To Fly, To Serve.

Thats the British Airways slogan and I'm afraid to say they have failed on both counts.

Firstly they discovered a damaged tyre on our plane yesterday just as we were about to take off.  This is after it had been sitting on the tarmac for about 12 hours.   We sat in the plane for 4 hours while they tried to find another tyre.  unbelievably they couldn't find one anywhere and have had to fly one out from the UK (which was probably made in China).

We are therefore back at the airport after being put up in a business hotel in the middle of nowhere where the room stank of cigarette smoke and they even had the cheek to charge for water in the rooms - see picture (tap water is not drinkable in China).  We tried to change rooms but they had no non-smoking rooms.

Yesterday was chaotic.  I have lost count of how many times I have used the adjective 'Bizarre' on this holiday.  Yesterday took Chinese bureaucracy to new levels with having to cancel our exit visa then having to go back through security to reclaim our bags.  All this time no-one was telling us what was happening.  At one point we were  in a queue for an hour , not moving, with the same person in a checked shirt arguing with the person behind the desk.  I calculated it would take us 2 days to get to the front of the queue.

We have had a great holiday but the past 24 hours have been trying.  Our agent in the UK (Audley Travel) has been very helpful and the only source of information.

In case you are wondering - No I didn't pay for the water,  or the beers which we had last night which the hotel wanted cash for.   I told them to send the bill to the chairman of BA.  It seemed to work!