April 1, 2012; Wuhan, China: It had been an incredibly long day. We had left Longhua early in the morning,
spent six hours on the bullet train, walked up six flights of steps, had dinnerwith Sandy and Squirrel, walked down
six flights of steps, walked through the rolling mountains and cracking stairs of Wuhan University and then spent some time roaming up and down the jam packed Wuhan night market.
The day was supposed to be over and we were finally taking a
cab from the night market to our motel. The cab ride was actually a nice drive, first giving
us the opportunity of seeing the Yellow Crane tower all lit up and sitting on
Sheshan (Snake) Hill and then driving along the historic Yangtze River.
We finally got out of our cab around 9 or 10 pm, at this
time I cannot recall. Raymond said our
motel was down the alley off the main street.
Raymond probably knew me well enough from the time we had spent together
to assume that I was about to conclude we were staying at some kind of dump and
then I would freak out. He said that the
motel was not as bad as the walk down the alley might lead me to conclude. I would reserve judgment for when I actually
saw the motel.
We reached the motel’s reception desk and Raymond told the
clerk our names and that we had reservations.
Suddenly, there was a lot of Mandarin chatter between Raymond, Sandy, Squirrel, and the
motel desk clerk. When a translation reached
me (the translation always comes midway through the conversation), I was
dumbfounded. Our rooms had not been
reserved for late arrival with a credit card and since it was after 9pm, our
rooms were gone. I couldn’t believe it.
How could Raymond have not guaranteed late arrival or made sure we
checked in before 9pm?
We walked back down the alley towards the main avenue, where
there was another motel. The Mandarin
speaking contingent of our group (i.e., everyone but me) swarmed the desk clerk
asking if the motel had any available rooms.
They did not. Did any of the
chain’s other Wuhan
properties (wherever they may actually be) have vacancies? No…after all, it was Mei and Cherry Blossom seasons and a national holiday weekend.
I think this a time where, if you are not knowledgeable in
the ways of China,
you are allowed to or even expected to have a panic attack, but remarkably I
did not go that far. I was too
embarrassed after I slid down the slippery handicap ramp in the front of the
motel on the main avenue, looking like an idiot.
Someone in our group decided we should go back to our
original motel down the alley and see if they had any available rooms. I did not really understand this; 5 minutes
ago they did not have any vacancies.
But, when in China
and you cannot read or speak Mandarin, its do as your guides tell you. Well, to bring this crazy story to an end…it
seems like magically two rooms became available. I don’t know how. I could have asked for an explanation from
Raymond on how –and indeed he might have told me and I no longer remember. And how was the hotel hidden down the narrow
and messy alley? It was nice, and even
though it had only three floors, it had an elevator!!
***
Views from My Hotel Room
 |
| The Room |
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