ZRH
I left Shanghai yesterday afternoon, after a great 10-day sojurn. I’m sure that I pushed my hosts, Scott & Kate, to the limits of their hospitality, but it was great to catch up with them and it’s always nicer to stay at an apartment in a residential neighborhood than in some lame hotel or hostel. Obviously it also helped keep my budget in check, despite going out for some truly fantastic meals, none of which clocked in at more than $25/person. I’ll write about my stay in more depth when I’m not on my phone in an airport, but all in all, I will miss Shanghai and would like to get back there before too long.
At the moment, I’m sitting in the E concourse of the international terminal at ZRH, with about an hour to go in my layover. It’s not a bad airport to transfer through; it’s very quiet in the early hours of the morning, the bathrooms are spacious and immaculate, and the cafe serves up a decent chocolate croissant and an excellent cappuccino. They also have these really handy “mobile device” charging machines that allow you to secure your phone/iPod in a drawer locked with a PIN of your choice while it charges. Very handy, I don’t know why they haven’t installed these things in every major airport everywhere. I’d probably use it even if it weren’t free.
I have completed the first 2 of 3 flights, with a long haul to Dar Es Salaam to go. Door to door, my Shanghai to Tanzania trip should clock in at almost exactly 36 hours. Yikes. Makes me wish I were better at sleeping on planes.
Barring any unforseen complications, I will be on a flight to JRO tomorrow morning and settled in to the CCS home-base in Moshi by the afternoon.
