Surviving Hangzhou and Suzhou

We managed to catch the 1:00 bus to Hangzhou but couldn't believe the driver was in no particular hurry and took almost 4 hours to get us there! We finally arrived at the hotel which was a NORMAL hotel. Turned out it was only about 3 blocks from West Lake. We did some walking around that evening and decided to eat supper at C-Straits. That was a nice quiet meal and then it was off to look at the lake. It was so-o pretty at night! We wandered around and found an island with several restaurants and even a STARBUCKS and HAGENDASS!! (YEA!) We opted for the ice cream and boy was it great. There was a beautiful trickling waterfall and lots of colored lights. The evening was so relaxing after a hectic day.

As we started back to the hotel, we had to cross a busy intersection. There was a street vendor who had a most horrific smelling cooker going. We tried to skirt around it, but the smell was still awful at the end of the block.

The next morning we took a boat ride out to the islands, walked around some of the lake, and took a tram car ride the rest of the way. It was so relaxing and enjoyable. That evening we decided to try the hotpot/barbecue. Carol decided she liked that one since we chose what we wanted to put in it and the grill to cook the meat on was super.The last morning when we got up, it was raining. We decided to just walk around in the area and found the neatest outdoor market. We tried a jelly coconut (Jim, remember these from Jamaica?). We decided that was NOT our favorite thing...although it was okay. We caught the bus that morning for Suzhou. When we arrived at the Bamboo Grove hotel, Carol nearly fell to her knees and kissed the ground! She said "Oh Estee! A beautiful normal hotel!" I thought she would enjoy that at the end of the trip. We spent our time walking along the silk street and shopping, then going to the Master Of The Nets garden. Then we took a pedi-cab to another temple and to the Birds, Crafts, and Flowers market. After our shopping excursions, we couldn't find a taxi, so we had to take a pedi-cab all the way back to the hotel. :)

All in all we felt like we had a very good time there. The food was great (we had the western breakfast each morning and Carol was even game to try the Chinese restaurant one evening).

By the end of this part of the trip we were both so exhausted all we wanted to do was get home and collapse....which we did!