Yesterday I tried to get information on how to get to Shangrila by bus etc.. but the travel agent at the hostel was glued to the computer screen every time I peaked into the office. He was too sucked into the computer screen that he refused to do anything because he didn't want to be disturbed from his game of Solitaire. In the morning I got up early to make sure my stinky laundry would get cleaned by the in house laundry ladies. They refuse socks and underwear. When I got to the door, the sign said open at 9:30am. So I decided to make use of my half an hour of wait by trying again at the reception to make calls to find a way to Yunnan, but no one picked u on the other end. I came across a French couple who was checking out and was on their way to the airport to Shangrila. I asked them to wait for me while I grab my bag so we could share the cab together. I was glad they were friendly and let me ride with them. They even refused to let me pay for my share of the cost. They didn’t care for haggling with the driver on the actual cost of the cab to the airport. It was suppose to be 30 yuan per person, the French asked for 140, the driver wanted 180 yuan, I wanted 120 yuan but we settled on 150 yuan for all three of us. The French only accepted 10 yuan from me.
I made it to the airport 3 minutes before they closed the counter for the flight. The French had given me their flight information so I knew about it and was able to direct the agent at the counter to the exact flight. I got 50 percent off my flight because it was 3 minutes to closing of all ticket purchase for that flight and paid 860y to Zhong Dian a.k.a Shangrila. It was a good price, the train is almost the same. The bus would have taken me 3 day and 2 nights on bumpy rocky barfing but beautiful ride. I also heard stories of theft on that ride. Unfortunately due to my last minute hast run out of the hostel, I missed my meeting with the elder Tibetan woman. I was very much looking forward to meeting her this morning at 10:30am. I left the hostel in a hurry, only said a quick good bye with Rupert and didn't have time to bid my good byes with Stef and Nate.
On the plane I met a very nice, tall, happy, and pretty flight attendant. I sat next to two ladies from Kumming who nagged me for not putting my backpack onto the bin. Some how they were ready to disapprove of me and was determined to be unhappy sitting next to me. I wonder if it had anything to do with me sitting next to the window. Then they spilled their water in their bag and made a major mess. I helped them out and offered both of them crackers and didn't fuss at them for making a mess. This softened them up. They became nice to me and offered to help me with my bags if I needed. That was a nice change.
