What we all wished for has finally started to happen, travel is getting back to normal, but while we all said this was what we wanted, it has also meant things are not only much busier, but the rules keep flip-flopping and changing.
And for me at least the means at least some nostalgia for the later part of the pandemic.
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How can you miss traveling during the pandemic?
OK, so I realize that this might seem like a ridiculous statement to make, but again let me qualify things. I am not saying that I miss lockdown, PCR tests, to quite literally not being allowed to travel. What I miss is that brief period, which has only just finished when the rules were relatively simple, few people were traveling and yes there were no Chinese tourists.
Why do I miss this time? From a simplicity point of view perhaps I am seeing things through rose-tinted spectacles, but in the early days at least we did a PCR test, we showed our vaccine card, wore a mask and got to travel through virtually empty airports.
One of the worst things about now’s the sheer inconsistency and at times down right last minute changes to things. Last month if few excitedly into Hong Kong maskless, only to be chased down by the mask police directly on arrival and told to cover my face. Worse was to come when I actually left the airport to find that the mask mandate on the trees was still very much in place, with people not conforming facing a $5000 HKD, or $700 USD fine for not wearing one. And of course a whole army of snitches on the MTR ferries and even the streets regularly patrolling to make sure the rules were being followed.
Sadly no one, or rather I should say everyone except the government could see the irony that letting people in heaving bars and nightclubs kind of made the whole thing a bit of a waste of time.
People often blame the Chinese government for all the ills of Hong Kong, but from an outsiders perspective at least it seems more down to the policies of Hong Kong itself that will keep the tourists from coming back.
To read about if you should visit Hong Kong in 2023 click here.
Things Getting back to Normal, Not Back to Normal
And while things are getting back to normal, the emphasis is very much on the “getting”, because things are far from normal yet. And there are a number of reason for this being the case, one of them being that while countries such as Cambodia are now “normal”, not everyone is, with many rules seemingly being made up on the spot.
On my Air Asia flight to the Maldives just yesterday the plane were told we’d need masks to be allowed entry into the country, as well as to fill out an online declaration form. This led to two things, first the airline frantically giving out masks to half of the plane, while also informing 90 percent of the plane that we had not filled out a form none of us knew about.
But at no pint were we asked to show any proof of vaccine.
There have also been farcical last minute changes related to Sino-phobia, with India, who previously didn’t require anything from visitors now requiring anyone that has come from a c country that might have had Chinese people visit during the Lunar New Year, such as Thailand take a PCR test (remember them) to be allowed to even transit the country.
Yes it is probably political, most things from the Indian government are, but as a country trying its best to be a flight hub, they really are not making all that great a job of things.
The Chinese and Others are Not Back – Yet
And of course not even all countries are even open fully yet, with the dual suspects of North Korea and Turkmenistan being the current big holdouts, Pyongyang the capital of North Korea even recently had a lockdown (remember them), which caused people to panic buy. It also has not vaccinated any of its people too, but hat is a whole other story.
To read about the Pyongyang lockdown click here.
Of course then there is China, which up until last month was completely closed until the biggest protests since 1989 led to the country doing what appeared to be a complete 180, Now the government says Covid not all that bad for you and in fact it is just the cold, Although deaths from Covid are not to be reported as such.
To read about the Great Chinese u-turn click here.
China have though been a lot more canny than people realize and in reality have not actually opened up all that much. Only those on family, or work visas are allowed into the country, while not only are normal Chinese people still not able to renew passports, but flights out of 5th country are still relatively few and far between.
It has though meant that the Chinese elite are agin able to travel, with my personal January experience being not only hearing much more Chinese (I lived there for 15 years), but also airports and flights that are getting pretty bloody full.
I’d happily gotten used to turning up to an airport 1 hour before my flight and then getting on an empty plane taking three seats to myself and fashioning a bed. These days sadly are already gone, and this is not even close to the eye of the storm, as travel is getting back to normal, it is not yet normal AKA busy and full of Chinese tourists.
And it is for this reason that I already miss that post-pandemic pre-normality golden age of global travel. Sometimes normal is not always better…..
