Xi An

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After a 12 hour train journey we arrived in Xi An at 8am on Saturday morning. We had a soft sleeper & had to share it with a Chinese couple; the man spent the whole journey, (overnight), spitting & making disgusting noises, farting & at one point when I looked at him he had his hand down his trousers, (nice). We got picked up from the station by the hostel people & were able to check straight into our room so we dumped our bags & headed out to explore.

We saw the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower; we walked around the grounds of the Great Mosque which had lovely gardens, went through the Muslin Quarter which was great, (lots of little street food sellers, little stalls selling everything & it had a really nice atmosphere). We walked through Lianhu Park & past the City of God Temple to another market. Had a great day.

In the evening we headed to the bar in our hostel & met two guys from Essex, James & Craig, & played cards & drunk beer. We got told off for being loud in the hostel so decided to head out & went to a Chinese club where everyone danced like my Dad! On the way home we were doing combat rolls across the grass, it was a very amusing evening & we got to bed about 4.45am.

Sunday we had a quiet day, as we both had a bit of a foggy head. James & Craig had 2 new room mates from San Francisco, Jon & Mike, so we all arranged to meet later for beer & food. So Sunday evening was beer, cards & this disgusting Chinese spirit called Bi-Jo, which the American's introduced us to. Another amusing night was had by all, apart from James who spent most of the night being sick after too much Bi-Jo.

Monday we went to the Army of Terracotta Soliders with Jon & Mike, it was amazing, apparently the 8th wonder of the world. On the way home we stopped off & had dumplings, (they come in wicker baskets, stacked high & you eat them using chopsticks, dipping them in a spicy sauce in a saucer). Both Claire & I managed to drop a dumpling in the sauce & cover both ourselves & the table in this dark brown sauce. The American's attempted to teach us how to hold & use the chopsticks properly but I told them there was no hope for me.

Monday evening the six of us headed to a Kareoke place called KTV where you hire a room & sing till your hearts content. After about half an hour trying to work out how to use it we managed to get it to work & had so much fun singing everything from Michael Jackson to the Eagles. We left KTV about 1.15am & headed back to the hostel to drink more beer, Bi-Jo & play more cards. We were joined by Danielle from New Zealand & Bethan from Swansea, eventually getting to bed at 4.05am.

Tuesday we checked out & walked around the City Walls with James & Craig, (I then realised I was starting to talk like a Southern Fairy). We went to the Muslin Quarter to do a bit of shopping then headed to get our train to Cheng-Du, (a hard sleeper this time) & said goodbye to Xi An. We have had such a good time here & whilst we have been here we have witnessed a bike crash, a street fight & an attempted kidnapping, despite that it is a lovely city.

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Comments

[Gemma]

wow...
I really feel like your old cousin now, because I don't think I could keep up with all the days out, games, drinks and late nights out! Sounds fabulous!!! Enjoy and be prepared for more lovely cultural hygiene differences! yuck.-g