Mechanical Problems

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Now seems like a great time to start writing.  Dad and I are sitting at Nanchang airport, less than an hour from Hangzhou and more than an hour from Guilin, our destination.  We landed here due to mechanical issues with the plane.  Not sure exactly what the problem is, but at least the flight attendant spoke enough English to convey that message.  As dad has realized (as I realized when I was in Beijing) barely anyone in this country speaks English.  So we sit here and wait to find out what happens next.  They took us off the plane, so who knows how long we'll be here.

Apparently we'll be leaving at 12:30.  At least that's a start. Of course, the mobile is now acting up after a week of no problems.  Dad is trying to call the tour guide to let her know that we're delayed.  As far as I can tell from the little conversation I can hear, her English isn't as great as we would have hoped.  Oh man.  The English thing has been a real problem.

Bad news when they started giving out water and biscuits.  More bad news when they provided free noodles.  Too bad I had already eaten mine, after spending 5 minutes trying to get enough hot water out of the tap.

With all the delays, landing in Guilin and seeing our guide Ricky standing outside baggage claim with our names on the sign was a huge relief.  Since we were 4.5 hours late, we only had time to visit Elephant Trunk Park.  On the way, Ricky taught us about Guilin.  It gets its name from the Osmanthus tree, which is something something Gui lin in Chinese.  We also learned the famous Guilin poem (apparently known throughout all of China).  “Guilin scenery is the best under the heaven”

Ricky recommended a restaurant near our hotel for dinner, so we ventured out to explore Old Town Guilin.  We stopped in a small supermarket and I wanted to buy some Oreos when dad realized he didn’t have his wallet. He was pretty sure that he left it in the room, but he was slightly panicked.  So we walked back to the hotel, and luckily, his wallet was on the table.  At that point, daddy was so upset with himself, and sick of the humidity (it was really warm and humid outside) that he conceded to having dinner at the hotel (a Sheraton with a great buffet which he said he didn’t want to eat at).  It turned out to be a very pleasant dinner and evening.