Leaving Harbin on a Jet Plane!

The day we left Harbin, we met in the lobby one last time.  I was dragging two to three suitcases, plus trying to carry Elana.  Our guide came in shortly after and we got into the van.  Driving to the airport was a chance to see Harbin during the day.  When we arrived, it was dark.  There was not much to look at.  Lots of trees and some buildings.

At the airport, we got to see the mess that the construction was causing.  Cars were everywhere.  We were dropped off at the entrance.  Our guide accompanied us inside.  She did this to set up our check in.  Who knows if the clerk would have spoken English.  Inside was the normal madhouse you'd expect from an airport.  I looked around and saw a Burger King.  I was so tempted to go over to it.  If I knew we were going to have to wait as long as we did, I'd have gone there first.

Once our check in was set, we said our goodbyes and head for the security line.  That was long also.  It was smooth sailing through it.  Angie did not even have to do a strip search.    We wheeled our things down the hall to our waiting area.  At first there were not many people, but as we waited so did the amount of people.  The only places to eat were a Chinese restaurant, that looked expensive and some gift shops.  We thought we would be getting on the plane soon.

After a couple of hours, we started to see activity.  Eventually, they made an announcement.  It was in Mandarin.  We did see them taking out boxes with canned drinks in them.  We went up and got some drinks.  Two of them were really good.  They were a pear drink and a lemon tea.  The third was a canned sweet tea.  It was not as good.  As soon as they passed out the drinks, they made an announcement.  Everyone started to get in line.

On the plane, Elana started to cry.  She did this for about 3 hours or it felt like it.  We did not take off instantly.  She was in my arms screaming and thrashing.  It was not a fun experience.  I could feel every ones eyes on me.  When we did take off, they had to tell a woman to sit down.  She was just standing there staring at Elana and I.  I was worried they were going to kick us off the flight.  We told the crew what was going on.  They helped us out.