Leaving time again...why do I fly?

It wasn't too hard to get up at 8.30am despite waking up during the night. For once I'd pretty much sorted out stuff, so for the first time this trip went out to get breakfast. Where else than the jiaozi place? This time for definitely my last portion. I had a couple of cups of tea at Lu zong's water shop next door then said my goodbyes. I did a last spin of the place on the dian dong che, but knew my time was nearly up. It was much cooler than the last couple of weeks have been, and was drizzling, so I guess this is another step closer to being in the UK.

Starting to build up a collection again

I pinged Li Kun at 11am to ask if he could help me book a didi che, and whether 11.15am would be too early for a 12.09pm train. No it wouldn't be too early at all, and he would order one to pick me up outside the bank by the second main gate. 11.20am came but the car didn't. I called Li Kun and he just said to wait a bit longer. Hmm...I shouldn't have worried but after another 5 minutes it still wasn't there. Then Li Kun pinged me the details of the car and just like that it turned up. The driver helped me with my luggage then asked me a question I didn't understand. I apologised but then Li Kun rang to see my situation. The driver was pointing to a number pad on his phone and I worked out he wanted the last 4 digits of my phone number. But I had the presence of mind to check with Li Kun which phone number to use and indeed it was his, so 5-5-5-1 was typed into the software and only then was the map and route displayed. The driver explained it was different software from didi che. Ah, so this was an alternative one then, but I was rather disappointed I hadn't understood him. One of the main reasons for this sojourn was to improve my spoken Chinese, and although it hasn't got worse I'm not sure how I can quantify any improvement.

Goodbye Yu Jing Hua Ting

Annoyingly, the taxi had to stop at the bottom of the access road to the station due to ongoing repairs (of the station, not the taxi), so I had to walk up 100 yards or so. This could have been a real sweat-fest another time but as my backpack was attached to the hand luggage it really made a difference (not to mention it wasn't 30+ degrees. Security was pretty straightforward with the expected examination of my powerbank. Both the train to Nanning and the train to Wuxu airport were busy, but I found space for the large suitcase. It's great now the train stops at the airport but it was still a good 10 minutes' walk to baggage drop-off. And the lady at the counter didn't even attempt to speak to me in English, which I really appreciated, and when she told me my large suitcase hadn't passed security I was almost glad to have the social intercourse with the security people. They looked at the plastic drink bottles, one of which had the remains of some gin in it, and shook it to check it wasn't...well I don't know, but I was glad they didn't ask me to take a sip, then they put the bottles back and this time it passed ok.

So it was off to the landside lounge we've been to so many times before. It's got the crappiest selection of snacks and sugary drinks, but it does have a fast stream security, so after finishing my sugar-free lemonade that might have been spiked with something I did security and went to find the China Southern lounge. My app had said that there were two of them, of the six lounges at Nanning airport, and these were the only ones with wine and beer. Ha! I wish, not a drop of the stuff and I had two hours to wait. However, the hostesses were very nice and didn't speak English to me. I made do with a bowl of pao mian, which was the only hot food I could find. When the time finally came I was about to leave but was told my flight was "yan wu le", and this time I did appreciate it when she added "delayed" in English. Ah, I should have known this term. So I left my stuff in the lounge and went for a walk anyway. Surely I should be able to find a beer in this international airport.

I walked the length and breadth of the place, checking each shop and even restaurant, but it seems it is a dry as Jeddah. Not even local white alcohol in the tourist shops (not that I would have). So I'd have to be content with my little carry-on in the flight. Apparently the delay was due to air traffic control, which doesn't explain much, and that we'd leave in one to two hours. Well I guess a dry lounge is better than no lounge. Finally around 6pm we were called to board. The first half an hour was bumpier than I would have liked, but it smoothed out after that and even the landing was manageable. I think it was the longest flight (1h20) I've managed without going to the loo.

I admit to using one of the cans of sweet shuibi to make myself a drink before making my way to the tube entrance. I didn't quite understand the ticket machines - it looked like you needed to use a special card (ID card?) to buy tickets so I had to ask the woman at the desk who told me it was 6 kuai to go to Shekou. In the end it took an hour and when I finally made it upstairs into the Shekou night I was pretty sweaty. I'd worked out it should be about 800 metre walk but I saw a sign saying "B601 shuttle bus" that ran till 11pm. By now it was 10pm but the place was deserted and I wasn't sure about waiting. But I'm glad I did as 5 minutes later the said bus did turn up. I'd searched it up online and found it was 1 kuai, so got on and asked the driver if I could pay with Weixin. Well yes and no; I couldn't scan a QR code and he couldn't scan me, but he was motioning to do something else. He started driving anyway and when we got there 5 minutes later we spent a couple of minutes searching for the mini-app but it wouldn't download and in the end he just let me go. It's hardly worth arguing over 1 kuai.

Slightly amusing warnings at the Shekou Cruise Center

The hotel was fine and yet again the bloke at reception didn't attempt a word of English, so that was another tiny buzz (although I guess it's more like dopamine). I didn't fancy dining there and anyway it was 11pm, so I went for a walk outside and found a 7-11-like shop where I bought four hot sausages and a packet of cucumber flavoured crisps. And three beers. I expected the sausages to cover this evening and breakfast tomorrow but I ended up wolfing everything down as it was my first bite to eat since the lounge. I was awake enough to grab a shower but not for much longer than that.