After long run on the train from Beijing we arrived in the province of Shaanxi at Xi'an train station. It said in the guide its one of the busiest, well it is bedlam. I had booked at the Bell Tower YH and there was a girl there with our name who met us and passed us onto another man who we had to follow to a minibus which was parked quite away from the station. There was 8 of us who got the bus which dropped everybody off at their hostels,not us.Because of a one way street he pointed us in the right direction to walk! We got there eventually to find that we were put in the 5th floor with no lift! But it had the best view dead center of the old city opposite the Bell Tower,all big cities in China have them,and Drum Towers. One for the am. and the other for the evening. This town of nearly 7 million! is on the tourist trail for the Terracotta Warriors so the hostel was full of backpackers.
Of course the main reason for the trip here was the Terracotta Warriors,so we signed up on a hostel organised tour. Meeting our guide at the hostel we followed him to a mini coach where there were others waiting. Off we went, for about 5 mins that is,untill we stopped at another hostel where there was 2 more mini coaches. After a discussion the guide said that we had to ge out and wait on another bus. 5 mins later we were back on our original bus and on our way to a rendevous with our phantom bus. At a large roundabout we were met by our mini coach with a new guide called Jessy and the driver called Mr Zhang. He was according to Linda as he's the safest driver in a bus/taxi she'd had yet! Bonus, we're the only ones on this bus,so its a private tour, which means no flags to follow. The tour was very educational and Jessy really made it more enjoyable. Highlight was meeting one of the farmers who found the warriors in his field. He works for the government now promoting his book! We also visited the Ancient City Wall, the best preserved section of ancient city walls in China.Xi'an is one of few cities that has its old walls in tact. So we took a tour de Xi'an on bikes for a 15 km cycle circumnavigating the old city. it was 37C. so it was hard going in the heat, especially with all the bricks. it took about 1.5 hrs to do. In the evenings we tasted 3.8M noodles(see photo) and also we ate in the Muslim Quarter. I made the initial mistake of ordering beer, didn't realise we were in the quarter.Then I ordered what I thought was a couple of lamb kebabs only to find it was two pieces of lamb on each skewer, good start to the evening!
Of course the main reason for the trip here was the Terracotta Warriors,so we signed up on a hostel organised tour. Meeting our guide at the hostel we followed him to a mini coach where there were others waiting. Off we went, for about 5 mins that is,untill we stopped at another hostel where there was 2 more mini coaches. After a discussion the guide said that we had to ge out and wait on another bus. 5 mins later we were back on our original bus and on our way to a rendevous with our phantom bus. At a large roundabout we were met by our mini coach with a new guide called Jessy and the driver called Mr Zhang. He was according to Linda as he's the safest driver in a bus/taxi she'd had yet! Bonus, we're the only ones on this bus,so its a private tour, which means no flags to follow. The tour was very educational and Jessy really made it more enjoyable. Highlight was meeting one of the farmers who found the warriors in his field. He works for the government now promoting his book! We also visited the Ancient City Wall, the best preserved section of ancient city walls in China.Xi'an is one of few cities that has its old walls in tact. So we took a tour de Xi'an on bikes for a 15 km cycle circumnavigating the old city. it was 37C. so it was hard going in the heat, especially with all the bricks. it took about 1.5 hrs to do. In the evenings we tasted 3.8M noodles(see photo) and also we ate in the Muslim Quarter. I made the initial mistake of ordering beer, didn't realise we were in the quarter.Then I ordered what I thought was a couple of lamb kebabs only to find it was two pieces of lamb on each skewer, good start to the evening!
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