The hotel we stayed at, sorry this shot was taken last night, and I was too distracted this morning to take another:
I've grown used to waiting anywhere from 1 hour to 2 hours after ordering a meal for it to arrive, so I'm not sure how I'll go at home where it will feels like the food jumps on you it will be so quick. I'll even miss grilled chicken and Jollof rice :)
On the way over, my driver enlightened me that Grasscutter is a delicacy in Ghana, and many countries and even regions outside Accra do not allow Grasscutter to be killed and eaten. I'm very pleased I tried it, but I won't miss it :)
Note to my team mates staying on - jewelry at the airport after you pass through customs is significantly cheaper than in Accra, but they only accept USD or Ghana Cedis, no card services at all. On the other hand wood carvings are ridiculously expensive compared to the markets.
Addis Ababa airport in Ethiopia is a medium size airport, probably double the size of Ghana's airport. It is also a smoking airport which was awful until my flight number came up and then. I could move into the gate area which was non-smoking. Lucky I checked the flight number and time as my ticket says 2:10am, but the flight was actually midnight!! Anyway, my carry on luggage is 180grams lighter as I helped myself to a double decker bar :). Oh, and no selectable movies or in-seat tv screens on these flights :), lucky I made my way through "The Hunger Games". It's kept me interested, but it's not a great book - jumps a fair bit and doesn't develop the characters much. Maybe it's aimed at a different audience, either way, I havn't been inspired to read the next 2 books in the trilogy. It's kinda junk. Battle Royale is far grittier and more believable, and it's a movie.
The movie on the plane was "7 Days in Utopia", it was ok, but failed to really stir the sportsman spirit that those movies are meant to do. Filled in some time anyway. Those passengers interested in the film, could watch their nearest screen in the roof or on the exit row wall.
Made it to Bangkok airport, damn time goes slow for the first half of long plane trips, then the second half seems to improve. Well, this is a much bigger and more modern airport. I was delighted to find I could get a haircut, shower and a massage all on the 4th floor at the day hotel. No, I did not take the happy ending option, but not for lack them asking I don't know how many times. She seemed to get the point when I pointed out my wedding ring, but even that seemed a poor excuse why not. Different Values I guess. I didn't realize that even in the airport, after paying the price, about $120 all up, they still wanted tips. All I had was an Australian $10 note, so they took that. Oh well, it was worth it to be able to freshen up and to face the last part of the trip, one more nearly 9 hour flight, and then a 50 minute flight to Canberra and I can finally crash!
Yippee! I got an exit row seat by the window for the flight from Bangkok to Sydney. ahhh, leg room and quick exit at Sydney! This flight should feel a bit quicker than the last now.
First Movie I decided to watch was Chronicle. Where do they make this rubbish? And who in their right mind funds it? Followed by The Vow which I thought would be a comedy but turns out to be a chick-flick, ugh, think I'll pass on the movies home.
So instead, I wonder if my team at home will mind if I hiss at them when I want their attention, or making a kissing noise to tell them to watch out for something? Maybe we could pray together before we start the salary reviews? I'll miss some of the other "eeeaaa!", and "eh?", and a chuffed "oh! oh! oh!" expressions used in conversation and meetings as feedback to what is being heard too.
I never had to think about where to get a taxi Accra, they constantly came past and tooted and hissed to get our attention. Having to wait for a taxi is going to be a rude reality. I won't miss hearing "I'll be right there", and either not turning up at all, or coming hours later :). But even that was fun!
Our favourite Ghanaian song was called Azonto (I think), and I bought the CD, along with a few other songs that grew on me. I hope I did remember to pack it. Ghanaian's enjoy a music style called Hip-Life which is a mix of Hip-Hop and High-Life. It's only a matter of time before the next Lady Gaga or someone rips this off and we see something catering for Western tastes.
It's about now I'm looking out my window and waving to Dale and Cassia as we fly over NT and Central Australia. Hey guys, couldn't you hear me calling out? Raw hide!
With a couple of hours to fill in before we land in Sydney, I thought I'd try one more movie, Haywire. It has some big names, but unfortunately, still unrealistic rubbish.
Yahoo, Sydney! It put a smile on my dial to be able to switch my phone back on and get a 3G connection, and to see a bunch of SMS messages come in. Thanks Al for your SMS! It's like coming home to old friends!
Made it through Customs with all my souvenirs too! I declared everything. And showed everything to the Customs officer and it was ok to bring in, great! Last flight to Canberra now, how exciting!!
Phew, they don't give u much time at Sydney airport. I make it to my gate with 2 minutes to spare by the time the transfer bus arrives and gets us around to Domestic from International. And I thought 2 hours would be plenty of time!
Flying in the dash-8 back to Canberra the first thing that strikes me is how green everything is here in Australia, the red fields of Ghana replaced with green. The second thing is how neat our housing is built compared to the sometimes random looking clusters of buildings in Ghana.
- Keep on Rockin'. Dwight.
Location:Ghana Airport
Hi Dwight
ReplyDeleteNice to read about your post about your trip back home.
I hope your family was excited to see you in the Ghanian costume.
Regards
Deiva