Hefei to Urumqi - Travel day

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Travel Day

This day was a travel day, memorable for very little other than getting from Hefei, where I currently live, to Urumqi where I was to meet my companions and join the tour. The flight was a direct flight about 4 hours long.

The airline food was not spectacular. Out of the window I could see lots of dry arid land. The normal signs of human habitation, roads and buildings, small towns. At one stage a series of what I took to be wind power generators and oil fields.

On the approach into Urumqi there were snow capped mountains. (It is currently the height of summer).

Back on the ground I was first off the plane, called out by the airline staff while the other passengers waited. It was my first introduction to the local security checking. An official (Police?, Immigration?) interviewed me when I got off the plane. A full passport check, Information page, work permit validity, most recent entry into China (October 2020 - 20 months ago), reason for visiting, where I will stay and what my occupation is. The officer was very friendly and polite and I was allowed to continue to pick up my bag, pass through Covid security, get a Covid test and eventually a cab to my Hotel.

Checking in to the hotel was almost the same procedure and I got to my room eventually. As I was thirsty I immediately went out to look for a few beers. If I had turned left at the hotel entrance I would have been sorted in 5 minutes, as it happened I went into a huge shopping mall, found some drinks and could not find my way out again. Honestly it was huge and I had managed to take a walkway into a completely different building.

By this time my companions were calling me to go out to dinner. They had a taxi booked and were heading out for some local food. I was "geographically embarrassed" and they decided to go without me. I made it to the taxi with seconds to spare.

Dinner was at Loulan Barbeque. Recommended to us as it featured the local Cuisine. We all thought it an excellent introduction to the region's food. Lamb shaslik's, a roast chicken served in a cage, a huge restaurant, local beer for me and a nice atmosphere.

The Bludger was happy and tired at the end of the day.

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