All the family is feeling more healthly this morning. We enjoyed our last breakfast buffet and finished packing our bags. We met our guide in the lobby who asked us how many bags we had. She was amazed that we said we had 15 bags. She is single and doesn't have a family perspective. We mentioned that each person had one bag to be checked (at the airline or train station) and one carry on. We are undoubtedly the largest family she has ever had which became apparent throughout our stay in Guangzhou.
The rest of the day was perhaps the most challenging and stressful of our entire stay. We took a hotel shuttle to the train station not far from the U.S. Consulate. Thankfully, we had one hotel staff stay with us until our baggage was ready for the ticket gate which was not an easy process. He was very helpful and patient. In retrospect, I wish I had tipped him even more. The check in process is similar to that of airlines. Remembering that there are over 1.3 billion people in China helps us understand why the lines are so long. Also, trains are the preferred means of mass transit within China making the station even more crowded and noisy. And remembering the "me first" attitude explains why "cutting" in line is a cultural norm. All this with a set departure time, no lunch, and still no Visa for Jessa caused us a lot of stress. So finally after getting our baggage scanned and while waiting at the ticket gate for the Visa we decided to get some lunch. Wouldn't you know it, as soon as lunch was ordered and paid for (but not ready or eaten) the Visa came. As the line kept growing we finally received our food. Our guide Elsie "cut" us in line at the ticket gate because we had so many children - I guess when cutting is in our favor it's not so bad - what a double standard I live :-). An impatient train staff had the bulk of our baggage as we waited to get our passports checked. We didn't know where he went while we stood in line causing us additional concern. Finally, after getting through the passport check we spotted our baggage. The train staff took us to an elevator which could only hold half our family. He was upset when we prevented the doors from closing so the half the family waiting for the elevator to return would know which level to go to. Once we were all gathered together on the train platform our luggage was loaded on the train near the door. As it happened I was a little further in the train car getting our children settled and getting our carry on bags stowed while this train staff was very upset at Gwenn that I hadn't yet paid him. After Gwenn had told me the check baggage was all on and that the train staff was upset I went and paid him with extra and said "Merry Christmas!" because of his attitude. I guess he had been burned before and he didn't trust foreigners.
The actual train ride was nice - no traffic to negotiate or lane changes or supposed near death experiences. It was nice just to sit and watch the scenery go by - which was my intention in the beginning remembering how nice it was in England to take the trains. After being in large cities the whole time I really wanted to see some country - we only saw very little as most of the area between Guangzhou and Hong Kong was populated. We arrived in Hong Kong at dusk. Getting off the train was definately easier than getting on. We rolled our three baggage carts across the overpass to the Harbor Metropolis Hotel where we had our reservations. After having the staff make extensive checks our reservation was not to be found. Even our attempts to make phone calls to America to our Travel Agent and Social Worker did not work. And looking at the hotel lobby we knew we couldn't affort to pay out-of-pocket for two rooms. Fortunately, the Concierge members booked a room in a hotel near the airport and scheduled a van to take us there. We were extremely amazed that the staff were so helpful and courteous to us while knowing we would not being staying there. After waiting an additional hour in the htoel lobby our van arrived and we were taken for a 30 minute drive toward the airport and our hotel. The skyline of Hong Kong is beautiful with its tall buildings and night lights set amongst a mountainous backdrop. It took a while to get checked in to the Regal Airport Hotel. Finally in our room it was after 10 PM and we hadn't yet eaten dinner so we ordered room service - the first time during our entire journey. Since we have to get up at 5:00 AM to catch our plane this will be a very short night.
In addition to this being a stressful day we had hoped to be able to spend a few hours in Hong Kong and perhaps even drive by the LDS Temple. Time did not permit so we had to pacify ourselves in knowing that we were merely spending the night in this legendary "east meets west" city.
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