Hangzhou 1

At long last the train ride was over and I was exhausted. I didn't really know what to do next. Here I am at this train station where no one speaks english. The terrifying thing is that some very persistent men will accost you and beg you to let them drive you to their hotel. Very, very dangerous. I avoided them like they had the plague, which from the looks of them, may not have been such a stretch.

So I find the official taxis. You know by the colors, and the drivers have little cards on the dashboard. Anyway, you can tell official taxis from the freelance kidnappers/thieves. There's a line of taxis with throngs of people waiting to catch one. I get this kid, who looks terrified from the moment he sees me. He packs my bags in the trunk. Then I give him the little piece of paper with the name of the Hotel I'm supposed to be going to. I had Peter write it down before leaving Guilin. YIKES! The look on this guys face... The paper may as well have been in German. He stares at it for about a minute. Then gets out and starts yelling at his supervisor, a grotesque fat man with his shirt open. The supervisor yells back at him and they get into a huge argument. Finally, the young guy grugdingly gets back into the cab, still staring in dismay at the paper. He calls someone up on the cell phone and starts yelling at them. Then his supervisor bellows at him to get out of the way.

So we're driving through Hangzhou while this ass clown is talking on the phone. He stops at 2 hotels before finding mine. At least, I hoped it was my hotel. He gave me my bags and drove off. Alas, when I went to reception they did have reservations under my name.

This hotel was absolutely beautiful. I loved it. Clean and... big... and... shiny... The problem was. I didn't arrange to have any tour guides in Hangzhou. I had called my friend Pei Bei from Guilin and she was rather shocked that I had made it to China. (I had Pei Bei on the internet by chance earlier that year). Anyway, speaking to her was the first pleasant surprise of the day. In her charming voice she explained that she was going to take me out that night for supper, and the following days, when she had work, she had arranged for her friends to show me around. Thank God! That's called ... ummm... goodness... Turned my lousy day into awesomeness. She actually had the foresight to make sure I would have something to do for my three days in Hangzhou.

She took me out to supper! Awesome! We strolled along the beautiful West Lake! Double Awesome! Pei Bei was great. And made sure I had an excellent time in beautiful Hangzhou! We've kept in touch ever since.



Well, speak of the Devil! Pei Bei is online now! She wants me to tell you about the woman who stalked us for a good 5 minutes insisting I buy flowers for Pei Bei. I was going to buy some but Pei Bei looked very embarassed by the whole thing. She also thinks it was very funny that for most of the night she insisted that I sing her a song. She insists that all black people can sing! I proved her wrong!

Anyway, thanks For a great time in Hangzhou Pei Bei!

Next Post! Pics of Hangzhou!