Bus to Hefei

May 10, 2007 Thursday

Today is the big adventure. We are taking the bus to Hefei. Ping came to say goodbye. Ms Huang came because she was going to take us to the bus station. The adventure started when the cab dropped us on the access road of a highway. We then had to cross that road and another road before reaching the building. If we had been alone, we would never have made it. We were not the only ones being dropped in this incredibly dangerous spot. There was a whole gang of people dragging their belongings behind them dodging cars, busses and trucks.

Inside the building she escorted us through the scanning area and took us to the correct gate. She then explained to the keeper of the gate, that we were poor helpless souls, who would need help getting on the bus to Hefei. None of the signs had any English, and they didn’t put up any electronic notice. The keeper just screamed something and then people lined up.

Needless to say, we were there in lots of time. We waved goodbye and sat to wait. I carefully had not consumed any liquids before this trip. Who knew when I would see a bathroom again.

About 20 minutes before the bus was supposed to depart, Chuck started to agitate. He kept hearing someone say Hefei. (Now, it was the person at the next gate, and he didn’t know that was what they were saying, but he was getting worried.) Busses don’t load this early, just relax. At 10 minutes before, he wanted me to get up and ask. He would guard the suitcases. (Big whoop!) Finally, to shut him up, I went to the gate with our tickets. She shook her head, no.

With about 1 minute to go, she waved to us, and took us across a parking lot filled with busses to the correct one. I had Hefei written down in Chinese, so showed it to the driver, just to make sure. (I really always crosscheck when other people are in charge of our lives.) We stowed our luggage in the compartment under the bus. Chuck insisted on keeping his briefcase which he put on the floor in front of his feet. (Even though there was a small overhead storage area also.) The seats were very comfortable and there was a lovely amount of leg room if you weren’t Chuck.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. We passed an accident, which didn’t halt traffic, but the car’s passenger side had run into the back of a truck. The trip took about 2 ½ hours. Hefei’s bus terminal was another parking lot filled with busses. We grabbed a taxi and were soon home. (4 + 3 I had to help Chuck with the suitcase up the stairs.)

Needed stuff from Carrefour, so went there for lunch. Chose the rbt which is a sort of tea room. The picture of the sandwiches looked like a club sandwich. It may have been tofu & something. Quite unidentifiable, but tasty. Chuck had cold jasmine tea and I had cold blueberry tea. The sandwiches came with frites. Did our shopping and taxied home. On the way home, Hongfang called. She had been worried and was relieved to hear that we were back safely in Hefei. (4 flights.)

Chuck worked on the Computer and I did laundry and other chores in the afternoon.

For dinner we went to Meng Cheng. We had greens and pickled cukes for cold dishes, and octopus, beef, soup and asparagus (but it turned out to be bamboo shoots.)

(4 flights) 15 flights