Getting Ready for Bike Trip-Arrival in Bangkok Thailand Jan 6, 2008

Well, I made it out of China (as some of you know, I'm working on my 4th retirement trying to get it right yet...and as such working in China for a year) on Sunday, Jan. 6. I was really worried when we arrived at the airport in Jinan. Kevin Lv, a Tecnoma (company I'm working with) went with me to airport as my Chinese...well, mai wen ti (no problem) is about all I know other than pijou (beer). We got to the airport early enough, but discovered in looking at the eticket, that I wasn't going to Beijing, I was headed to Guangzhou then to Bangkok. But then the real problem set in that China Southern Air refused to ship my bags, with Big Red (my new Surly touring bike) in it's big ass bike case that my son Scott loaned me, to my final destination...which was Bangkok. Well, that meant I'd have to collect the bags in Guangzhou and go through Customs there, and I only had 1:40 before the flight left for Bangkok. Now, I've traveled a little in my life in China (ok, a lot) and know that things don't always go our way in China...they move to a different beat than the West does. But I just let it go and decided what happens happens...and go with it. I was in First Class to Guangzhou (the only one) and the cute little flight attendant couldn't do enough for me, so she offered to call ahead and get a customer service person meet me at the plane on arrival and get me through quickly. Well, this dude met me, and man...I mean efficient and quick. He had my bags on a cart, to the check in counter, and to immigration within 20 minutes after I landed. I couldn't thank him enough (and he refused to accept a tip...try doing this in the U.S.!!!). So I made the flight with time to spare, China Southern bumped me to first class and I landed in Bangkok at 5:10 p.m. Me and Big Red met up and I had a hotel van from Marriott there to pick us up (that set me back $90). So, now we're in Bangkok, I have Big Red all put together and we're getting things in order for the trip.