And the planning continues

This week I was able to take advantage of a lull at work to actually get things done for the trip. Well a rare lull at work and a not so conveniently scheduled sinus infection that landed me at the doctor on Monday.

At that appointment, I'd hoped to get my vaccinations for China also (hey, while I'm there, might as well!), but the physician's assistant said they don't even stock some of the ones I need. Instead she referred me to an infectious disease specialist at a travel clinic. Immediately, I called to book an appointment, if only to get it all over with. The receptionist was well-versed in how this will work and what I would need. Unfortunately, they are booking into June now. Fortunately, I have some time to play with. She did recommend that I call my health insurance provider and find out that they are all covered, because some are over $200 a piece. Thankfully, a quick call to Blue Cross today confirmed that all of them, even the rabies series, is considered "preventive care" and is available to me at no charge!

Which is good, because the other thing I did today was book airfare. I'd been waiting for a dip on the BOS --> D.C. --> PEK route, but when I went to book today that leg had been canceled entirely. So now I'm going through Chicago on the way over and through San Francisco on the way home. I splurged and bought the extra legroom in Economy Plus, which added $366 to the fare. Gulp. But I have to believe that five more inches of legroom is really going to matter on a 14 hour flight. All in it was $1900. My thought is to lock that in now before anything else in Asia or the Middle East effects fares or fuel costs!

Next up was trip insurance, which had to be purchased by today, three weeks after my deposit on the trip, in order to be eligible for "pre-existing condition" cancellations. I know to some trip insurance seems like money out the window, but with various health concerns among my immediate family, it seems like the smart thing to do on a trip this expensive. If it was just $500 to Paris, that'd be one thing. This is considerably different.

And finally, I picked up passport forms and went to AAA across the street from work today to get passport and visa photos done. This weekend I'll complete the passport application and get that out. I can't apply for the visa until June but will need the passport renewed by then.

There is something sad about changing passports. I've done it once before and always feel like I've earned all those stamps and dog-eared corners and rippled edges. It shows that I'm a cagey veteran, I know what I'm doing and take me seriously. Now I'll have a passport that probably creaks when I open it, rather than bend back on its own to the photo page. I'll get the old one back just like I did last time, but it feels like I'll be leaving behind an old friend who's been through a lot with me. The bigger issue is getting a photo taken that you can live with for the next ten years. Yikes!

Trip planning update and devastation in Asia

Early this morning I awoke, having fallen asleep watching tv. I was met by the news that Japan had just suffered a massive earthquake and at the time only 30 people had been killed. By the time I woke for work, that number had increased tenfold, and would probably continue to do so during the days and aftershocks and tsunamis that are to follow. I then read in the Globe this morning that Southeast China suffered a smaller, but still significant, earthquake the day before that.

After I got confirmation that the two people I know in Japan are safe and sound, I reminded myself that exposing myself to risks like this is one of the side-effects of global travel. I won't deny it: I did pause a moment and wonder about going to China in September. I reminded myself again that BiFengXia, the panda center I'll be volunteering at, is the replacement panda center for the much better known Wolong center which was decimated in an earthquake 3 years go. They lost several pandas in fact, before they managed to relocate the population to BiFengXia.

But like the bombings and unrest in Russia that occurred in the months leading up to my trip there, I have the same feeling of helplessness about natural disasters that might take place in China. Yes, it may happen. But fear of it happening when I'm there for 12 days cannot suppress my wanderlust. Go (unless forbidden to do so by the authorities) and go I will.

I received my confirmation and receipt for the tour yesterday, along with a welcome packet, insurance form, visa form, some demographic data and suggested reading list for the trip. The visa form is not nearly as involved as the one for Russia. Since I do not have a Chinese consulate near me, I'll be calling on the agency that got my Russian visa for me to do so again. I trust them now that I've sent them my passport and gotten it back successfully once before.

I'm still checking airfare daily, hoping for a little drop, right now it is running around $1500 before upgrading the seats to Economy Plus. I was contemplating adding a day at the front end of this trip so I can spend a bit more time in Beijing. I'm still undecided on that. Next up I have to purchase travel insurance by the 17th in order to get the "cancel for any reason" coverage.

My pre-trip reading will begin shortly. I was quoted in another Fodors guide, which entitles me to a free travel guide, so I chose China, of course. That saves me $25 and is arriving shortly. I also ordered a condensed history of China that reviews say is "readable". So wheels are in motion. It's hard to believe that 6 months from right now I'll be in Xi'An!

Here's the map of the trip:

Places I've Been: Prague

I was going back through a lot of old photos and found the set I took in Prague. That trip in 2004 to Prague and Vienna was my first entirely solo journey. I learned a lot about myself and also stepped outside the comfort zone of Ireland/France/Italy for the first time.

This is Prague Castle, which lies on a hill that is a bugger to climb. I was there in October and it was briskly cold but offered up crystal blue skies. Visitors reach the castle by crossing Charles Bridge and walking through Mala Strana "Lesser Town" and uphill.

This is the view from one of the towers on Charles Bridge. Obviously, the bridge is a great place to people-watch as well as find souvenir hawkers and street musicians.


These are views of both Castle Hill and Charles Bridge, day and night.

This was a quiet little canal I found walking back from Castle Hill.

Playing the airfare game and other randomness

For whatever reason, I told the travel consultants that I would find my own airfare to China. So if you know me at all by now, you know that this has become an all-consuming project for me. At work all day Wednesday and Thursday this week, I researched flights and immediately identified United as my carrier of choice, only because I can purchase an additional 5 inches of leg room in coach. I figure with 13+ hour flights ahead of me, 5 inches could feel like a mile, right?

On Thursday I was playing on the United site and figured out that if I booked each leg individually (say, Boston to Chicago and Chicago to Beijing) that was coming up with cheaper fares than if I'd done Boston to Beijing. As in $300 cheaper. But I didn't book that, and haven't seen that fare again, damn it. I'll return to work next week and check periodically during the day, hoping that I'll nail that fare again on Wednesday or Thursday.

My other bit of randomness is that I learned that China requires that your US Passport be valid for 6 months after your visit to China (most European nations require that it be valid for just 3 months). My passport expires in January, which means, you guessed it, I will have to renew my passport before I get my Chinese visa this summer. Argh, that's like paying for a 10 year passport and only getting 9 1/2 years out of it! Oh well...

Let the countdown begin: I'm going to China!

The deed is done...well committing to it is done! I just submitted my reservation form and deposit on the trip to China! I am really, really excited for this trip, which was not even on the radar at the start of this year. China is someplace I've always wanted to travel to and experience, and the panda volunteer program is a huge plus. I am SO EXCITED!!!

Now the planning begins in earnest:

Get new passport
Get visa
Set up VPN or proxy for internet access (Chinese government heavily censors internet traffic)
Read, read, read
Buy clothes!

More on China...

With a bit of a lull at work this week, I've had time to think about, obsess on and otherwise kick the wheels on this trip to China. The nice sales dude from Access China sent me a nearly-finalized itinerary that is pretty sweet, while sort of frenetic, it does get me to where I want to be in fairly good form. I spoke with Wendy Wu's place today and they didn't seem nearly as clued in as she was when she and I spoke on Sunday. I am waiting to hear back from them. I wrote the third provider of these panda volunteer tours and haven't heard back at all. He's losing my trust rapidly.

In the process of researching hotels on Trip Advisor, I came across two reviewers of hotels that mentioned they were on this same trip last year, so I wrote to both. One wrote back almost immediately and really sold me on the trip. She said things about feeding the pandas and getting to play in the panda kindergarten and holding them twice (once at the Chengdu Center and once at BiFangXi, the place she volunteered at). I am nearly ready to sign on the dotted line for this. So I'm not spending as much time in Beijing as I'd like, I am hitting the main sights. I should settle for that and go back if I need to.

Damn, did I just say "go back"???

I realized Chengdu is very near Tibet, as one of the hotels is Hotel Chengdu Tibet. Hmmm.

I made the mistake of looking up airfare just to see what the fares and routes are. It's about 17 hours with 1 stop going over, but mother of god, it's about 23 hours coming home. I will need drugs, lots of drugs, to get through that!

And speaking of drugs, I looked up on the CDC Website what I should get for vaccinations before this trip. Don't tell my mother, please. I need to get: Hepatitis B (remember, I already had the Hep A vaccine for Russia), Typhoid, Polio booster, Japanese encephalitis and Rabies "if spending a lot of time outdoors, especially in rural areas...and for travelers involved in any activities that might bring them into direct contact with bats, carnivores, and other mammals." Bingo, that's me. Shoot, I've heard the rabies vaccine is painful! So off to my doc I will go shortly, as the Hep B set of three shots takes six months. That was the first time I wondered if it's really worth it, but you know I figured it is. I'm still writing.

It's looking like China...

Today I spent a half day at the Boston Globe Travel show. I went because I was curious and it's like a mall of vacation and travel opportunities. Granted 70% of it was cruise, Caribbean and package travel companies. It was the 30% of other offerings that captivated me. My goal primarily was to talk to two of the companies that offer the panda volunteer experience in China. Three companies have that connection and two were there to speak with. Access China Tours, the company I wrote to when I was sick and first heard of this possibility, was there and the sales guy sort of gave me the car showroom feeling. What did pique my interest though was that this year's itinerary (which I am waiting for them to finalize) includes Xi'an, home of the Terra Cotta Warriors. That is a huge score; if I'm going to China possibly once in my life, to see the Great Wall and the Warriors would be imperative. Access China's previous itineraries did not include Xi'an.

Where my well-thought-out plan went awry was when I attended the presntation on "Off the Beaten Path China" by Wendy Wu, owner of Wendy Wu's China, the other company I am investigating. She had me at hello. Her slide show had pictures of things I'd never have dreamt would attract me. She had several variations on lengths and depths of trips. Some "only for people who've been to China 6 times." Yes, that's right, six times. To me it just really seemed like she has her act together and knows how to do this right. She pointed out that she doesn't just take you to the closest, most crowded point at the Great Wall like everyone else does, she takes you to somewhere more secluded. "No photos with millions of other tourists", she says. Hmmmm. I've read that she is the UK and Australia's #1 China Travel Consultant, just now making in-roads in the US. This could be very good for me....

I sought Wendy out after her presentation and asked about the panda volunteer trip. She said it would be customized for me. Just me. There'd be no group of 15 going to volunteer, I'd be doing it on my own. I'd also have private guide and driver in the rest of China (where have I heard this before?). She recommended 9 days to see Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai, and end in Chengdu where the pandas are. Taking a very quick look at her catalog, this trip is already proving to be far less expensive than Russia. At least 30-40% and it includes air and visa. Yee ha.

I spent a fair amount of time signing up for raffles for free trips (I'd go to the Azores for free -- it's only 4 hours away!) and even spoke with a hot-looking South African guy about safaris (coming soon!) as well as a rep from the Turkish and Israeli Tourist Boards. I have bags of stuff I need to read!!!

So I'm waiting to see Access China's itinerary and will call Wendy later in the week (she said to call and ask for her directly!) But given that I just can't seem to get excited about Poland, or Germany, or Italy, but I have this simmering internal flame of wanderlust for China, maybe this is it. Stay tuned.