Well that was a bit rude; bloody alarm set for 4.45 am this
morning as we are off to Xi’an and the Terracotta Warriors. Just a quick shower
followed by an instant coffee, banana and muesli bar before checking out and
meeting Alec and Helen out front to catch a Didi to Beijing West Railway
station ( Beijingxi ). Quick trip there, security check and then a bit of a
lineup to collect the train tickets Helen had ordered online. As usual a couple
of rude buggers running late who think they can just push in but good to see
not many letting them in for a change.
It was off through security again ( baggage and person scan
followed by a little pat down) before heading up the escalators to waiting room
9 to sit and wait for our Bullet train G653 from platform 7 to Xi’anbei Station. On
time as usual so all aboard, this time reclining seats very similar to an airplane
but just much more space, then settle down for the next 5-6 hours.
Trip itself was very comfortable and we were only second class. Three + two seats across and heaps of room and usb charging between the seats. Plenty of food offered throughout the trip and also books and model bullet trains to buy. This was not the express so a few stops along the route but we did get up to 308 kmph a number of times. The scenery was vastly different from the trip to Datong with much greener vegetation and larger towns along the way. Nothing out of the ordinary to report except this train gad western toilet and not the squat ones on the Datong trains.
Finally arrived into Xi'an ( a city of around 8 million ) a bit after 2 pm and Alec called a Didi to take us to the Grand Soluxe International Hotel. This was about a 20 minute ride and we ended up almost on the old city wall (a UNESCO site) near the Northern Gate. Checked in and dumped our gear before hitting the tracks. First up and onto the wall and walked about 1km along it in 30+ heat. Great views of the city and a magnificent attraction in itself. We then just kept walking south through the city and a lovely park full of people exercising and on to the HuiMinJie Muslim section which Helen said was one of the highlights of Xi'an. It started to get dark whilst we traversed the markets narrow streets and alleyways of this most fascinating section. The sights, sounds and smells were amazing and I would definitely recommend this to anyone visiting Xi'an. Alec and Helen even had a foot massage by fish for a while, couldn't be bothered getting my feet wet myself. We grabbed food along the way from the street vendors/stalls and the spicy fried small potatoes were brilliant. Finally finished with a Gelato before we started the long walk back to the hotel. Anyone going to China I would avidly recommend the App, Maps.me, downloadable and works off GPS so no need for WiFi. It assisted us tonight and we finally got back around 10 pm, ready fro bed and looking forward with anticipation to visiting the Terracotta Warriors tomorrow.
The only annoying thing for the day was the bloody music from below as we tried to go to sleep, "Its a small world after all" over and over again, I'm going to throttle that vendor tomorrow if I find them ;-)
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