Arrival in Palau
Trip Start
Aug 30, 2009
1
222
244
Trip End
Dec 25, 2009
Where I stayed
Koror, Palau
Saturday, December 19, 2009
December 19, 2009
Not a bad flight and not that long to fly from Manila to Koror, Palau. But we arrived in the middle of the night, 1:40 a.m. I hate arriving places at that time. You can't see anything of what the place looks like, can get no bearings or orientation of the area, and haven’t a clue what you will find the next day. I had made prior arrangements with my dive shop for my accommodations and my pick up and transfer to my hotel. I was very happy to see my suitcase come out on the conveyor belt but when I walked out into the terminal, there was no one there with a sign with my name. Blast. I hate it when that happens.
I stood around a bit, remembering that the pilot had said we had arrived early. I had been lucky and had cleared immigration and gotten my suitcase and out the door all in under 20 minutes. So I figured they just weren’t here yet. A woman noticed me and asked what my hotel was and I said Rose Garden. She looked around and said they aren’t here yet but I could go outside and sit down and wait for them and she would tell them where I was. As I had already been sitting for about 3 hours and getting up and down was painful, I thanked her but stood where I was. Then I noticed a man with a name sign for someone else but it said "Fish n Fins" which was my dive shop so I headed over to him. He didn’t have me on a list but said if Rose Garden didn’t show up, he would be happy to drop me there.
Sometimes it really doesn’t pay to be the first one out of immigration and customs. Rose garden personnel walked into the terminal about this time and somehow knew right away that I was their client but we still had to wait for another couple. This couple had to be seated at the back of the plane because they were almost the last ones out of the terminal. Doesn’t matter, I have been picked up from the airport, I have gotten my luggage, I am heading to a bed somewhere. All is good.
