3 August 2007

Travel Day 2 (Flying) and Day 3 — In China

Posted by BaBa under: Travel .

08/03/2007
We arrived in Guangzhou. Welcome back to China. We have really made the trip and surprise after clearing customs found that our luggage had arrived. We had planned well by carrying a change of clothes with us and since this travel precaution all but insured that our bags would make it all the way through the connections.

We collected the baggage and found an airline representative who put us at the front of the line and got our transfers. We were scheduled to only have an hour and 40 minutes between flights and the airline wanted 2 hours to be safe to make the connections. Well luck was with us as our flight from LA was an hour early. So we were in luck and had no problems. Our frugal traveler’s half price tickets (further details as to price removed by censors) were good. We had no problems checking in using the e-ticket code that I had been given. Our bags were checked in and we paid a small fee to take a ride to the gate on one of those indoor airport cars. We were not given an option to walk and it was just as well as the trip was long.

We arrived at the gate, tipped the guide and took a picture in the little car. We made it though security as they had to open it for us. Finally, we arrived at the gate and had a small banana snack with a Sprite.

Two hours + later, we arrived in Beijing. We found our escort waiting outside of baggage claim and met her after claiming our bags. We were transported from the airport to the hotel. It was going to be 2 hours until they could check us in since we arrived at noon. We walked with our escort to the shopping street to get some take away food while we waited.

We also called Duan, our guide from the Viking River tour last year. I had written him to tell him about our adoption and travel plans. It so happened that he was not on a tour and would also be in Beijing when we were there. So we would meet him for dinner about 4pm.

We went up to the room and got settled after picking up lunch. MaMa’s noodles were not good, so she passed on them. I had gone to McDonalds’s and ended up this time with surprise an Asian Mac. The sandwich was spicy, but edible. will order the plain and regular one next time.

I sat down and unpacked the computer and electronics. I then spent the next two hours trying to get it to charge. No luck. Panic. Well it will be harder to get updates done dragging a non-functional computer along. I will have to buy memory cards here (we can buy these easily). I just anticipate that will not be able to get many photos loaded while here. Entries may also be slow in coming as well. I will check with Jim to see if his charger will work with this.

I am making a really brief entry about this to avoid blue words and fire flaming from the blog. I can write on the palm and if I can get this to a memory card, then I will be able to post it or if I can find a wifi connection. In the grand scheme of things, it is all minor.

I had a feeling that a Mac might now be in the future. No more Toshibas. The Toshiba is but one year old and having problems now charging, will not recognize new USB drives and hangs at odd times when trying to use email. ENOUGH. It is time to send it for service or to replace it with the extended warranty from Best Buy. Back to the travel blog.

We met Duan in the lobby slightly after 4pm. We walked to the market street and shopped. We talked and had a very good time. It was a special time and day and my words are not really expressing this well. We journeyed down a side road into an older market. There were fried scorpions on a stick for sale along with fried seahorses. He tried to get MaMa to eat one and then she asked him if they tasted like chicken. He responded that he was not brave enough to try it. This brought a good laugh.

We went to a department store for children and bought a couple of pairs of shorts and a shirt (Bob Dog) for him. We ended up having a nice dinner with him and we then went back to the hotel. He will be sending a quilt square from Tibet for Sheridan. His girlfriend will also probably send a square as well. It is nice to have friends around the world.

We went upstairs and crashed. My unfortunate announcement is that both of our ankles had swelled up and my heat rash had appeared on both ankles.

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment —

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