Christmas Eve was a travel day. We didn't have time to do much that morning, but a few of us ventured across the street to the huge Buddhist temple that was under renovation. We went into the main hall.
It was so serene, it felt like a church Ina way but evoked a greater sense of peacefulness. After breakfast Alise went out to do a little more bird watching and missed the great photo of us with the staff.
We felt like we were leaving old friends as we said good by to our wonderful hosts at the ryokan. They made us feel like they were truly sorry to see us go.
Let me explain in more detail what this ryokan, Hokkaikan Ohanabo was like. When we walked in on the first day, we were greeted enthusiastically by several of the women who worked there. They showed us how to remove our shoes, and where they would be stored and they whisked our bags away to our room. Each room had a small entry way with a lovely ikebana arrangement of live flowers, a full, though tiny bath and toilet room and a separate sink room. The bedroom had a Japanese style table and every afternoon the futon beds with bean pillows would be laid out for us. In the morning, while we ate breakfast, the futon bedding would be put away. The futons were on the floor, which was a bit too firm for Dave, so they added 2 extra futons (kind of a prince and the pea setup!). I thought the bean pillows would be uncomfortable but I found them very comfortable as did the majority of our group. There was a common area with another table and pillows and extra bathrooms and even an extra shower room. There were also the traditional communal baths, one for each sex. These had an outer changing area and then you stepped into the bathing area, where you wash before going into the common bath (think large tiled hot tub), which was paneled in wood and had a view of a huge and lovely flower arrangement. In each of the rooms were yukatas, the cotton robes, with an over vest to be used when wearing the yukata to breakfast. When you go down to the bath, you wear the yukata only…no under garments…going “commando”, so to speak.
The whole atmosphere was homey, calming and welcoming. The best thing about it was the people. The women who worked here really took wonderful care of us. They were funny, sweet, and charming and really seemed to enjoy their work. So as you can tell it was hard to say farewell. As we left, they stood outside waving goodbye…and as we looked back, from 2 blocks away, they were still waving so long!
We made our way once again to the Kyoto train station and bought tickets for an express train to the new Kansai airport in Osaka.
And what an airport! Brand new and set on the water in Osaka Bay it seemed futuristic. We found the ultimate in toilets - not only heated seats, music, bidet functions but also a handy fragrance spritzer and a tv! After a quick lunch we got our boarding passes, spent the last of our yen on snacks and got ready for our next adventure!
We flew China Eastern to Beijing with a quick stop in Yantai. What a difference from US flights, lunch and a snack was served, and the beer was free! Landing in Yantai we needed to get off the plane for immigration. This didn't faze Alise, Billy and Bobby but the serious Chinese officials in the green military uniforms made the older generation a little uneasy. The terminal was dimly lit and echoed with subdued voices. I held my breath as the official checking my passport called over his supervisor. There was a tiny spot on my passport at the end of my middle name, "Is this a period?", he inquired after studying it closely. "What is you real name?" After explaining that the spot was a smudge and not indicating an abbreviation he waved me through with a grumble.
We were led though a corridor into an austere waiting area. We were happy to find a western toilet even though there was no toilet paper - and, of course, no music, bidet or spritzer! We were only there a few minutes before we were re-boarding and on our way to Beijing!
As we started to descend I looked for city lights. The lights were very dim and had an orange glow. My eyes started to water and my throat started to feel scratchy. I knew Beijing has a pollution problem but I had never imagined it could be this bad. Landing I could see it was true; the smog was so thick it was as if a thick orangish fog was settled over the airport. It was impossible to see more than maybe 50 feet. We deplaned into waiting buses and were driven to baggage claim and customs.
Our bags made it out quickly and it was a good thing because Billy was very anxious to get through customs to see his girlfriend, Anna, who had flown in from St Louis on an earlier flight and was joining us for the rest of the trip. Anna was waiting and they had a happy reunion. Soon our driver, Mr. Ping arrived and apologizing for the smog we were on our way.
The traffic was amazingly chaotic. Lane markings and traffic lights were merely suggestions and the rule of thumb seemed to be the biggest vehicle won the lane. However, bikes and three wheeled taxis courageously buzzed around larger vehicles and pedestrians danced between the moving vehicles at the thoroughly disregarded crosswalks. Arriving at a large thoroughfare Mr. Ping made a phone call and then a u-turn. We were a little confused until he told us he had called the hotel. The hotel was down a small alley and our large van was too wide to negotiate it. The hotel was sending someone with a bicycle rickshaw to carry our bags and guide us down the alley. After two more u-turns we found the alley and unpacked and found our way behind the rickshaw.
By this time it was about10 at night and the alley felt very creepy in an exotic way. We could hear voices from the buildings around us and the smog was still thick so when we came upon other walkers or bikes they suddenly appeared a few feet in front or behind us. Red lanterns indicated small restaurants and bars and it was difficult to imagine what was going on behind the doors as we passed.
Arriving at our hotel, Cote Cour Hotel we were warmly greeted and shown to our rooms. The restaurant was still open so we quickly washed up and rejoined upstairs at the restaurant.
We were thoroughly charmed by the hotel. It was modeled after a traditional Chinese home with a courtyard surrounded by the rooms. It was decorated for Christmas with blue lights and traditional Chinese red lanterns marking each room.
The rooms were lovely as well; carved doors and furnishings and bathrooms with stunning fixtures. The restaurant was equally impressive, beautifully appointed with a full bar and the chef standing ready. We quickly ordered dumplings and noodles, each room had a complementary bottle of wine so we opened several and were thoroughly satisfied. We all stumbled off to bed, we were meeting Mr. Ping early and needed our sleep!
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