On my own.....again

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Woke up with barely a hint of a hangover. I left the train and was at the back of the group when I realised I left my shoes on board. I ran back on and off just before it pulled out, job done but I lost the group and guess what, yep, no-one realised I was gone until it was to late and I was left and the train station on my own with no hotel name. Another phone call to Jerry and exactly the same routine as last time and I was at the hotel, i'm getting quite good at this.

After meeting up with the group we had an afternoon of free time, Stacey, Blahine and I headed off to the Bell and Drum Tower, they were exactly as decribed. Large Chinese style towers with large bells and drums in them. It was on the walk that I saw one of the weirdest things so far in China it was a key ring with a sealed bag in the shape of a fish with water and a live fish in it. God knows how long it would survive in there but it was 10 yuan (about 70p).

We decided that we were going to have dumplings that night (Xi'an is famous for them), we were offered a optional activity by the guide to go to a dumpling banquet but at 200+ yuan it was quite pricy, so we found a restaurant that is also mentioned in the Lonely Planet. One for later.

Anyway we walked over to the city wall which is really well preserved, we were planning to take cycles around it but just to the right of the entrance I spotted a nice traditional Chinese style hotel and noticed a roof garden. After about 5 mins of trying to explain to the bell boy that we wanted to go up there we were shown the lift and off we went. What a find it was so peiceful and nice, we settled down and had a few beers well 5 to be exact, the beers were even ice cold which is rare in China, although they were bud, you can't win them all but even that is nicer than the local stuff. The view of the city wall was nice as well. By that time we had run out of time so it was back to the hotel to meet up for a massages (non happy ending ones I should note).

The massage was interesting, it was basically reflexology, so they start on your feet to find out whats wrong and then work on that part. I found it torture especially on my feet but some people found it relaxing, i did fall asleep for a few minutes though and I got my toenails clipped in the process. And you get tea and snacks with it.

Hobbling back to the hotel I had a quick shower and met up with 5 of the group for our dumpling meal, it was really good and everyone was happy especially a girl called Pet who hated the fact that Jerry ordered for the group rather than allowing us to order individually. To be honest she didn't mention it to Jerry so how was he supposed to know. He thought everyone was happy with him ordering and almost all of us were.

After the meal we all decided to head back to the hotel and I was more that happy to as I was a bit knackered.

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Photos

Typical Road
With Drum Tower in background