After much anticipation, the day arrived for us to leave for China.
John (John's Taxi) is the fellow who takes us to the airport if there're no family or friends available to drive us. We left the house at 9 AM, Wednesday.
Once at Honolulu Airport we were met by Derek of Air and Sea Travel who gave us all directions, tickets and passports with visas.
I'm thinking... "Did I forget something?"
Korean Airlines was really fabulous! I was surprised that the seats seemed lower so I didn't get to use the leg rest I'd bought and carefully stored in my back pack. There was very nice leg room and great food. It was a 10 hour flight to Incheon, South Korea. I watched two movies. One of my tour mates said she watched three! I DID NOT sleep!
Art found these NO JET LAG pills on the REI website. They were about $14.00. We followed the directions as carefully as we could.
It felt wonderful to touch down at Incheon where we had a one and a half hour lay-over.
It was now Thursday and technically Day 2 of our trip.
We stopped at the Korea Traditional Cultural Experience Center and promised to return on our way back to Hawaii.
It was a 45 minute bus trip and about 10:00 PM by the time we got to the very fancy 5 star Westin hotel in Beijing. Charlie gave us our room key cards and instructions for the following day.
We're Motel 6 type people so very unused to upscale hotels.
You had to use your key card to get the elevator to move. That took us a while to learn.
Actually, the prices of hotel stays in China are a whole lot more reasonable than in Japan... or Hawaii.
The rooms were HUGE! The feature we found especially interesting was the window from the bathroom to the sleeping area. It does have blinds should you desire to be private.
Every room in China would have a pot to boil water and two bottles of water, except in Hong Kong. We were warned never to drink the tap water since our systems weren't used to it. We would also be given bottled water on the buses during the tour.
This was a very promising start to our trip. By the time we unpacked and got organized it was after midnight.
When I woke up in the morning, I looked at the bedside clock. It was 3 AM!!! That's when I knew that the NO JET LAG pills did not work.
Ah well.... we were in China and ready for a new adventure!
John (John's Taxi) is the fellow who takes us to the airport if there're no family or friends available to drive us. We left the house at 9 AM, Wednesday.
Once at Honolulu Airport we were met by Derek of Air and Sea Travel who gave us all directions, tickets and passports with visas.
I'm thinking... "Did I forget something?"
Art found these NO JET LAG pills on the REI website. They were about $14.00. We followed the directions as carefully as we could.
It felt wonderful to touch down at Incheon where we had a one and a half hour lay-over.
It was now Thursday and technically Day 2 of our trip.
We stopped at the Korea Traditional Cultural Experience Center and promised to return on our way back to Hawaii.
Our two hour flight to Beijing was uneventful and they fed us again! We arrived at 8:15 PM.
Air and Sea Tour's Derek told us that Charlie Wang would be our tour guide in China and that he would remind us of Kung Fu Panda. I confess we all smiled happily when we met him.
There were just 15 of us but Charlie came with this huge luxurious bus. Apparently our tour group was supposed to number 24, but for many reasons including H9N7, people had dropped out.
We're Motel 6 type people so very unused to upscale hotels.
You had to use your key card to get the elevator to move. That took us a while to learn.
Actually, the prices of hotel stays in China are a whole lot more reasonable than in Japan... or Hawaii.
The rooms were HUGE! The feature we found especially interesting was the window from the bathroom to the sleeping area. It does have blinds should you desire to be private.
Every room in China would have a pot to boil water and two bottles of water, except in Hong Kong. We were warned never to drink the tap water since our systems weren't used to it. We would also be given bottled water on the buses during the tour.
This was a very promising start to our trip. By the time we unpacked and got organized it was after midnight.
When I woke up in the morning, I looked at the bedside clock. It was 3 AM!!! That's when I knew that the NO JET LAG pills did not work.
Ah well.... we were in China and ready for a new adventure!
You had a pleasant trip by the sounds. The room is amazing. I envy your travels!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful beginning! And what a hotel room... I've never been to any "star" of any kind in China, only in Chinese hotels. Nice to see how the other side lives. :-)
ReplyDeleteIt sure was for us, I must say. It's nice that things are more economical in China right now. Their economy is hurting.
DeleteI was disappointed to read that the jet lag pills did not work. I have tried the melatonin pills and they did not work for me, so I was hoping you found something new. Flying with the sun I can adjust in 24 hours, but coming back it takes me forever!
ReplyDeleteAcres of space in the bus - that's a bonus:-)
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to hear more! I was wondering about those jet lag pills.
ReplyDeleteOh thank you, Christine. It makes it so much more worthwhile if I can share these posts with people who are interested.
DeleteI am enjoying this immensely. When it is over I am going to tell people that I have traveled to China:)
ReplyDeleteI hear jet-lag is pretty awful
ReplyDeleteVery awful!
DeleteThis is so very exciting for me to read. I'm a stay at home this year, and I thank you for the chance to go this wonderful place.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the motivation, Mage. I'm working hard to try and get the trip posts done. It's exhausting!
DeleteA fun start and looking forward to the rest. I've never heard of jet-lag pills before.
ReplyDeleteIt was disappointing that it didn't work for us though.
DeleteSame here, we're not used to 5 star. We're most comfortable in motels like Best Western. But luxury must have been nice after a long plane ride day.
ReplyDeleteL...w
Gracious! Best Western is often a step up for us. We're normally cheap travelers. Rooms are just a whole lot more economical in China.
DeleteOK, Korean Airlines has shorter stature seats, but their TV ads show the longest, "Barbie" legged models! With no sleep on the flights...you had more than jet lag. I can be awake for 26 hours, (after three 12-hour shifts,) then feel slightly nauseated. I don't think a pill can fix that, just sleep. Glad you had a good start. DrumMajor
ReplyDeleteThose stewardesses were really beautiful, slim and elegant.... and nice. I'm trying to get more sleep, but there's so much to do. I'm working constantly on getting these China posts done, but it's really exhausting.
DeleteHow comforting to have someone waiting for you and all arrangements made. That is definitely the way to go. This is fun, so glad to be along.
ReplyDeleteKay, this so exciting to me! That first pic of you and Art is wonderful. Air & Sea seems to be the local best way to go. Can't wait to see more! :-)
ReplyDeleteAloha
Wow. that's a great start. It's lovely to be so well taken care of.
ReplyDeleteYou two are such sports! I love coming along with you via your blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for coming along with us and leaving such sweet comments, Nan.
DeleteThe room was really nice. I like the all white look of the furnishing. You had a great start even if the pills didn't work.
ReplyDeleteMinor spelling correction for Inchon->should be Incheon. In Korean writing, Hangul- 인천공항.
ReplyDeleteYae, Mandy!!! Thanks for covering my back. I really appreciate your help. I've selected photos for only 8 days of blog posts so far. Sigh... 8 more days to go. Then I have to work on our photo album. I could finish this quickly if it weren't for the fact that I have to eat, sleep, go to the doctor, etc. Arrrghh... On top of that I think my brain is still trying to sleep.
DeleteThis is an amazing photo journey. I'm so glad you've shared it with your faithful readers.
ReplyDeleteWe do car daycations, lately. I'm so happy to travel through you! Blessings.