After a really good nights sleep we had our breakfast in the
room this morning from some supplies we purchased on the way home last night.
Banana, juice, coffee and a fruit bread setting us up for the day. We left the
hotel before 10 am after dropping some laundry off for the next few days on the
train and boat, and headed out through the City Wall and onto the old Daming
Palace grounds and Historic site from the Ying Dynasty. It was quite a warm day
and we caught the little “train” that takes you around the whole complex and
parklands. Not a lot to see of what is left as it was only foundations. The
area is massive ( larger than Versailles apparently ) and has mostly been
turned into be parklands and gardens with numerous sculptures. The are a lot of
explanatory signs and interpretive models all around to give you an
understanding of what the Palace complex was like.
We went into the history museum which once again had
numerous models, but also contained many artefacts that had been recovered from
the archeological digs. The whole area was covered in shanty towns until the
late 1990’s when they were knocked down and the area reclaimed. There was also
a large covered area similar to what was at the Terracotta Warriors; that was
preserving the entrance gates and wall remnants of this old Palace. Ps the
English headset was useless and not worth the 30 Yuan to hire.
Once finished after about 3 hours we had to take to long
walk back to the hotel for a quick rest of the feet and body as it was a very
warm day. We also checked again to see if our transport had left a message as
to what time we were being picked up in the morning for the train to Chongqing,
but nothing yet. It was then off to the Muslim quarter again as I wanted to see
the Grand Mosque we had missed the day before. This was built around 700AD and
pretty original apparently. We walked and walked and walked finally getting there
whilst grabbing some food on the way. Some round pastry/bread thing ( ie pita
type) with a leek/onion and some minced meat filling spread between the two and
then fried in oil on a large round hotplate. It was cut into four and handed to
you in a paper bag, yummy. Also some yellow sweetish rice cake and some warm
walnut shaped dough things with walnut and caramel inside; brilliant. Got to the
Mosque around 6 pm and it was lovely. A little quiet oasis in the middle of
bustling laneways and a large city. Had a good wander round and really enjoyed
the atmosphere, not huge and opulent but ornate and impressive; quiet and calm with
a long sense of history, well worth the walk and visit. You are not allowed
into the prayer hall, but you can see some of it from outside.
From here we then walked towards the Drum Tower which really
looked impressive in the golden light of the setting sun. It was then on to the
south gate of the old wall to have a look at the moat and view the gate and
wall at sunset and with the lights on, an impressive sight.
We tried to grab a taxi back to the hotel but two turned us
down when we showed the map of where we wanted to go so we went back to the
subway and caught the trains back to WaLoukou station near our hotel for the
princely sum of 2 Yuan each ( less than a dollar for both of us). It was a
quick stop at the convenience store next to the hotel for a couple of beers (
very recuperative I believe) and up to the room just after 9 pm. A total of
over 27,000 steps each and 18km walked today, no wonder the ol’ feet are a tad sore.
Checked at reception ands was informed our guide had left a note to say we were
being collected at 10 am tomorrow morning, happy wife now. Also, damn that
woman in our compartment on the way back to Beijing from Datong as I feel I’m
getting her cold now, bah humbug; oh well, have another cold refreshing beer,
that will help 😉
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