What a way to start a trip.
Get told that we are waiting for a thunder storm to past before we take off from Auckland then proceed to have a continuously bumpy flight which lead to no sleep. At least I met Miah, a touch ref that had done the trip a few times so I got to get some insight into what to do / expect.
Upon landing in Shanghai customs etc was the easiest i’ve ever had. Jumped on the Maglev train at a slow 301km/hr.
This is where it got a bit crazy for a while. Once off the maglev train, the order was gone. We hopped on the city Metro and experienced Chinese population density first hand. I got half way on the train with no room and doors shutting before getting the straps on my pack almost stuck in the doors.
Gave up on the idea of trying to find Miah and just found the nearest taxi and pointed at my hotel address.
All the taxi drivers seem to drop me just short of my hotel everytime. But at least it is cheap, 30min taxi ride is about 10NZD.
Hotel don’t have sign in’s till 12noon so I sat and stole wifi for an hour before having a chat to George and Ana who told me all the cool things to see and passed on the details of their tour guide Rita.
Once I got my hotel sorted I had a shower, nap and then a taxi to The Bund for a night walk.
All in all a full on first day. Theres lots of photos but the internet is slow in the hotel so this will do for now. FYI everything in Shanghai has lights on it.
lisa
Have fun x