Greetings from the PRC

Subject: Greeting fromthe PRC - Inital Report

As smooth as the first trip went, this one has had some glitches.  On Friday, we awoke at 5 am to get on the road at 6.  No problems traveling up the NJTP.  We checked in around 8 and found out that the flt was delayed over three hours getting out.  We left out at 4 pm Friday.  The flt was uneventful until we had to circle over Beijing for about 2 hours due to weather.  We finally landed at 7pm Saturday Beijing time to find that we missed out connector and the last flt ot Hangzhou was canx until the following day (Sunday).  This was due to rain, the heaviest Beijing has seen in 60 years.  I can't get away from this stuff - 10 inches of rain, 40 dead due to flooding, power outages, etc. We stood in line for about 3 hours to book our connector.  Now to find a hotel for the night.  The airport found us a room at a nearby hotel and called a driver.  We wound up going down this dark alley in the rain.  I felt like someone in the movie Bladerunner.  We pull into this darkened alley and I thought "On S*%^!!!  Here it goes.  We are getting rolled and no one knows where we are, including us!!!"  But that was not the case.  It was a rundown hotel, 1/2 stars out of 5 , maybe.  Rain was pouring in from the street.  A couple of stray dogs found their way inside out of the rain.  The lobby was thick with cigarette smoke.  However, a young boy booked us in the room, their "deluxe room."  Scared as to what we would find, I opened the room.  We were surprised.  The room was clean, although a little beat-up.  We stayed the night and checked out at 8 am to return to the airport.  We finally were allowed to check-in at 3 pm, boarded our flt at 6 and arrived at 10 pm Sunday.  So after approx 60 hours, we arrived in Hangzhou.  Today, we get Tristan at 10 am. 

 

Stay tuned, sports fans!!!