TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS

We are leaving in under two weeks! ACK! 12 days to be exact. That seems crazy to me. I have begun packing and getting things organized. I kept emailing Shane to ask him if we had secured domestic flights and hotels - he always said, "Not yet!" So I begged him to let me make the travel arrangement for us. The ticking clock was beginning to stress me out. Shane and I are very much a like, with a lot in common, yet this is clearly one of our major differences. I am such a planner, I can't sleep at night until everything is secured.  I truly missed my calling as a travel agent.

Anyway, so I have been hard at work. It's been so much fun! I tried to do a little (yeah right) research on hotels and flights, so when he did tell me to go ahead and book us, I would be ready to go.  Finally I wore him down and he gave me the go ahead! WOOT! HAHA!

Julianna and I leave the US on Tuesday morning, the 17th. We will arrive in Hong Kong on the night of the 18th (it will be early morning here). It will take us approximately 24 hours to travel there. I have to be honest, the thought of being on a plane for 15 hours with no laundry to do, meals to cook, or phone to answer thrills my heart. Twenty four hours of just sitting with my best girl. Ahhhhh.

Anyway, we will get to Hong Kong a couple of hours before Shane and the girls. We will be staying at the Novotel City Gate near the Hong Kong airport. It looks pretty nice. We have a full day free on Thursday and part of the day free on Friday to do a little sight seeing. I don't know what the other people in my little group (Shane, Juju, me and two Australian ladies that are helping the ministry.) would like to do, but I am open to whatever they want. One of the girls mentioned DisneyLand - which we would love, of course. At the same time, I want to see the city. I can see the Mouse anytime. It really doesn't matter though.

We will leave HK Friday evening. We are flying on a direct flight to Guilin, China. Once we get there, we will stay one night because it is quite a drive to Yangshuo, where we will be for the week. We have to be in Yangshuo by early evening on Saturday, so I am hoping to do a little sight seeing in Guilin before we head there. At the very least go to the carrefour or Walmart to get some supplies (and by supplies I mean Coke. LOL. Lots and lots of Coke.) From what I understand, there is no large store like that in Yangshuo.  I have arranged a private van to take us, so it will be a little easier to navigate without a facilitator.

We will be in Yangshuo from Saturday until Friday. However, one of the ladies and myself will be traveling to the orphanage in Hengyang either on Wednesday or Thursday. We will have the opportunity to love on the little ones there for a day or two (hoping for two!).

From there, we will be heading back to HK for a flight out Saturday morning to Singapore. We will have the privilege of staying with one of Shane's friends there, so no hotels to arrange. Shane will stay in Singapore a full week, but Juju and I will be heading back to the states on May 2nd.

I am wondering about what type of weather we will have. I guess I will just pack layers. If anyone has been to the cities I am traveling to, I would love input. When we visit the orphanage, we will be traveling via high speed train and going through Changsha.

I plan to blog the whole time, should anyone want to follow along. I will create a shutterfly site for photos too.

So that is my update! Can't believe it's so close!