I wonder if luggage theft was an issue.

My family was waiting on the other side and all things considered my trip went rather smoothly up to this point.