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Published: October 31st 2010
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So our second stop in China was Xi'an. We booked an over-night sleeper bus for the journey. We originally wanted to get the train but there were no tickets available and so were pursuaded to get the bus. The girl from the hostel told us it would take 13hours, we would be on the expressway and have no stops.............
Now for the truth.......
We left Beijing at 5:45pm. The actual bus itself is like nothing i've ever seen before! There are 3 rows of bunks, the beds are small, to say the least, with your feet going underneath the person in fronts head, no space unused!! So not the most comfortable nights accomodation! Once out of the city and onto the expressway we were stopping every 30mins to pick up random people from the side of the road. The driver was obviously trying to subsidise his pay by taking them as far as they wanted to go. They would sit in the aisles as all the beds were full. Dodgy Chinese films were played until about 11pm, after which we could actually atempt to try and get some sleep. When i woke at about 8am we were stopped by
the side of the road in what i can only describe as the middle of nowhere!! There were a few stalls selling food, a trough for a toilet and literally nothing else!! At this point we realised that we were infact not in Xi'an and that our journey wasn't 13hours on the expressway!! So off we go again, about an hour down the road traffic comes to a standstill. Its still flowing towards us so we assume its roadworks....3 hours later and not an inch moved we are still there!! Roadworks was right, a bridge closed with only one lane open and absolutely no traffic control or organisation. The only reason we got out of there was that the driver had clearly had enough and just went for it, pushing right to the front!! That was it then, we were Xi'an bound and finally arrived 21 hours later at 3pm the next day..........what an experience!!!
So anyway Xi'an......
Our hostel is really nice, rated by hostelbookers.com as the best hostel in Asia!! Each night a different activity is organised, we particularly enjoyed the trivia night, although we didn't win we did meet lots of other travellers. It made
for a great evening but not so great a morning after!!
On our first day we cycled around the city walls. 14km on a rickety bicycle, a bumpy stone wall with no suspension makes for a very sore bum!! But it was great fun and we got to see the city from a different viewpoint. In the afternoon we headed for the Muslim quater, the area surrounding the Mosque. There is a huge market selling everything from knock off bags, shoes, clothes, watches to chess sets, jade bracelets and Mao memorabilia. Then there was the food section, spices, nuts, dried fruit and cake stalls lined the streets. Our least favourite section was the meat streets, with them butchering the meat right in front of you and tables full of organs.
The next morning was dominated by a serious hangover and therefore spent in the hostels roof garden, with sadie feeling particularly sorry for herself. A few hours later (2pm) we decided to start our day. We walked down ShuYuan 'Ancient' street full of stalls selling various arts and crafts, we grabbed some street food and headed to the 'Forest of Steles', a museum that consists of stone carvings
and engravings. There were huge tablets full of ancient scripts and intricate ornate scenes. A whole exhibition was showcasing various buddha statues, from tiny little inch high right up to 6ft tall buddhas.
I guess everyone comes to Xi'an to visit the Terracotta Army, we decided to do it ourselves instead of taking a tour, we had heard the tours rush you through and the guides work on commision with certain shops!! It was really easy to get to, just jumped on a bus from the train station costing just 7RMB (70p)!! Once at the actual site we went into the museum first where they have lots of different things on display that they have doug out already. There were lots of various types of people, warriors, archers, generals, soldiers and even acrobats!! Then there were weapons, armoury and animals. Possibly the most impressive were 2 sets of bronze carriages each with 4 horses. It was good to see the soldiers up close and see all the detail on them, the facial features, hair and even the clothing was so life-like! Then we went to the pits where they are still excavating, there are 3 that you can visit.
We started with the smaller two where there were lots of broken soldiers and horses, it was very strange seeing arms, legs, heads and parts of horses lying there! We went into the biggest pit last and it was huge in comparison, the soldiers were all lined up and standing whole, there are literally thousands of them! They are actually postponing excavating some areas as the soldiers are painted but as they are exposed the paint fades away.
The last day in Xi'an we spent relaxing and wandering the city. We had planned with a few other people from the hostel to go to the light and water show at the big pagoda but first we wanted to get some street food. Just outside our hostel every evening the whole street turns into a giant kitchen! Every doorway is selling some kind of food and there are tiny little tables and chairs lining the street. There is a huge selection of vegetables on skewers, the lady gave us a basket and we just filled it with what we wanted. She then steams them before adding a kind of curry sauce and putting them in a big bowl. Then there
is various meat on skewers, we went for beef and chicken wings, ordering by the handful! 50p for a handful of beef skewers, £1 for all the veg we ordered and 30p for a 600ml bottle of beer. The food was so good that we soon realised we weren't going to make the show and so more beef and chicken was ordered along with another round of beers! We just sat out on the street chatting and enjoying the atmosphere for most of the evening.
We had originally planned to visit Shanghai next before heading down to Hong Kong but decided that after spending our whole trip so far in cities it would be nice to get into the countryside and discover the 'real' China. So our journey will now head south to Guilin and Yangshuo. This time by train, never again will i get a sleeper bus!!!
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janette
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Hi It sounds like you are having a fab time. Lots of new experiences. Don't forget to send us some more postcards. I am so jealous! J x