I can finally say that the fun part of the travellers holiday has begun!
Sebastien and I had a really rocky start at the beginning of our trip. In four words: major Chinese Visa issues. Because we were flying into Shanghai, we are allowed a 48 hour tourist visa upon arrival. But we had a 3 hour layover in Beijing here the rules are different - you are only allowed a 24 hour tourist visa here. And because we passed through here, this is where our time count down began.
To make a long story short, we were held at customs for 2 hours, not understanding a word of he language and under the threat of deportation back to Canada! Finally it got straightened out by Air Canada, who changed our flights so we would be out of the county within 24 hours which meant cutting our trip to Shanghai and our visit with my cousin Derek super short.
But oh no, this is not the end of it. We had to board the 6:30 flight that evening in order to catch all our connector flights, and all the flights leaving Beijing that day were cancelled due to a huge snow storm. The biggest one in ten decades! Because of this storm, there was a train that was trapped in the snow for like 12 hours and had to be dug out. The airport was mad chaos and we were stuck in the middle of it with the fear of chinese government looming over our heads.
The line ups were crazy, did you know that queuing is a fairly new concept in China? We were in lineups of 100 people plus, and at the end of each one we were prety much directed to another one. From 6:30 PM - 1:30 in the morning we were in lineups to change our ticket, find our lost bag, get put up in a hotel, etc. etc.
Finally they put us up in a fairly decent 3 star hotel, which as great because we really hadn't slept much on New Years, and the overnight flight. But part of the line up went outside where we had to wait for about an hour in -20 degree weather!
Everything ended up fine, and thankfully we didn't get deported!
We had a great visit with my cousin in Shanghai. He took really good care of us, he partly owns a New York Deli in Pudong, and it was this huge new business with pool tables, full bar, flat screen t.v. This is where we decompressed and made our own sandwiches. He was nice enough to come pick us up in a taxi, and have us crash at his place. Too bad it was so short!
Finally we are here in a beach/ yoga town where I am planning on taking my yoga course at The Blooming Lotus. It is so beautiful here, it's like a traveller's paradise. Going to Thailand is definitely a culinary experience, there isn't one thing I've eaten here that I haven't liked. We are staying in a beachside bungalow called the Barcelona for the equivalent of $15 a night, and tommorrow we are moving into an even cuter one called the big blue for $10.
No complaints here. White sand beaches, turquoise water, and the friendliest people you will ever meet!
Hope everyone is doing well - pictures to follow soon I promise!
