DAY 9: HANGZHOU
So, the day after we went to Tangkou, we decided to make the most of our day, which unfortunately fell flat on its face. We first went to book flights back to Urumqi, and the choices were either that day for 2100 or the next day (Hogmanay) for 1600. So we took the Hogmanay ones. After going to the bank to get cash to pay for them (well, Nikki getting cash to pay for both, see lost credit card), we paid for them, with Nikki convinced we were going to miss New Year. We were due back into Urumqi at 22:20, which gave us time to get a taxi home and quickly change, then get a taxi to the pub. These details are important, remember them.
So, after booking flights, I had to go to the bank to change my reserve Traveller's Cheques, as it was the only money I could get at that time. We waited a much shorter time than we had waited in Beijing, which was nice. But then the woman took what felt like hours to process it, and talking about how
Armed with my newly aquired 1000 kuai (600 of which went straight to Nikki for part of the flight, so I owed her 1000 exactly), we walked down to a main road to get a taxi to a shopping street Nikki wanted to visit. After an hour, we gave up and went back to the hostel, to see if we could find a bus route on the internet. But someone was using the only computer. So we decided to go and try another taxi. Waited a long time, decided to give up, but just then, a taxi pulled up next to us and some people got out. Two girls that were trying to steal our taxi before (had we had one) ran towards it, and we dithered at the door slightly, before jumping in and laughing at them. To be fair, we largely got the taxi so they couldn't. Anyway, we went to this shopping street, and it turned out to be around 50 feet from where we had been waiting previously, and it also turned out to be a total bust. We walked for a bit and saw some fountains, of which I took a lot of photos, although I have no idea why.
We were tired at this point, so decided to head home and sleep, and use the next morning before our flight back to explore around the West Lake, for which Hangzhou is famous (the West Lake appears on the one kuai note).
DAY 10: HANGZHOU -> URUMQI
The morning was not hugely interesting really, we walked around the lake a bit (to walk around the entire lake would take easily a couple of hours, which we didn't have as we had to be at the airport for 2pm). We had our last Starbucks for months, and toddled off to the shuttle bus. The taxi driver taking us to the shuttle bus offered to take us to the airport for 100 kuai, but the 10 in a taxi and 15 each for the bus seemed like a better deal, and we were really early anyway.
At the airport, our check-in desk hadn't opened yet, so we discovered the joy of those massage chairs. In the past, I always assumed they were a) rubbish 2) a waste of money and iii) completely pointless. They are possibly my favourite thing in the entire universe. So next Christmas, don't ask what I want, because it's the chair :D
After spending rather a lot of time on the chairs, we checked in and went through security where we didn't have to wait long at all before boarding. After boarding, we taxied a little, before waiting in the middle of the tarmac with the door open while some guy finished his phone call. We ended up leaving 20 minutes late. Making our arrival 2240. Not good.
But we got on our way, and the stop in Xi'An went smoothly. But then we were told we would be 20 minutes late into Urumqi, meaning 2300. Not good. We didn't want to miss New Year, so we decided to go out with our bags in our travelling clothes. Classy. The hour between 2300 and 2400 went as follows:
2300: Touchdown.
2303: Arrive at gate.
2303"30: disembark.
2304: Board bus to terminal.
2305: Impatiently clock watch.
2306: Impatiently clock watch.
2307: Impatiently clock watch.
2308: Arrive at terminal, run for the doors.
2310: Arrive at baggage claim, scope out the best point to stand, and use elbows to avoid other people stealing prime spot.
2312: Collect bags.
2313-2315: Argue with stupid man that the stickers on our bags might be the wrong way round, but we have the stickers on our boarding passes to match the stickers on the bags.
2318: Jump in a taxi. Tell him destination, and firmly to run meter. Cab driver (surprisingly) doesn't argue.
2320: Panic.
2325: Taxi driver asks which route to take. Tell him I don't care, just get us there fast.
2340: Think we're coming down a road that leads onto a road about 10 minutes from where we need to be. Consider offering to double the taxi fare if he gets us there within 5 minutes.
2341: Turn corner, realise we're much closer than expected, feel glad to have kept mouth shut.
2342: Taxi driver takes strange exit from roundabout, panic. Realise it's okay, this is just a slightly longer way but that avoids an annoying set of traffic lights.
2344: Tell taxi driver to stop, pay.
2345: Enter Fubar.
2346: Dump bags, go to bar.
2350: Sit down, breathe.
2400: Sing Auld Lang Syne
0200: Celebrate Uyghur New Year :D
I'm not going to blog about what happened between then and my impending travels, as it's really quite dull, but here's a summary if you're interested.
-Booked return flights to UK and flight to Inverness. I'll be back in Scotland on the 15th of August.
-Met a Latvian friend of Catherine's friend.
-Met a Uyghur girl, a friend of Catherine.
-Frantically prepare for impending trip.
-Get exam results, average of 93 (which Newcastle change to 79). Chuffed :)
Right, next post will be in a very long time, our route (for those who are interested) is as follows:
Yinchuan -> Yan'an -> Baotou -> Hohhot -> Datong -> Taiyuan -> Pingyao -> Shijiazhuang -> Beijing -> Tianjin -> Harbin -> Changchun -> Jilin -> Shenyang -> Xingcheng -> Dalian -> Yantai -> Jinan -> Qufu -> Zhengzhou -> Luoyang -> Xi'an -> Lanzhou -> Xining. I'll stick a map up with dots and lines on it later on tonight (hopefully).
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