Plus, he said, if your connecting flight is overnight the airline will put you up in a hotel and provide a good dinner and breakfast! It sounded to good to be true, and against my better judgment I didn't look to much into it. We boarded the first leg of the flight to Paris on a cool Monday morning.
The trip to the airport was uneventful, and we were assigned adjacent seats with extra leg room by the helpful flight assistant. So far so good!
The ten and a half hour flight went quickly enough, the Chinese airline we were flying with had a pretty dismal selection of movies to pass the time, but we arrived at night in Shanghai feeling fairly rested.
Unfortunately, and not all the surprising, it turns out we didn't have any accommodation provided (you get what you pay for). After trying a few help desks to confirm out situation, we came across a helpful Chinese guy who organised a 'cheap' room, with transfer to and from the station.
We were taken downstairs to a dubious looking van, and before too long we were on our way to somewhere in Shanghai for the night.
With better planning we could arranged accommodation on a train line and explored the city centre a little, but it was nice to go on a little adventure with my brother. Our 'hotel' was near enough to some nightlife, we dumped our bags in our room consisting of two thin blankets laid out the floor, and set off in the hot and humid night to see what was around.
We weren't far from a strip of little restaurants and shops, we walked up and down looking for interesting places or a way to get to the city centre, before choosing a decent little eatery for some late night dinner. Hayden couldn't remember any of his Chinese from his long trip years ago, so we got by with a bit of pointing at the menu.
Out came some noodles and dumplings, washed down with a couple of cold beers. Memories returning from my time in South East Asia years ago, the heat, the smell of food and spices in the street, and the utter incomprehensibility of the language. Felt like the start of a great adventure, what more could I ask for.
The beds were sufficient and we spent an hour or so walking around before we had to get back to the airport. It was extremely hazy (it looks worse in the photos), but breathing and walking around wasn't too bad. We ate some street food, took in some more sights, then were back to the airport for the final leg of the journey to Paris.
More photos here
