On The Way to Indonesia

Posted: 21st September 2019 by dan in Uncategorized

The trip to Indonesia started early, took a long time, had delays and transfers, and included trains, planes and automobiles (vans and buses).

Early Wednesday morning (September 4), Pete and Mia took off from Tucson, Arizona with a van full of wheelchairs on their way to Los Angeles Airport. Mid morning that same day, Dan boarded a train in San Diego going to downtown Los Angeles where he would then board a bus to LAX. Sometime mid-afternoon, all three met at Terminal 4 to unload the wheelchairs and hopefully get approval from the airline to check the wheelchairs as baggage without incurring expensive fees. Thankfully the airline staff was very understanding and helpful and allowed the chairs to be checked without any fees. By about 6pm, the wheelchairs and luggage were checked through to Jakarta, all three had successfully passed TSA inspections and were now free to wait until midnight for the 14 hour flight to Hong Kong.

The flight to Hong Kong was uneventful, as was the 4 hour layover, and the 5 hour flight to Jakarta. Upon arriving in Jakarta, we were met with a representative from Jakarta Swift who helped us collect all 12 chairs from the baggage claim area and assisted us as we went through customs/immigration. Immediately outside the terminal, Don and additional volunteers/staff were waiting to greet us, load up the wheelchairs and give us a ride to our hotel.

After approximately 40 hours from beginning our journey, we were finally at a very nice hotel somewhere in central Jakarta. Even though there was a sincere intent to clean up and meet for a bite to eat, all 3 (Mia, Pete and Dan) ended up crashing/falling asleep after taking a shower and cleaning up…..hopefully to be recharged for an early morning pick-up to go to a Jakarta Swift wheelchair basketball practice.