The plan is simple enough. Up at 4 am to take the rental car back (and fuel it up), catch the 6:30 am flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg, and the 12:50 or so flight from Johannesburg to Hong Kong.
The alarm goes off, and I get up to go to the bathroom.
The next thing I know, I'm lying on the floor with Jennifer banging on the door asking if I'm alright, to which I answer "I don't know." I passed out.
I get back to the bed and lie down for awhile, and after drinking a lot of water manage to get up. We end up leaving the hotel around 5:15, although I'm still a bit wobbly. Of course Jen is freaking out, but trying not to show me, while I'm freaking out and trying not to show her.
We get to the Cape Town airport only to find that the queue for security wraps around itself 5 times because one of the X-ray machines is broken. Thankfully they have their act together and will hold the flight for everyone caught in the security line.
The first flight went off without incident, and we managed to get back to Johannesburg and crash in the BA lounge, where I drank OJ and water for about 3 hours. Then we got on the next flight (Cathay Pacific) and the intestinal distress hit.
Interesting thing about Cathay Pacific - the flight attendants clean the bathrooms and spray air freshener after each use. I'm most likely still being cursed in Mandarin somewhere. Jen was trying to sleep, and thought that someone was spraying hairspray because it was so frequent. Then, when we hit the airport in Hong Kong I went to the first bathroom and added throwing up to the unpleasantness.
On the Air Canada flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver I took 5 immodiums, which had the desired effect but lead to an urgent need for Gas-X. It was a nice distraction from the 18 month old child who screamed all 12+ hours of the flight.
Over the entire 48 hour ordeal I managed about 2 hours of sleep, 1 and a half meals, and 11 trips to the bathroom. Honestly, though, I was glad to get home.
On the plus side, I'm the lightest I've been in over a decade. Too bad it's not for healthy reasons.
2 comments:
my dad has always said that Cathay Pacific is the best. do you agree? He sat in first from LAX to HJG and said it was the best trip he has ever had. good luck in the orient.
all hail the ahi tower.
bt
It's difficult for me to compare. They're certainly the best that we've had on this trip - by a significant margin. The only comparison would be Qantas, but that was a first class flight 5 years ago.
Bernard and I talked about it - I think that these days a lot of your satisfaction will come down to how old the plane is that you are flying on.
That Ahi Tower was awesome. Take care.
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