Shower of Rain at Kowloon:

Ter To The Editor

Shower of Rain at Kowloon: Late Back to Work

HILE sitting on the sea wall * facing the Dewey Boulevard, in Manila, with my back to the [ng sun, I felt that I could do ething more useful than sitting ing that the next KLM plane Id not be fully booked or that rould have a Bangkok-Manila enger, which would leave a seat jit from Manila to Biak. id then it occurred to me that r Papua-New Guinea residents, ig advantage of the cheapest route to and from Europe (via ;h New Guinea) might be fore led if I pointed out a couple lags in this otherwise very de iful and interesting flight, ic trip as I made it was Madang, ak, Hollandia (by Qantas); Biak, Bangkok, Rangoon, LCht, Khartoum, to Rome, Am lam by KLM. Rangoon is not ys included in this flight but y case it was, and as my pass was not endorsed for Rangoon would have meant a fine of guilders had I landed there iut the necessary visa, vas not told about this until I

had reached Eiak, and so had to spend the morning we were at Bangkok in a nightmare drive to the British Embassy where it was duly endorsed “Near East and Far East” by the Vice-Consul —which probably saved me another head ache later on.

So, before you start, get your passport visa-ed for Rangoon, just in case you do go there.

Bangkok is a pretty place and the KIM hotel where you stay over night is very pleasant with a very romantic pavilion with a central pond and mountain and murals of Siamese mythology overhead.

Nila work or Siamese silverware is very lovely and can be purchased at the hotel or the airport at prices comparable with those in the town.

The best place for Nila work and crocodile and snake-skin bags (which are much cheaper than similar articles in Australia and Europe) is net in the centre of the city but a couple of miles away from the city centre—in an area near the Post Office,

ON the return journey from Europe back to New Guinea, don’t, if you are working to timetable and value your sanity, do as I did and indulge in any side trips—getting off at Bangkok and going to Hong Kong, for example.

particularly during the months of January and February.

If you do, you may find yourself as I find myself at present—in Manila parked in the palatial Hotel Filipinas (Pearl of Orient Hotels) with its air conditioning, shaded cocktail bar, swimming pool, etc., just sitting and wondering what curses are being rained on your head by the officer you hoped to re lieve in time, as per your original itinerary.

Just stick to the old direct route right back to New Guinea because the weather controls your flight in, and therefore out, of Hong Kong— and if your plane does not get out in time" and you miss your connec tion at Manila you may have to wait some time as most of the flights are booked right through from Amsterdam.

To get into the Kai Tek airport at Kowloon (Hong Kong) you have to fly between two hills and drop right onto the run-way. This is difficult enough in fine weather but Impossible in bad weather. Once in, it is possible to get out by tak ing-off over the sea—but if it is raining your plane could not have got in in the first place, so went back to Manila.

So you miss your trip out, as well as your connection in Manila, and if you miss that it is anyone’s guess when you are going to get to Biak, and in any event you have missed the fortnightly Qantas flight from

Hollandia to the Australian New Guinea Territory.

The thoughtfulness of the Vice- Consul in Bangkok probably saved me another headache because having missed my Manila con nection I could no longer be called a transit passenger, but the Philippines accepted the “Near

East and Far East” endorseme. had got in Bangkok.

As I sit writing to you—witll shoes off because they are after walking Dewey Boulevard,] my feet freezing because of the conditioning, I consider the of visiting Hong Kong: Loss salary through not arriving

time; loss of sleep worrying it the accommodation on the plane coming through; loss air, because I worry too much, low. And all because of a wer of rain” at Kowloon! art from this, I agree that I through Dutch New Guinea i ideal way for Territorians to si to Europe; but it must be t there and direct back—with ightseeing to Hong Kong; not is time does not matter to you. i your sightseeing to your light stop at Bangkok.

I am, etc.

(Capt.) J. H. Evans.

la, Philippines, 10, 1956. (But normally of Madang, P-NG)

Visitors to

Sydney

Recent visitors to the Polynesian Association in Sydney were (left to right): David Tatana from New Zealand, who plays the Spanish guitar and often enter tains at Association functions. Capt. Carl Johnson, of Nukualofa, Tonga. And Mr. Keith Strachan, who is also at sea on the Aus tralian coastal trade.

Photos: Bayside Studios.