Learning how to travel...

Traveling in foreign countries is just that - foreign. In every country there are many ways of getting around - some good, some not-so-good.

Mircha, Trenia, and I took a trip to Hangzhou last weekend. One of the guys sitting next to me on the plane ride over said that if I would meet him in Hangzhou, he would show me around. I originally thought that he was from there, but he is actually from a town even further South of Hangzhou.

I was pumped about the trip for many reasons:

1. The book that I was reading talked about Hangzhou and the cuisine!

2. In my short time here I'd already heard many people talk about how beautiful it is.

3. Roger would show me around!

4. In every China / Shanghai travel book I've looked at - Hangzhou was listed as a "must see"

I had no choice! I had to go. I was glad that Mircha and Trenia were excited to go as well! It's always a better time when they are around!

Lesson number one: NEVER think that you can purchase a train ticket the day of your trip. We got up at 6:00am to get to the train station before 7:30am. We wanted to get a FULL day in Hangzhou. Long story short - we got train tickets, but it wasn't for another 3.5 hours! Glad we got up at the crack of dawn! We made the best of it, and Mircha got his KFC fix!

We arrived in Hangzhou at the train station that was about an hour OUTSIDE of town (note buying the ticket the day you are traveling - OPTIONS are not AVAILABLE!) Roger had texted the hotel's address to us in Chinese, so we hopped in a cab showed the address to the cab driver (note the photo in the earlier blog) and we were on our way! Laughing around the 45 minute mark at just HOW FAR AWAY we actually were!

Roger and his friend, See, were at the hotel, so we were able to immediately start on our way! They took us to a "traditional" Chinese lunch which included chicken feet and river snails! I ate a WHOLE chicken foot and 6 river snails. Mircha could eat the feet - bones and all - I could not. it was everything that I could do to work the foot, bones, and chicken claws around in my mouth and consume the softer parts. I've never tried liver, but Mirch said the snails tasted like liver; so there you have it.

We went on boat rides and headed over to an island that was in the middle of the lake. There is an old folk lore about a white snake and a green snake... which formed the island. I didn't quite catch the whole story between what was lost in translation and my wondering mind (the people watching here never ceases to entertain me!) This picture is a prime example... the dude on the far left is talking on a phone that might as well have been a bag phone that was only used in cars about 15 years ago. The lady next to him had bedazzeled EVERYTHING that could be bedazzeled; down to her BOW in her hair, phone, sunglasses, and purse - if it could bling or sparkle, it did. The fact that she left the sticker on the lens of her shades was the icing on the cake for me! Mircha chatting it up with Roger and See about NBA basketball and life in general was enough to make the trip worthwhile! Anyway...

Our first boat ride was on a small boat with man who had obviously (NOTE: the calluses on his hands!) been giving boat rides for many many years! (I'll bet that he could use a Chinese / Cup massage!)

So we toured the island. It was so nice to be around trees and grass! Shanghai is like no other concrete jungle that I have ever witnessed! There is absolutely no "Central Park" here in this city. There are small areas that have some of the most beautiful landscaping you've ever seen. However, it's no Arkansas, I'll tell you that much! :)

Touring the island I got a good shot of "crack pants." I had never heard of this before coming to China. So let me tell you about it. Number one: there is no 5 second rule in China. If something falls on the floor... hate it for you, but game over. Crack pants are why.

Here they are, in real life. I've seen it in action many times, but haven't ever had my camera. Little kids will just go to the bathroom on a sidewalk, anywhere / anytime. It's one of the wildest things I've ever seen!

Roger and his friend had to take off early the next morning, so we were on our own. We had a GREAT lunch, then headed to the train station. (Why we didn't learn our lesson the day before about buying train tickets early... I don't know.) We get to the train station and get up to the front of the line. We have our landlord on speed dial, tell her what we want, and then hand the phone over to the teller. The phone is passed back and Cindy tells us, you are going to have to wait until the 6:45 train and there are no more seats! Whatever. We buy the tickets. We had to get back to Shanghai to work the next day. Then we end up bumping into a lady peddeling bus tickets. All we can understand is BUS... so, again, we call Cindy. Cindy talks with the lady and then tells us that there is a bus leaving in 10 minutes. We buy bus tickets, the lady pays us half the cost of our train tickets (Train tickets were $5 a piece...) and sends us on our marry way. We get shoved around in the bus not understanding that there is assigned seating! My bad... I CAN'T READ MY TICKET! Most of the time, I just laugh and let them push me around. What else can I do? In the end, most everyone is laughing, so I feel like its okay.

We made it back safe and sound! I had a little taste of nature and learned a lot about traveling: the difference between bus / trains, ticket purchasing, the central vs. the SOUTH station, assigned seating... We'll have it down before we know it.