Trip to Hong Kong

Wednesday, September 15

 

Summary: Group pictures at 10:00, then packing luggage, then a van ride to the airport hotel at Hong Kong.

 

Details:  It's Wednesday night and we're exhausted.  We had a normal start to the day and then all the families in our travel group gathered in the hotel lobby at 10:00 am for group pictures.  We also said goodbye to families that we didn't expect to see again.  We then spent the last hours at the hotel packing while fitting in lunch at an Arabian restaurant next to the hotel.  At 4:00 we checked out, and then around 4:45 we boarded a van for the trip to Hong Kong.  We expected it to take a little over three hours.  It took about 90 minutes just to get out of Guangzhou, and then when we got to Hong Kong we had to go through the Chinese checkpoint after unloading our luggage from the van and transferring it to another van licensed for Hong Kong.  Then we got into the new van and went through the Hong Kong checkpoint.  Meanwhile, Alexis was restless much of the trip - especially toward the end.  There were a number of screaming fits and lots of crying throughout the day despite our best efforts to help her.  We think the long day without any good naps, along with the continual change in environment was difficult for her today.  It was certainly difficult for us.

 

Now we're checked in at the airport hotel and we hope to take the train Thursday into downtown Hong Kong to do some sightseeing.  Please pray for us because it's difficult to judge whether Alexis' behavior is due to the circumstances here or just her normal personality.  Either way, the last two days have been tough and we're not particularly looking forward to the long flight on Thursday.