Onto the next part of the journey, heading to the west of China to visit a few places on the to do list.
A very quiet morning in the house. I took quite some time trying to pack up all my gear whilst trying to keep the weight down so that I don’t have any trouble getting on the plane. My next flight in a weeks time might be the challenge due to the baggage allowance being less. Sissi still had one of my cases packed and bulging which she will send to my hotel in Guangzhou. I should be OK for the Australian flight, it’s just the other domestic one that could be a problem.
I really didn’t realise just how much stuff I had here in Suzhou.
Sissi drove me to the train station and managed to hold it together better than me for a change. I am sure it won’t be 4 years before we see each other again, I hope not.
As we were leaving she was taking pictures of the apartment and I asked her what she was doing and she answered that she was preparing an advert for my room to get a new flat mate 😁 No hanging about with this young lady.
The staff at the station were very helpful, I got through first because they need to scan the passport manually and then one of the older guys escorted me down to the platform and taking one of my bags with him. I’m keeping the beard, it works wonders here 😜
She was going to an interview after she dropped me off and she’s told me since that they have invited her to go into the office tomorrow to get a better idea of what is on offer. Great news 👍
The train takes less than half an hour to get to Shanghai and then it’s a twenty minute walk to the terminal, no rush because the flight has been delayed by an hour.
I opted for a hamburger for lunch and a black coffee and then topped up with the bread that I bought from 85C last night.
It’s sad to say goodbye to friends but I’m really looking forward to the next two weeks, I’ll keep you posted.
I’m not a fan of domestic flights here, nobody pays the slightest bit of attention to the crew. Phones are never put into flight mode. At any one time you can search for WiFi and you’ll find someone’s IPhone transmitting happily to the ether, there is no connection of course but it’s just that the Chinese never seem to do what they are told. And phones begin to chime as we get closer to landing and then half the plane is chatting to someone.
A common thing here is for folk to cut in front of you and today I nearly took off several pairs of ankles as I pushed me trolley through the terminal giving no quarter. Luckily for them they reconsidered and allowed me to continue on my merry way.
I really don’t want confrontation but if they are stupid enough to think I’m going to stop when I technically have right of way they have another thing coming.
The rain was pissing down before we left and then it was turbulence for a while until we smoothed off after about an hour. Looking forward to getting to my hotel and putting my feet up and having some good WiFi.