Last Itinerary arrived

     We're all like crickets on hot blacktop as we charge through the final hours before departure...chirping like mad and jumping from one place and thing to another.  The final final final itinerary came this morning with the names of the hotels we'll be staying at in Huangshan and Tunxi.  For some reason, we couldn't know the names of the hotels until a week before arriving in Huangshan ('because of policy')...but true to the agent's word, the names arrived today.

     We'll be staying at the top of the mountain in Huangshan.   The travel agent sent us a website link that provides photos and descriptions of the hotel at Huangshan.  We can't read the Chinese, unfortunately, but if "a picture is worth.."......we should be pleased to stay there.  Here's the link ...be patient...it's loaded with flash player photos.... http://www.hsxihaihotel.cn/ 

     On this trip, we are more relaxed about the 'wait and see' instructions we receive, since we've had the experience of traveling alone in China in 1995.  We recalled how, in negotiating transportation from Beijing to Hefei before we met our Lily for the first time, we had to navigate some back alleys of Beijing to find a small office on the third floor of a building  where access came by way of a rickety outdoor staircase.  We left a substantial amount of cash there to buy two airline tickets to Hefei and arranged to have a guide meet us.  Having taken this leap of faith, we left the office, moseyed around the city until late in the afternoon, then returned to collect our tickets.   There they were, as promised, and when we arrived in Hefei, an English speaking guide  greeted us before we had time to look for her.  That little leap of faith at the travel office was nothing compared with the one we would be taking in Hefei...gathering a 12-pound 6-month old baby into our arms and lives forever.

     Arranging for this trip has been quite an iterative process.  The travel planner, Rebecca, at Lotus Tours, has been patiently and competently attentive to the requests of the two families who are traveling together.  The planning has been smooth, and we have faith that things will go as stated, if not necessarily as expected.

    Carolyn