Arrived Safely

---

Well, we made it.

Barely.

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 7:40am, and we live a quick 5 minute bus ride away, so we woke up at 5:20am and aimed to catch a bus no later than 6:40, which we thought would be the first available bus.

We to our bus stop at 6:30 and waited and waited and waited.....We were getting nervous, but didn't want to take a taxi yet. We should have.

By 7:00 no bus and no taxis were around, so we ran to the main road where finally a taxi cut off three lanes of fast moving traffic and picked us up for a 20RMB ride t the airport. By bus it would have cost around 4RMB. The taxi driver must have figured out we were in a hurry, and blatantly ran a red light almost hitting a pedestrian in the middle of the crosswalk, then nearly crashing into another car near the airport that had come to a stop with plenty of warning, but thats of no matter to a Shenzhen taxi driver, known for their manic driving.

We got to the airport, not sure where to go and found our airline booth, but had to wait a few minutes. Finally, they saw we were anxious and told us where to go to check in. It was 7:11am and check-in time closed at 7:10am for us. Fortunately, they found compassion and printed out our boarding tickets.

Looking at the line we were facing to go through security, we knew we wouldn't make it. The line was HUGE.

Some random man we saw at the first counter came and asked us to follow him. A bit nervous, as we didn't know who he was, we frantically obliged hoping he was going to work some magic.

We completely cut in front of everyone in line, completely getting the Big White American (Maybe famous/rich/important) treatment. The security guard wasn't so pleased but the man we were with pleaded with him and the person in the front of the line. We made it through, but not before dumping out everything from our bags....one of the most stressful parts of airports for me.

We still weren't sure we'd make it, but luckily, SO luckily, our gate was right there, not a far walk past security. We hopped on a bus with 30 or so other tardy passengers to take us to the plane where we found our seats--an aisle and a window at the very back of the plane.

The quick one hour flight gave us a chance to calm down, drink some water and eat a Chinese-style sandwich (you never know what you're eating, but it has bread) and make faces at the cute baby across our aisle. The landing was a bit rough, causing the lady next to us in the aisle to give back her sandwich in the ever so hard-to-open barf bag provided.

The airport felt small, and tropical, but modern. We made it to the waiting area where we were immediately hounded by taxi drivers. In our research, we read that it would cost us around 50RMB to get to our hostel via taxi, with possible negotiation. or 160RMB total by bus, which would take longer. Not thinking completely straight, I agreed to one of the taxi drivers when he agreed to take us to our destination for 50RMB.

At first I assumed he was an actual taxi driver. If i HAD been thinking straight, I would have realized this. Unlicensed taxi drivers are everywhere in China, and although they can be much cheaper, they are illegal and can turn ugly quickly with the wrong person. I have to admit, it was feeling kind of sketchy when the man I thought was the taxi driver led us to another man in a suit. The suit man proceeded to lead us to a parking lot, where a new man was eagerly waiting out arrival. He had a huge snake wrapped around his neck and was carrying a stained machete.

Actually, that last sentence never happened, but I thought it would sound more like the movie we felt we were in. In reality, the third man seemed nice, and claimed to know where we needed to go. We felt a bit more comfortable when we saw we would be traveling with other people. We crammed in the "taxi" and took off. This new taxi driver must have gone to the same school as our Shenzhen taxi driver, but graduated slightly ahead, just slightly.

After driving for around 25 minutes, we pulled off to the side, where the taxi driver got out and lifted up the hood. Apparently we had broken down. Something in my mind told me this was all part of the scam, but alas, I was wrong, he waved down another taxi driver, this time a legal one and helped us get in. The new driver didn't seem to be as confidant as the other drivers about where we were heading and the other passenger with us was not much help either. Our hostel is near a Kentucky Fried Chicken, so we pointed to the map where the KFC was. This got the driver and other passenger to laugh for the next 10 minutes. Yes, we are big white Americans, and yes, take us to the KFC thank you. No, we did not eat there, but I'm glad we gave them some laughs.

We got there, paid the original asking price of 50RMB and walked to our hostel where I proceeded to be humped by a younger male Dalmatian, the hostel pet.

After that excitement, we waited in the lounge for 20 minutes while they prepared our room. The Dalmation found another leg.

~Martin

---

Comments

[Mom/MD]

and the adventure continues!
I am laughing so hard...but only because I know even with all this hubbub (yes I did use that word) that you made it safe and sound as I just saw your beautiful smiling faces on video chat! Enjoy your adventure! Love you both!