One of the nicest things in the world for us is the forward journey of an overseas trip. All the planning and procedural work is over and we are - for better or worse - largely out of control of our destiny for our next lot of adventures. And so all we can do is sit back in the airport lounge and enjoy a drink or two before our flight. Which we do. Always.

Our first destination was Shanghai, the home base of China Eastern Airlines and like our previous travels, a hub for our travel through China.

Our flight with China Eastern Airlines to Shanghai was, as usual, excellent and we were delighted with the new combination of First and Business Class with the capsular seats enabling us to lie back at an angle of 170 degrees. We would always strongly recommend China Eastern Airlines. Their prices are highly competitive, their staff wonderfully friendly and obliging and the food is excellent.

Alan and I have had rather interesting times during our travels. We seem to always be in the midst of natural disasters or political events - or have just left before they happen.

On a trip to Japan in 2004 we encountered the ferocious Typhoon 23 and were stranded for 23 hours on a stationary bullet train at Fukuoka in Kyushu. And the very next day we experienced first hand in Nagano the earthquake that tore apart Niigata in north-west Japan. Both events presented us with only minor problems to our forward travels but we could have well done without typhoons and heart stopping earthquakes. 

This trip was no exception. Approaching Shanghai our flight encountered Typhoon Khosa. Here we go again, we thought. Typhoon Khosa was fierce enough to cause our flight to be diverted at the last minute from landing at Pudong International Airport, Shanghai to Hongqiao domestic airport some 60 km west of Pudong. Airport customs staff was not available to process international passengers and we were not allowed to disembark for two long hot hours after landing. The air conditioners were turned off and it didn't help anyone’s frayed tempers when someone started smoking. It was almost midnight when we disembarked, making it a long and tiring 15 hour trip.

A man aged in his nineties sat with his daughter in seats just in front of us. They were on their way back home to the UK after a surprise visit to his other daughter in Australia. It was his first ever trip overseas and we didn’t envy them with their very long flight to London the next day. We were very impressed how calmly he took it all in. Like most passengers they thought they had landed at Pudong. 

Any pre-arranged transport from Pudong International Airport to Shanghai city was of course useless and queues for transport at Hongqiao were horrendous. Hongqiao airport is usually chaotic but this time it was simply seething with travellers, a lot of whom did not seem to realise they were not at Pudong. It was impossible trying to find a taxi and we ended up paying for a limousine to Shanghai city. At that time of night 300 Yuan (less than AUS$50.00) sounded cheap to me. Alan didn’t agree.