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Day 6
After we woke up on the sleeper train it was time to get off at Xi'an. The train station was crazy with loads of people and everyone was shoving and pushing. After exiting the train station we had the hostel booked in Xian and luckily we saw someone holding up a sign with the hostel name on so we got a free lift. As we were in the van and driving through a busy cross roads the boot of the van flew open and our bags landed on the road with laptop 'n' all. We started shouting to the driver but there was no response and finally we stopped and someone had to run back and grab the bags while all the cars were driving right past them.
After we arrived at the hostel we stayed in a room with four other people and met a great Irish trio who we were going to go on a few nights out with. The first day we were in Xi'an we decided not to do too much and just get a feel for the city so as we heard that the Muslim quarter did kebabs we should head down
there. We walked around the muslim quarter for a while and taking in the sights, it was a bustling place with lots of things on sale. The nice thing about Xi'an was that it wasn't as rude as Beijing and the shop keepers were happy to let you browse without shoving items down your throat.
We couldn't find anywhere that did kebabs but we did find somewhere that sold flat bread and also did lamb skewers so we combined the two to create our own kebabs. We also met a great 78 year old gentleman while we were there who told us all about the city, who was very friendly. We also took his advice and went up the bell tower which was a large tower in the middle of the city and a great vantage point to watch the crazy drivers on the roundabout.
That night we drank like the Irish (literally) and we finished quite late despite having to be up for the terracotta warriors the next day.
Interesting fact no.6 - Trying to mime what a kebab is can be very tricky
Day 7
After waking up a little later than expected
we headed to the terracotta warriors. We had to go to the train station and get a green bus that would drop us off at the warriors. We headed off with Amy, the girl that we met in Beijing, on the great wall and we arrived at the warriors at about 1:00 after a while on the bus.
Arriving at the warriors it was evident that China has spent some money on the museum and the most amazing thing is that they're still excavating it, with large sections still covered with earth. We started in the smallest pit and then moved to the larger pit so the less impressive ones seemed impressive initially. They were all different and it was amazing to see them all with a great section in pit two where you could get really close to them. There was some history as well which was really interesting to read with some reproductions of the actual wooden weapons they all held which have since dissapeared with age.
On the way out of the terracotta warriors we decided to get some ice lollies which turned out to be a bad idea as Tracy got kidney bean flavour
and Joe got mung bean flavour. Then we decided to get another bus back (despite joe's best efforts to talk everyone onto the green bus). The bus we got was a rural bus that went down some amazing roads with massive pot holes which looked like they were going to tip the bus over at any point. It also took twice as long as the green bus to get there and by the time we got back to the hostel it was time to chill out and relax for a little while.
After relaxing for a little while we were all hungry and the three of us went to a nice restaraunt, which we think was Tibetan themed, and had a massive chicken hotpot of vegetables, chicken and spices. It was lovely and was far more food than the three of us could eat. After this we then went out for a couple of drinks with the Irish again, although much less consumed this time and randomly ended up haviing some early morning food on a building site near the hostel which was delicious.
Interesting fact no.7 - The terracotta warriors were never writted down in history, so
no one knew they existed
Day 8
After a busy time we decided to relax this day and just enjoy Xi'an before we were heading off to Chengdu. We had a lovely breakfast in the hostel and then went shopping for some sun glasses for Tracy and then went off to a local park that was recommended by the 78 year old guy in the muslim quarter.
Once we arrived at the park there were many people singing and the weather was great. After this we went back to the hostel and we had to get the train to Chengdu on a hard sleeper which was a six bed cabin which opens to a communal hallway on the train. The train ride was 17 hours so we needed to make sure we were going to get a good nights sleep on the train as well.
After getting to the train station and finding the train which was very busy we got on the train and we were with a family on the hard sleeper who were very friendly but there was very limited communication as they only knew a few words of English and vice versa.
We ended up teaching them to play Rummy which was interesting and using the phrase book to talk to them for a while and found out they were going on holiday to Chengdu and we told them we were going around the world which they were amazed at.
Aftere talking for a while and meeting a Dutch guy we hit the sack and slept from 10:00 -> 7:30 which was a good night sleep which was helped with ear plugs and eye patches.
Interesting fact no.8 - Chinese people on the train love to offer you fried chicken feet, yuck!
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Kate
non-member comment
Hello!
Hey! Sounds like you guys are having a great time!! We all miss you and are keeping track of your adventures here.. oh and if you are still near Chengdu I highly recommend visiting the Panda breeding center - they are so cute!!