There seems to be some length limit, hence the two parts...
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We arrive at the "recommended" hotel. The rooms were advertised for 340 yuan in my defense (of course, the Tangkou Bingguan "cost" 300-400 too). And they are nice rooms as they go. But the real fun surprise is that I paid 150 yuan for the cab thinking a bus was 70 yuan (an extra $10 to go now and not try to deal with buying a ticket). So 95 yuan (bus ticket) plus 150 = 250 yuan or about $35 to get to Tangkou. I later find out there is a direct bus to Tangkou from Hangzhou for 100 yuan. So I overpaid $22. Not the end of the world; as I've said, I've wasted far more on far less, but I'm getting 20-buck'd to death : ) (roller coaster down)
The hotel receptionist is nice. I go to luch in the hotel restaurant.She understands my "Wo chi su" and takes me back into the kitchen and points at their array of vegetables. I point at a few, but want noodles too. After a few tries I get "chao3 mien4 jia4 su4" across (stir fried noodles with the vegetables I pointed out). Hurray! It's good. Since we didn't mention I price, from experience, I know this should be no more than 20 yuan. The bill comes at 15 yuan. Hao de. Later I see an English menu at another restaurant advertising noodles with veggies for 15 yuan. Finally beginning to get a little feel. (roller coaster up, both a good lunch and knowing what it should cost).
And my second mistake for the second time was not having the taxi driver drop me off in the center of town for me to go wandering (the lure of English-speaking help, no matter how biased, was hard to resist, especially as it is 40 degrees and raining). Seriously, after checking in and hopping a mini-bus to go looking for the English-speaking Mr. Hu's restaurant mentioned in the guidebook, I get off opposite the Bank of China branch in the center of town. A very nice lady invites me into the restaurant across the street, where the guidebook says Hu's is located. We communicate in a mixture of English and Mandarin. No she's not Mrs. Hu. Have I eaten? Yes. Do I have a room. Yes (dammit) - I can see her guest room through an open door and it's nicer and cheaper than the room I currently have on the outskirts of town. (roller coaster down)
But I do have to find Mr. Hu. I call the phone number in the guide book. The person who answers does not speak English and so I ask if the nice lady would talk on my phone to find out where Mr. Hu is. She does. I ask "na li you?" (where) and she says "zhe li deng yi xia" (wait here). They're coming to get me! Also, I could have called the English-speaking Mr. Hu advertised in the guidebook BEFORE getting to Tangkou. I'm staying in his dorm (60 yuan) when I come off the mountain, he's driving me to the trailhead, he's getting me a ticket back to Hangzhou and a hiking map, and his wife is "da cook" with a sweet menu in English. (roller coaster up).
My superego is having a field day with all this. Why would a cab ride cost as much as a hotel room? Why didn't you just insist on the Tangkou Bingguan? Why didn't you get off in the middle of town (despite the rain and cold)? Why why why!? And some of these are mutually exclusive: how can I get off in the middle of town *and* at the Tangkou Bingguan? I didn't know Mr. Hu could arrange rooms until I got to his restaurant and read his guest book. I'm crazy, really. I've just been hiding it well.
Well, things arise so we can transform them. Lots of encouragement to meditate : ) (roller coaster up) In meditation, you watch the roller coaster go up and down, you watch the part of yourself treating the roller coaster as life and death, and you see yourself both pushing it up and down and riding in it, and it's all just fine. $20 is actually an inexpensive lesson. When did I stop letting myself learn? Now there's a question to meditate on...
So it's going to be raining a bit tomorrow too. This does not deter me. I've hiked up mountains in the rain in France and Ireland. It's rather becoming a signature move of mine. And I have much better rain gear. And and my Mandarin is getting, well, not semi-good...let's say less imbecilic : ) I do okay with two-to-three word sentences and numbers. Now back through the rain to dinner at Mr. Hu's
Another interesting day on the road,
Dan
PS The average room tempature is about 55 degrees. Mom and Mory would love it.
-------------
We arrive at the "recommended" hotel. The rooms were advertised for 340 yuan in my defense (of course, the Tangkou Bingguan "cost" 300-400 too). And they are nice rooms as they go. But the real fun surprise is that I paid 150 yuan for the cab thinking a bus was 70 yuan (an extra $10 to go now and not try to deal with buying a ticket). So 95 yuan (bus ticket) plus 150 = 250 yuan or about $35 to get to Tangkou. I later find out there is a direct bus to Tangkou from Hangzhou for 100 yuan. So I overpaid $22. Not the end of the world; as I've said, I've wasted far more on far less, but I'm getting 20-buck'd to death : ) (roller coaster down)
The hotel receptionist is nice. I go to luch in the hotel restaurant.She understands my "Wo chi su" and takes me back into the kitchen and points at their array of vegetables. I point at a few, but want noodles too. After a few tries I get "chao3 mien4 jia4 su4" across (stir fried noodles with the vegetables I pointed out). Hurray! It's good. Since we didn't mention I price, from experience, I know this should be no more than 20 yuan. The bill comes at 15 yuan. Hao de. Later I see an English menu at another restaurant advertising noodles with veggies for 15 yuan. Finally beginning to get a little feel. (roller coaster up, both a good lunch and knowing what it should cost).
And my second mistake for the second time was not having the taxi driver drop me off in the center of town for me to go wandering (the lure of English-speaking help, no matter how biased, was hard to resist, especially as it is 40 degrees and raining). Seriously, after checking in and hopping a mini-bus to go looking for the English-speaking Mr. Hu's restaurant mentioned in the guidebook, I get off opposite the Bank of China branch in the center of town. A very nice lady invites me into the restaurant across the street, where the guidebook says Hu's is located. We communicate in a mixture of English and Mandarin. No she's not Mrs. Hu. Have I eaten? Yes. Do I have a room. Yes (dammit) - I can see her guest room through an open door and it's nicer and cheaper than the room I currently have on the outskirts of town. (roller coaster down)
But I do have to find Mr. Hu. I call the phone number in the guide book. The person who answers does not speak English and so I ask if the nice lady would talk on my phone to find out where Mr. Hu is. She does. I ask "na li you?" (where) and she says "zhe li deng yi xia" (wait here). They're coming to get me! Also, I could have called the English-speaking Mr. Hu advertised in the guidebook BEFORE getting to Tangkou. I'm staying in his dorm (60 yuan) when I come off the mountain, he's driving me to the trailhead, he's getting me a ticket back to Hangzhou and a hiking map, and his wife is "da cook" with a sweet menu in English. (roller coaster up).
My superego is having a field day with all this. Why would a cab ride cost as much as a hotel room? Why didn't you just insist on the Tangkou Bingguan? Why didn't you get off in the middle of town (despite the rain and cold)? Why why why!? And some of these are mutually exclusive: how can I get off in the middle of town *and* at the Tangkou Bingguan? I didn't know Mr. Hu could arrange rooms until I got to his restaurant and read his guest book. I'm crazy, really. I've just been hiding it well.
Well, things arise so we can transform them. Lots of encouragement to meditate : ) (roller coaster up) In meditation, you watch the roller coaster go up and down, you watch the part of yourself treating the roller coaster as life and death, and you see yourself both pushing it up and down and riding in it, and it's all just fine. $20 is actually an inexpensive lesson. When did I stop letting myself learn? Now there's a question to meditate on...
So it's going to be raining a bit tomorrow too. This does not deter me. I've hiked up mountains in the rain in France and Ireland. It's rather becoming a signature move of mine. And I have much better rain gear. And and my Mandarin is getting, well, not semi-good...let's say less imbecilic : ) I do okay with two-to-three word sentences and numbers. Now back through the rain to dinner at Mr. Hu's
Another interesting day on the road,
Dan
PS The average room tempature is about 55 degrees. Mom and Mory would love it.
Tell me how the dinner at Mr. Hu's was! You are getting better each day at handling life over there, and dealing with wonderful people and their culture!~ Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe. And yes, we have so much to learn, o brave soul, so go forth! Be inspired! Be safe!
ReplyDeleteEvery time you ask "why?" you will remember and choose the less obvious path the next time. You are doing so awesome! I can't wait see where your journeys lead you.
ReplyDeleteHey, at least its not -5C and snowing with a 30 knot wind. Love the commentary, you'll have to write a road trip book, kind of like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance, Blue Highways, etc. More pix please. Great Job. Love Dad
ReplyDeleteThanks for the support!
ReplyDelete