Day 177: Travel Day to Zhangjiajie
We had a mid-day flight to Zhangjiajie, so we didn’t have any time for sight-seeing today. We had a lazy morning at the hotel (so sorry to leave – the convenience and comfort made us really miss city-living), and still had plenty of time to take the subway to the airport. After checking-in for our flight, we headed to the Executive Lounge which was a *vast* improvement on the bare room we had in Jiuzhaigou: a big lunch buffet, dozens of packaged snacks and even booze! Needless to say, we were in a great mood for our flight!
Now *this* is a proper Executive Lounge! We help ourselves to a BIG lunch at the buffet (including wine & beer!), and nick a handful of snacks for save for later
The Zhangjiajie Airport is 40+KM from the park entrance, and we were staying in a resort a good distance from the park, so we headed towards the line of taxis once we arrived and picked up our checked bag. Igor had to pull out his “no-nonsense” negotiating skillz when these wise-guys tried to overcharge us on the fare. We knew from online research and the Lonely Planet that a taxi from the airport to the park should only cost RMB 100, but it’s *always* smart to confirm the price before departing. “Duoshao?” (How much?) Igor asked. The guy typed, “500” into his phone. Igor didn’t even dignify that with a counter offer, simply scoffed an started walking away. After rejecting “400”, “300”, and “250” Igor finally got the driver to agree to 180. That’s my baby!
It was close to 5PM by the time we reached the hotel and check in, so we didn’t have time for much else besides exploring the resort grounds – which were AWESOME! We were 20min by car away from the park entrance, so we were far from the chaos of the village. The resort was calm and peaceful, and we appeared to be the only guests! (This had to be an allusion, surely everyone was simply still in the park?) We admired the outdoor pool, gym and restaurants, making plans to once again skip the park on one of the weekend days and hide out in the resort. The only drawback to being so far from town is that we were forced to eat dinner at the resort restaurant, as we discovered a taxi to the village would cost RMB 80 each way. The money we would save by eating ramen would not make up the RMB 160 taxi ride, so we decided to order the cheapest option on the menu (club sandwich and fries – actually pretty tasty) and made plans to stock up on food before leaving the park the next day.
The Harmona Resort is several miles away from the park entrance, which means we are protected from the noise and mayhem of Chinese mass tourism – safe in a quiet, tranquil cocoon
Where is everybody? We come down to dinner at the “western” restaurant to find it deserved at 7PM! Maybe everyone else is at the Chinese restaurant? Whatever – not going to complain!