Globehopping
I've been busy today getting all my travel plans squared away for this summer. I'm going to China next month on business, and my main man in Beijing informed me this morning that he'd booked me at this humble little establishment for the duration of my stay. Looks like a real fleabag! I'll be shopping around for some private tours of the Great Wall, Ming tombs, and Forbidden City since I'm staying over the weekend.
I also booked a business trip to London in June, where I plan on quaffing a few pints with The Cartoonist and visiting with other friends. Unfortunately, I will have to spend the working week near Reading. Maybe I'll meet Batman and Robin while I'm there?
Finally, I bought tickets for my family vacation in Barcelona this August. I was pretty aghast at how much prices have risen in the past few weeks, but bit the bullet and purchased them anyway since they'll only go up more if I wait.
Comments
It's really too bad he couldn't have found you a slightly larger hotel. Maybe one with a nice lobby or something. ;-)
Holy crap, that place is huge. I like that they give you the little jpg of their address to give to the cabbie. (Although, the cynic in me suspects it really tells him what hotel you're staying at but also includes the phrase "Take the imperialist yankee pig dog the long way.")
Posted by: aine42 | April 22, 2004 03:29 PM
Yeah, my jaw dropped on the floor when I saw that picture of the lobby and pool. Apparently, most of the hotels that cater to foreigners are 4 or 5 star establishments and are priced quite a bit lower than comparable hotels here in the States.
I'll have a pre-paid taxi to take me to/from the hotel, so the driver can take this pig-dog the long way if he feels that way inclined and charge it to my company.
The most difficult part of this is finding a reputable tour service to schlep me around the sights over the weekend. I think I'll just try and arrange it through the hotel when I arrive since they have a vested interest in not ripping off their guests.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | April 22, 2004 04:29 PM
why do you need a tour guide? the forbidden city should be pretty easy to get to, and you can rent a driver to take you to the wall, if you don't want to take a bus. there are a lot of interesting things to see in beijing(pick up a lonely planet, it'll no doubt be packed full of things to do). apparently there are tikis somewhere in the forbidden city but i missed them when i was there 4 years ago or so somehow.
you might consider contacting some of the beijing bloggers who blog in english about what to see and what to avoid while in beijing.
Posted by: william | April 24, 2004 07:12 AM
I do typically sightsee solo when I travel, William. But since I have a very limited time before I get put to work and Beijing is a huge, rather intimidating city, I'd rather not have to spend too much time trying to figure out how to get from point A to point B.
But if the hotel can't arrange something for me, I'll probably just go DIY.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | April 24, 2004 08:51 AM