A couple of years ago there were a number of tours to China on sale for around $2500 including air fare. We decided that China was going to be high on the list of places to visit. About a year ago I started researching the trip, and decided it was going to be a nightmare to plan. Each trip I looked at had places we wanted to go, and places we didn’t want to go. Many trips seemed to revolve more around shopping than sightseeing! So, what do we do?
Earlier this year a friend and I were sitting in Timmies (doughnut store) having lunch, and we started talking about the trip. There was an oriental looking woman sitting just across from us typing away on her computer, and she kept looking up and smiling! Finally i said to her….”let me guess you’re Chinese and travel agent?” The rest is history! We somehow went from a group tour to a private tour with our own car, driver and guide at each stop.
Both of us have developed an allergy to traveling “down the back” on long haul flights, so we bit the bullet and splashed out for business class. We found a good fare with a Chinese airline with a good reputation and had that booked for us.
Las night i went to check in and was able to get boarding passes for myself and the Toronto Beijing flight for Lyn, but there was a problem with the Ottawa -Toronto leg for her …. perhaps I’d be going on my own!!!
We got to the airport this morning, and checked in with absolutely no problem. We left Ottawa at noon, and then spent a few hours in the lounge at Toronto before boarding the next flight direct to Beijing.
Above is our home for 13 hours! I would have got a better picture, but the camera was on self timer mode, and by the time I had figured that out and corrected it the plane had parked right outside the lounge. The aircraft is a Boeing 787-900 and is brand new. We saw the first one for this airline when we were at the Boeing factory in May. One of the perks of the new aircraft is a larger TV display AND free WiFi!
We departed right on time and headed off to the northwest with 13 hours travel time ahead of us. First order of business was getting all the ‘freebies”; slippers, amenity kit, decent (Bose) noise cancelling headphones and a pair of PJ’s!
This is the first time we have been on a B787, the windows are much larger than other aircraft, and there are no window blinds. Each window has an electronic controller that “dims” the window, very nifty. The plan to publish the first entry from the aircraft failed as there was an issue with the WiFi. Maybe the last entry will come from the aircraft.
I managed to get almost 6 hours sleep, Lyn about 3. It was all very civilised, call the flight attendant who converts the seat into a bed complete with bottom sheet and a duvet while I went off and changed into PJ’s. One of the main improvements on the B787 is the improved air quality and greater humidity, I certainly felt a lot better at the end of a 13 hour flight than I normally do after a 7 hour flight.
In the end we flew 7085 miles n 13 hours 10 minutes. It was about an hour by car to the hotel in stop and go traffic, even at 9PM!
Time now to settle in and rest in preparation for our walk along the Great Wall tomorrow.
One Response to Here we go again!