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Published: November 4th 2009
So, we left Beijing on a sleeper train to Xian, which took about 12 hours. It was ok, we paid for a soft sleeper, which is not particularly soft, but we had probably the best night sleep yet. There are 4 beds in a room, we got on and were the only 2 in our room which we were happy about, as we were a little anxious about sharing the room with soemone we wouldnt even be able to communicate with! So, we settled down, got a few beers, put on the ipod and had a few pistachios, oranges and a noodle pot (really nice by the way). Then the train stopped at a station (we thought it was direct to Xian), and obviously someone got on who was sharing our room. By this point, it was quite late so the guy who got on just climbed in the top bunk and went to bed, but he snored loud and stunk of egg!
Xian has been really good, we stayed for 3 nights and the hostel was really nice, couldnt fault the place. Staff lovely, nice basment bar and clean! It had a cute dog and 2 little tortoises (Im
going to get some when we get home!). We booked 2 tours, to terracotta warriors and to a Panda conservation. We were there for Halloween and went to the "heaving" halloween party downstairs in the bar, they had a few dancers, and another Michael Jackson impersonator! We also had a power cut one night..there was thunder and lightening, it was pouring down, and we heard a big "bang", they didnt bother fixing it till the next day. Thats 1 thing we havent got...a torch.
Terracotta Warriors was really good, we went with a group from our hostel and chatted to people about where they are going next, and where theyve been etc. We spoke to 2 English girls who have been travelling SE Asia for 3 and a half months, so they gave us some tips etc. including the name of a place in Kuala Lumpur that does Sunday dinners with real gravy and yorkshire puddings!!!! I cant wait.We will definetely be wanting a home comfort by then!
They are 3 pits that are open to the public, 2 smaller and 1 quite big one. They are still digging and piecing them together. Theyve been doing this sice 1974
when they were discovered. The man who discovered them was digging a well, and he was actually at the place!! They were selling books about the history of the warriors for about £12 (a bit steep) and he was signing them! We werent allowed to take photos though. Apparently he just goes in there sometimes to just sit behind a desk.
Unfortunately we didnt get to go to the Panda conservation. I was a bit gutted. We only booked 2 nights to begin with and were going to go on our 2nd day then get the train to Shanghai, but they didnt have enough people for the tour to go ahead. We booked an extra night and even went to the train station to reschedule our tickets to the next day which was a struggle! But there wasnt enough people to go the day after either. We are thinking of going to a zoo somewhere because Im really up for seeing some Pandas.
Theres not a lot much more to Xian, basically city walls with bell and drum tower inside, but we both liked the place. We walked around the muslim quarter which is full of food stalls and
butchers. Im sure we seen a dog hanging at one of the butchers. Not the cleanest place, we didnt eat around there. But was great to see. We also walked around a food market, which is probably the poorest bit we have seen yet.
Next stop....Shanghai on another sleeper train. Fingers crossed our next roomy smells nicer xxx
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janet
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warriors
hi you 2 lovely blog pics are great i bet the tarracota warriors were awsome not long in Xian then? hope your next roomy is better and much less noisier, there has got to be some low points to every place i'm sure, but the good places make up for it. Hope Shanghi is good keep safe talk soon love ya loads. mam and dad.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx