|
British Mensa Travel Special Interest Group |
|
Home Copyright
© |
Hong
Kong and Bali by Trudie Lazarus I've done quite a bit of travelling during the past year - Budapest, Prague, Italy, Bali, Hong Kong - even Aldeburgh in Suffolk. If anybody is going to any of these places and feels that I could help, please do give me a ring. My main concern at the moment is that, whenever I have used a large company, they have given me problems. Small companies do better as they are afraid of legal action. Large companies have departments of lawyers to deal with complaints and it is very difficult to get satisfaction. My most recent tussle was with Kuoni. Their problem is largely a lack of local control employing as they do local companies to act on their behalf. But that is precisely what we pay them for. I was due to leave Bali for my return flight on 18 December 1996 at 8.50pm. I checked out of my hotel room and my luggage was left in the luggage room. The courier came a little late and had already loaded my bags into the taxi when I arrived. He looked a little awkward but 'did not think to question him. He told me that there were no trolleys at the airport and hat I had to get a porter (incidentally telling me double the usual rate). Having called a porter, he was off before I could turn around. At the check-in, I was told that there was a five hour delay - "hadn't I been informed?" I had been informed - the notification had been pushed down inside my luggage and I didn't discover it until later. Kuoni had sent the message - the courier certainly knew, but didn't want to hang about. No wonder he looked embarrassed The net result was that I had to cope with putting a bulky piece of hand luggage into the left luggage: by this time there was neither porter nor trolley available. As I wasn't supposed to be lifting (which Kuoni knew), this caused a problem. I was stuck in the middle of nowhere for five hours. There was nobody at the Kuoni office (according to them, there should be 24 hour contact). No arrangements were made to notify people meeting us in the UK as we missed our connecting flights. Kuoni said they were very sorry and sent me flowers - the only flowers which have ever caused me displeasure - then £50 and then another £100. I spent considerably more than that on medical fees caused by this incident. Kuoni tried to deny it all, but I had proof. Lunn Poly, through whom the original backing was made, merely passed the matter back to Kuoni. ABTA proved useless, passing it back to both Kuoni and Lunn Poly. Kuoni also made a mess of the departure from Hong Kong, though that was minor by comparison. So, my advice would be to avoid Kuoni and Lunn Poly - and The Travel Club (whose chairman Mr Chandler used to be head of ABTA but still let us down badly) and Cox & Kings (specialists in India) who failed to book an internal flight and failed to land us at one of the centres. Use your local small travel agents and study faxes, offers, hotels etc with them. Do as much as you can yourself. Read all the small print. Take out legal insurance! Apart from all that, Hong Kong is most exciting. Where else could you see 'Marks & Spencer' written in Chinese? How unexpected it was to see a huge menorah (candelabrum) in the park, celebrating the Jewish festival of Chanukah. What a fascinating mix of cultures. It's always worthwhile using SIGHT. Contact with locals will supply you with local info. Mitzi Pearce, who has now returned to the States, helped me on the local mentality, politics etc. It's not all Kowloon, with its crowds and skyscrapers. The outer islands and territories are beautiful and peaceful. Bali is also
beautiful - the most colourful place l can think of and still unspoilt.
The locals have different living requirements from ours. Their floors
often have holes in them, their furniture is simple and sparse and carpets
and curtains are non-existent. They don't need them. A school I visited
had no glass in the windows, charts on the walls, equipment etc. There
was one typewriter in the staff room. The children all wore perfect uniform
and they were polite and well disciplined. If only some of our kids knew
what they were throwing away. If only a quarter of our equipment could
be given to those kids in Bali. The teacher whom I had met by chance introduced
me to his wife. She gave me a beautiful local wrap - she probably owns
a fraction of what I do. I felt humble. Of course I have kept in touch
and sent them things from here, but I feel guilty whenever he writes as
it's clearly a huge effort for him. I hope that the lessons which I taught
in the school meant something to the children; certainly, the concept
of thick winter clothing, central heating and the greyness of winter is
difficult to explain to youngsters who have no experience of other climates.
Most of them will never see anywhere but Bali. Maybe they'll be happier
that way. Who knows? First published in VISA issue 27(winter 1997) |