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The Journey To Russia Begins

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Heading to Perth Airport by bus

Our epic journey has started well. The kids took us to the Bunbury Bus Station.  It was early evening and from there we had a two and a half hour bus ride to the airport. We used South-West Coachlines as they travel to the airport whereas the TransWA buses don’t. The ride was very smooth and the driver extremely professional. He told us he used to be a tourist bus driver and he was quite confident talking via his microphone, even telling us outside temperatures etc.

Arriving at Perth Airport

When we arrived at the airport we immediately got our large rucksacks wrapped in cling film. It cost $10 for each rucksack but we feel it is well worth it, if it prevents any tampering with our bags.  We went through the usual airport checks and procedures promptly and without a hitch. I copped a random frisk search – Ian didn’t.
 

Cathay Pacific, Perth to Hong Kong Airport

We were tired when the Cathay Pacific plane left just after midnight.  It was twenty percent empty.  However sleep was not on the menu.  A full scale dinner was though.  We only ate half of it.  We were not in the mood for food at 1 a.m. 

		For the duration of the night I think I slept for about half an hour and Ian maybe for a little longer.  We just couldn’t get comfortable.  After a few hours we were supplied with a lovely breakfast of yoghurt, croissants and fruit.  Shortly after, at around 8 a.m., the plane landed in Hong Kong. Prior to leaving Perth we had noticed our boarding passes for stage two of our journey (Hong Kong to Seoul) had Ian in seat 31F and me in 61F. The airline clerk in Perth said he wasn’t able to organize anything better at that point in time but for us to ask again at the transit desk in Hong Kong airport.  Hong Kong Airport is large and multi-storied but we did end up finding the Transit Desk and we were able to get my seat number changed. It was a relief not being 30 rows apart from each other.
Ian ready for take-off

Hong Kong to Seoul, Incheon

The flight to Seoul was uneventful. There was more food of course!  I looked around me and most people had barely touched their meals. An awful lot of food must get wasted on flights. Incheon Airport is the airport for the city of Seoul.  It is quite large compared to Perth airport and very smart.  Everything ran very smoothly. I declared my prunes as I knew it was important to declare fruit but, because they weren’t fresh fruit, they were perfectly acceptable at the quarantine desk. We went to the airport’s hotel reception desk and they called for the hotel transit bus to come and collect us for the trip to Hotel Queen (you may need to click on the English link at the top of their web page). The bus driver was very friendly and spoke some English.
		Smog in Hong Kong (apparently this was on a good day)

Next page - Hotel Queen in Incheon, South Korea

Our trip in the order it all happened: