Another Day

Today we woke up early again to continue our visit in Chendu. Our first stop was the panda reserve. Oh my gosh, was that amazing! Loved it. Beautiful park and those pandas are so darn cute! We got lucky because it rained last night which made things cooler and the pandas were out and about. We saw big ones, little ones and red ones. Some folks even forked over the $220 to take a picture with a real one. We were not those folks.

After the panda preserve, we headed to lunch. More of the same chinese dishes served to us.

Our next excursion was to a local park and tea house. I loved this too. I just think the parks in Asia are amazing.
Bobbys goal was to have us relax and that we did. We had tea to begin the afternoon, then sat around a little. Zeb got a massage and the girls got their ears cleaned. Yep, that is right - they got their ears cleaned. It is a quite a unique procedure but I thought it might help Kearas since they have been hurting and Kailies are just difficult anyway. Needless to say, Kaileis was worth every penny.

We spent some time walking about the park, eating caramelized candy, and taking part in the activities. Chinese people love the park and spend hours there just relaxing and having fun. The girls did some water painting (hard to explain) and a little karaoke. We were quite the spectacle as Americans but it sure was fun. All the girls (Kailei, Catie, and Lily) are left handed writers and some of the elderly folks did not like seeing that and wanted them to use their right hand. Hard to explain to them but fun nonetheless. I'd spend days there to if I lived in Chendu (though I would have really bad hair because the humidity is brutal).

Had dinner in another nice restaurant. I actually ate a few items (noodles, rice etc). This was are final dinner with the Trautmans as they are heading to their orphanage. We will miss them but will see them soon.

On the bus ride to the airport this evening Bobby said his goodbyes but Nacha also convinced to share a story with us. He really is a wonderful guide and has been acknowledged by the chinese government as a hero. He was was on tour with some British tourists when the big earthquake happened a few years ago. They were traveling via bus back to Chendu in a mountainous area when it hit and with some very quick and selfless thinking on his part, he saved many peoples lives. They had to walk together over 10 hours to town but with his encouragement they did it. Bobby walked an additional 2 hours and talked with over 100 bus drivers trying to get one to pick up the tourists he had left. He was truly a hero to everyone.

We will miss Bobby. Kailei grew especially attached to him and he was more than kind in all that he did for us. Yep, I'm a fan of Chendu and now of Bobby.

We are now on an evening flight on our way to Guilan. Best thing is that we have nothing scheduled in the morning so we can sleep.

Tune in later.