Enshi

Saturday, May 8th, 2010 in: News, Travel

Third flight in as many days. We arrived at the small airport in Enshi, the only plane on the strip. Walked down the stairs and up to the one-room terminal, and watched our luggage get carted to the baggage claim. Enshi is a city of about 100,000, the smallest kind of “city” in China. The beautiful weather went well with the sudden break from the dusty haze of the big cities.

The bus from the airport dropped us off in front of a giant stone edifice with the hotel’s name on it. “We’re here!” Ben assured us as we collected our luggage and started hauling it towards the stone face. A tunnel led up to a hill with a fancy gate, which led to another hill. Rounding the corner at the top, the hotel came into view. It was nothing like what I was expecting. Then again, I didn’t know we were going to stay at a 4-star hotel. Built by the head of the hydro-electric department, the hotel is mostly used for conferences and weddings. In fact, our stay was limited to only 3 days, because a conference was going to book out the hotel on the 4th day.

We toured the grounds and saw some of the private houses on the lake owned by the hotel. The pool was being redone, but the massage parlor was still open for business. We all went and got foot massages. I’d never had one before so it was a new experience. Our feet soaked in hot water with some sort of teabag first while they rubbed our necks and shoulders, then worked down to our arms. Rubbing our feet with the teabags to clean them, then wiping them off with the a towel. One foot gets wrapped in a towel while the other is being worked on. The massage was very relaxing, and the ice cream we got afterward was a good cap on things. So far, I’m liking the way grandpa travels.

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