On the Way Home

I have been on the road, more like in the air a lot the past few days, making my way home. Being stuck in Patriot Hills for 5 days screwed up all traveling schedule. To be fair, we missed our schedule flight on Dec 29 because our journey took longer than expected. The following Ulyushyn flight was scheduled to come on the 4th but the weather turned bad and we could only fly out the next 30 hours in a small window of opportunity.

I had given myself one week extra in case of delay but this delay was beyond it. All my tickets expired. As soon as I settled in the hostel in Punta Arenas with Bill and Dong (from Eric Larsen team), I hopped online and checked for tickets. Andreas, my team mate, decided to stayed in the airport to sort out his ticket but apparently, he had to come to town to purchase his. LAN airline was fully booked. No seat available until Jan 11th. I knew there was another cheap domestic airline that serves Punta and Santiago. I found a few good last minutes tickets online in range of $1500s, but first I had to get out of Punta. Dong, having checked with LAN and was offered a business class upgrade to his ticket from Punta Arenas to Shanghai for $7666, was very happy to hear my news. He and I rushed to the SkyAirline office to get our tickets to Santiago. We were lucky enough to get them.

Now that we had our flight to the gateway, the next step was to get the tickets home. On the same site, all the ticket went up to $2000 range, less than an hour. We were disappointed, but kept on searching. In one query, suddenly an amazing price popped up, for Aeromexico. It was 1/3 of what we had seen earlier. I couldn't believe my eyes :). Obviously, we quickly made our purchase before the price went up. There was a catch though. For the tickets we bought, we stopped everywhere. One day and a half in Santiago, one day in Mexico City (where we are currently), then Toronto. Good thing Dong and I had the same destination, so I have been travelling with him since we got back from Antarctica. After Toronto, Dong will fly to Vancouver to renew his Chinese visa then off to Shanghai. I'm going to jet back to the Bay area on Monday after visiting my family in Toronto.

Back to the Real World

This morning when the Ulyushyn aircraft (that plays as the shuttle between Punta Arenas and Antarctica) landed on the blue ice run way of Patriot Hills, we were all so happy. Having stuck in Antarctica since Jan 1, although the ANI staff fed us well with their stunning dishes, we, at least myself, do miss the scene and smell daily human life. With a mixed feeling, we left the white continent, not knowing when we can come back. I did not spend too long time (3 weeks) compared to many others, but I come to appreciate Antarctica even more than before.

Having said that, it must be a cliche to say seeing green patches of grass, yellow flowers in front of the houses and espescially morning rainbow over Punta Arenas this morning as we left the airport was a joy.

Again, this trip was an amazining experience. The trip is longer than the North Pole, not less of challenges, and in a different way. All in all, it's another life time experience I personally think it's worth all my effort to come and make it reality.

Also, as expected, I met so many amazing people. This time around, I had a chance to talk to and interact with them, from the Commom Wealth Women team who I admire so much , the two Danes who became the second fastest team for the route they took, Eric Larsen team who I felt like I knew everything about their expedition, the amazing (and crazy :)) trans-Antarctic journey of Cicillie and Ryan, the staff at ANI including Mike Sharp, Nick Luis, Rob Jarvis, Ronnie, Shawn (and many more), and of course my own team mates Nubo Huang, Andreas Meyers and my guide David Hamilton.

Now that I left Antarctica and back the real world, but deep inside I know I will come back to the white desert. Some day.

Update from Antarctica - Jan 05 2010 20:51:02 GMT

Finally we're able to fly back to Punta Arenas 2nite. It's been a long wait 4 us.

The above was translated by Kbot.

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Đây là bản dịch sang tiếng Việt bởi Google Language Tools (còn hạn chế và không chính xác):

Cuối cùng chúng tôi có thể bay trở lại 2nite Punta Arenas. Nó được một chờ đợi lâu dài 4 chúng tôi.

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The following is the original message sent by Khai via satellite on Jan 05 2010:

finally we're able 2 fly back 2 pa 2nite.it's been a lng wait 4 us

Update from Antarctica - Jan 03 2010 13:35:33 GMT

Weather getting better @ Patriot Hills Basecamp. Hope it stays this way til our flight back to Punta Arenas. Going to hike da hills around here 4 few hrs.

The above was translated by Kbot.

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Đây là bản dịch sang tiếng Việt bởi Google Language Tools (còn hạn chế và không chính xác):

Thời tiết nhận được tốt hơn @ Patriot Hills Basecamp. Hy vọng nó vẫn theo cách này til chuyến bay của chúng tôi trở về Punta Arenas. Đi đồi da đi lang thang quanh đây 4 vài giờ.

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The following is the original message sent by Khai via satellite on Jan 03 2010:

wthr gett_i betr @ ph.hope it stays this way til our flt back 2 pa.go_i 2 hike da hills around here 4 few hrs

Update from Antarctica - Jan 02 2010 21:46:07 GMT

Weather has been bad @ Patriot Hills Basecamp , no flight any where. Our scheduled flight back to Punta Arenas is @ jan 4. Hope weather is going to be good then. In da mean time we just relax & recuperate.

The above was translated by Kbot.

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Đây là bản dịch sang tiếng Việt bởi Google Language Tools (còn hạn chế và không chính xác):

Thời tiết xấu đã được @ Patriot Hills Basecamp, không có chuyến bay nào đó. Chuyến bay theo lịch trình của chúng tôi trở lại Punta Arenas là @ 4 Tháng 1. Hy vọng thời tiết là có được tốt sau đó. Trong thời gian có nghĩa là da chúng ta chỉ cần thư giãn & làm cho mạnh lại.

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The following is the original message sent by Khai via satellite on Jan 02 2010:

wthr has been bad @ ph,no flt ne whe.our sked_d flt back 2 pa is @ jan 4.hope wthr is go_i 2 b gud then.in da mean tme we just rlx & rcp

Update from Antarctica - Jan 01 2010 18:08:46 GMT

Back to Patriot Hills Basecamp last night or rather early this morning. Now wait 4 flight to Punta Arenas.

The above was translated by Kbot.

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Đây là bản dịch sang tiếng Việt bởi Google Language Tools (còn hạn chế và không chính xác):

Quay lại Patriot Hills Basecamp đêm qua hoặc thay vào đầu buổi sáng này. Bây giờ chờ 4 chuyến bay tới Punta Arenas.

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The following is the original message sent by Khai via satellite on Jan 01 2010:

back 2 ph last nite or rather early this morning.now wait 4 flight 2 pa