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Arriving at the station early in the morning we wished our neew found friend goodbye and headed to the ticket office to book our train to Beijing for a few days time. Using a combination of ineffective sign language and phrasebook we were told there was no room on the trains on the 6th, although we could stand (for 12 hours!). We decided to leave it and get to the hotel. Even waiting for a taxi was eventful when a fight broke out and just the general pushing and shoving. This is the one time where carrying 30kg of luggage on your front and back becomes useful!
As it was KC's birthday we were staying in a lovely hotel. After checking in and freshening up we felt that we had deserved a Starbucks. Asking at reception "Starbucks?" Blank look. "Starbucks Coffee?" "Ah coffee! On right". Unfortunately only the coffee part had been understood and it took us some time and a few more "Starbucks?" met with blank expressions before we finally found one! Definitely worth it though!
The rest of the day was spent searching for a way to get to Beijing. Turns out it's the Dragon Boat Festival
hence why everything is booked up. So we sought out an alternative mode of transport.
Telephone.....often used to make and receive calls, sometimes from other countries. Ingenious. So whilst talking on the phone there's a knock at the door and 2 members of staff stood there. All that 1 could say in English was "phone no work" and something about not international. No matter how much we tried to explain that the phone did work as we were clearly speaking on it and using our new found charades skills to describe that we received the call, not made it, KC had to put the phone down and go to reception in pjs and slippers. After much confusion the receptionist came back up to the room and gave us a different number to use. Add to this issue that our mobiles sporadically don't work, emails don't seem to work, facebook is completely blocked and they refuse you access to seemingly all the websites that you want to visit, it is fair to say that we have never felt so cut off from the 'outside world'.
On KC's actual birthday, she was woken up with cake and a quiz (why
can't every morning be like this?!) containing 23 questions relating to our adventure before being given her lovely presents. Thank you JK 😊
Then our 'get to Beijing mission' started again! Armed with the phrasebook we approached a friendly looking woman at the bus stop. 'Nihao' we say and then point at the symbols for bus station. She signs the number at us and then as the bus approaches frantically waves at it! Easy! In preparation for our mission we had asked the lovely receptionist to write down in Mandarin that we were looking for a bus etc. So we arrived at the bus station, showed the piece of paper and Bob's your uncle - bus to Beijing booked - a day earlier than planned but still mission accomplished!
Not having a great choice of restuarants in Xian we opted for Pizza Hut (yes it is sad!). The menu had bits in English but not the bits you need and trying to ask how small is small and how big is big was met by sheer confusion. I can confirm that big is actually quite big - probably meant more for 2-3 people than 1 but hey cold
pizza the next day is always good!
Both being completely run down with colds we attempted the pharmacy but the phrasebook failed us by not having the word for paracetamol. We tried in English, the woman laughed at us. She called her friend over and we repeated it - then they both laughed. Never mind, we can just be ill!
Being a walled city we decided to hire a tandem bike and cycle the 14km which was lots of fun if not a tad tiring. We then got dolled up in our tailor made dresses from Vietnam to go out for dinner. We chose a posh hotel restaurant and got shown to the table. From here on in, anything that you could possibly get wrong, we did! Whether it be dishing out the food to each other or eating with the wrong implements! Thankfully the food was delicious and we have got used to people thinking we are completely mental so it was all good!
For our final day we visited the famous Terracotta Warriors. Using the same point at the words and get shown the general direction we caught the local bus there. The Warriors themselves
are absolutely incredible and unbelievably well preserved - pit 1 in particular with so many still intact. The only downside was that it was packed with Chinese tourists who all have to have their pictures taken next to EVERYTHING, either dawdle or run from one thing to another and who use their umbrellas (sunbrellas?!) as lethal weapons! This can be overlooked though and we really enjoyed seeing the Warriors!
After realising that our ardently fought for bus is, as usual, the worst of them all at the bus station, we go on our merry way. Despite the no smoking sign, the driver and his mates all smoke, just like on the train and in the shopping malls. Not exactly pleasant but who are we to say anything?! Then, to liven things up a little, we break down! Well not quite - we stop by the side of the road and turn the engine off and on countless times. After a while, we drive over to a garage - not a good sign. 2 hours later we are told, in Chinese, something we dont understand. Everyone chips in, in Chinese, but still we are blank and everyone laughs. All we
can manage is "wo bu mingbai" (I don't understand) and "yinguen" (English). Not until a young boy makes a slurping noise and eating gestures do we know that people are setting off to find more supplies. We ask the driver "Beijing?" and point at our watch and he just shakes his head, then says something about 4 - leaving in 4hrs, 4days, at 4am? Eventually, we get on the road again and 25 hours later (yes 25) we are dumped on the side of a motorway!!
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