Sometimes on a layover all the stars align and you have the most magical time ever. Other times you get lost. This 24 hour layover in Shanghai was the latter.
Till this day this story remains one of the scariest moments of my life. A lot of times the nature of my job leaves me alone in foreign places. I feel like I have grown accustomed to it and have learned the appropriate measures to take to remain safe. This one time in China, is the exception.
So let me finally tell the story right? I was on reserve and I got the call that every flight attendant hopes for. “Pack your bags, you’re going to China!” I had never been before, so a couple regulars (crew members that go every week) decided that they would take me to the market with them. Score! So 20 minutes after arriving at our hotel we met in the lobby and set out.
We got to the market, and after only one stall, I lost everyone. They were in such a rush to get all the things they needed, that they completely forgot about me. I’m not a child and I didn’t expect to be handheld, but they knew I had no clue where I was. So time went by and I was half looking for them, and half browsing the endless amount of unnecessary things I would surely buy. Well, it was more 20 percent looking, and 80 percent buying. I wasn’t really worried until I walked out and noticed all the stores closing. Then my heart sped up.
I am a pretty seasoned traveler, and I know that you should always have information in the native language on how to get home. This time though, I assumed I was in the good care of my fellow flight attendants and just went sans anything. *Advice Alert*
So I took a deep breath and found the nearest taxi stand. I thought this would be easy enough. I would just say the hotel name and BAM I’m home. Forty five minutes into what should have been a 5 minute drive, I was in the Shanghai suburbs and basically scared for my life. See, what I didn’t know is that the hotel chain I was staying at, had six locations. I had no clue which one was mine.
At this point it was now 11pm and I was simply lost. I motioned for the driver (who spoke zero English) to stop at a Hilton down the road, where I got out and proceeded to beg for help from the concierge inside. I spent a good 30 minutes trying to Da Vinci Code my way back to my hotel. In the end, what saved me was that I recognized the subway station name that was close to where I was staying. THANK GOD. The concierge then gave a new driver directions – in Mandarin, and I was good to go.
Not quite the layover that I was expecting. I have been lost many times when travelling, but I have never been this scared. It was the first time that I was not only confused about where I was, but also had no idea what my destination needed to be. Late, and in a place I had never seen before. The only bright side. I got a scenic drive through suburban Shanghai.
Photo Credit: Ciro Cattuto