With flights suspended or cancelled, airports closed or borders locked down, some Macau residents have to make thorny journeys or smart decisions in order to get home during the novel coronavirus pandemic
Feature by Swallow Xu*
My tortuous voyage home after hurricanes
In 2018 after a string of hurricanes in the Caribbean, I embarked on a tortuous voyage to get home: first, the evacuation vessel with all fellow Chinese people from Dominica to Antigua across the Caribbean Sea, then a make-shift dorm stay provided by local Chinese businesses; finally, a week later, a flight to New York for transfer to Hong Kong then Macau.
With this personal post-disaster adventure, I am curious about people’s similar experiences. The novel coronavirus outbreak is lasting surprisingly longer than expected, putting some Macau residents trying to return home to the test. Some have to make painfully thorny journeys to get home during the pandemic; others opt to make smart decisions in planning their home-bound journeys.
Ice and family: reaching ‘home’ after changing flight TEN times
When Ice, with her Pakistani husband and baby son, departed Macau to visit Pakistan on February 9 with a return ticket for March 30, she never knew they would have to remain there for a full five months! The return flight from Lahore was cancelled due to the airport closure. She changed to different flights in April, but with the airport still closed, their tickets were cancelled. From April, with an unstable electricity supply disabling any cooling appliances, the country was so unbearably hot for the pregnant Ice that big patches of eczema appeared on her body and limbs, attracting mosquitoes that made it even worse, but she could not take medication due to her pregnancy. She was soooo desperate to fly home! But the Lahore airport remained shut into early July! Several flights/routes she booked respectively with Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways were grounded either due to airport closure or because of airline cancellation. Eventually, she booked a flight for July 14 with Emirates (Lahore-Dubai-HK). After she and her family ran like dogs to get themselves tested negative in a private lab (the airline did not accept testing from the nearby government hospital), they finally boarded the homeward bound flight! As a virus-cautious pregnant passenger, during the long haul, “I only drank water after sitting for four hours, daring not going to the toilet, I refrained from peeing for another four hours. I only ate something one hour before landing. I was starved!” Ice said.
The family of three luckily caught one of the last available boats between Hong Kong International Airport and Macau, chartered by the Macau government between June 17 and July 16. They safely reached their Macau ‘home’, actually a quarantine hotel, the Sheraton, to Ice’s great relief. Although she suffered a lot and paid a hefty price for the Pakistan trip, now, with the eczema drying up, Ice, still in quarantine, just keeps exclaiming, “so good to be home!”
Yes, after TEN flight changes! I understand her feelings though I can’t look at the photos of her terrible eczema.
Ruby and husband: home-coming trip still pending
Ruby and her Portuguese husband left Macau in mid March for Porto for a two-month stay with the family. Their return flight should have been on May 20. They have been keeping their eye on novel coronavirus developments in Macau to be in tune with their journey home. They don’t want to have to go into quarantine upon arrival, hoping for an improvement in the virus situation that may lead to its lifting, and therefore, they just sit and wait. In July, Ruby had the idea to return yet there were issues regarding the flight (too expensive) and Hong Kong airport-Macau transport (government run ferries halted). Lately, she has found cheaper flights scheduled for October but is not sure about boat trips from the Hong Kong airport to Macau. The homecoming trip is still pending.
Águia: smartly opting to go to a home requiring no quarantine
Águia is a publishing consultant who loves travelling. Not a typical resident and working online, he calls himself a digital nomad. He has been out of Macau for nearly a year, as his flight from Kuala Lumpur to Macau in March was cancelled due to the novel coronavirus. At the time, he thought to keep watching and book another flight at a later time, but who knew, the lingering novel coronavirus would block him further from Macau. In fact, all flights were cancelled and then a lockdown started in his place of abode. A resident of multiple places, Águia has the right of abode in Angola, Macau and Portugal but he feels quarantine is very hard (paid or otherwise) as he suffers from claustrophobia and likes to have options on choosing what/when to eat, not in a regimental way.
This said, at this moment of writing, Águia is going on a flight to one of his three home places, which does not require quarantine, that is, Portugal. Nevertheless, he “will stay isolated and avoid personal contact with family and friends for 14 days” because his travelling is exposing him much more to the virus.
Is that a smart journey-home option?
Share yours!
* The author is a Macau-based travel writer and commentator
