The Best 100 RNB I've Ever Spent.

Yesterday in Hangzhou it was 136,4875 degrees with 1,967,083 per cent humidity; perfect weather for a long day of outdoor sight seeing with crowds of people.

 My original plan was to do head to a temple to do a bit of hiking and walking around with a friend that I met at the hostel, so after breakfast, determined to persevere,  we headed off the bus stop that would take us to our destination.

Two blocks later found us standing at the bus station, sweating bullets, fanning ourselves with a map of the city. Five minutes after that we saw our bus pull up. A bus without air conditioning. A bus that was jam-packed with other sweaty tourists and crying babies. We looked at each other. No freaking way.

“I would kill for a swimming pool.”

“Agreed. I would literally do anything to go for a swim right now.”

After a bit of Google-ing and quick call from the concierge at our hostel, we managed to track down a 5-star hotel in Hangzhou that had an outdoor swimming pool that we could pay to use for the day. For 100 RNB (about $15 USD) we could use their facilities. Perfect.

Tanning and swimming are not very popular activities in Asia. Having tan skin traditionally is associated with working manual labor outdoors, and is thus, undesirable. Stores here are stocked with lotions and creams that have whitening products in them. Women walk around with umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun. So when we arrived at the pool, it was empty. Literally empty. Zero people. A huge pool, cabanas with lounge chairs, and a cloudless blue sky, situated on a rooftop far away from the chaos and noise of the city streets.

For 100 RNB, we rented ourselves a private pool on a rooftop terrace at a five-star hotel. It was a lovely afternoon.