Hello!

Well we made it on the train ride from hell between Xi'an and Chengdu and are settling quite nicley into our new hostel.

Xi'an was had some amazing things to do but kinda glad to be out of there!

First day we arrived and it was a relief to be off the train. After we had battled our way through the touts telling us that our hostel was full and we needed to follow them we finally made it to where we thought we could relax. Our room had a lovely view of Xi'an city walls and the beds were typically hard, but the bathroom was a mess! Smelled a bit like rotting food, there was hair everywhere and it was just riffy. I had to stop Si from buying Marigolds and bleach! The staff were very helpful though and the communal areas were nice. The only real thing of note that we did was a visit to the local Pizza Hut for a taste of home, and it was very odd! To come from Beijing where the majority of people are poor, Xi'an is a very rich place and Pizza Hut seemed to be a bit of a posh dining experience for them!

Second day we had planned to do the Terracotta Warriors but as we got so little sleep on the train we overslept and had to settle for a wander round the city, which began with a 14km bike ride around the top of the city wall. Xi'an has the only intact city wall in China so it had to be done, and it wasn't too hard going as it was flat, although 14km later we did have a bit of saddle sore! We also figured out the local buses, and we're amazed to still be sitting here with our lives! Mental is about the only word that can describe it, every man and vehicles for them selves. Bikes piles high with boxes cut up buses and the buses have a good go at knocking them over in return. We chilled out after that when we got back and had Chinese pot noodle and a Tsing Tao (the local beer at 26p per litre!!!!)

What visit to Xi'an is complete without a visit to the Warriors, and they were worth it! Bus journey was a bit of a head ache (but cheaper than a tour), after a lot of wandering round the street for a good portion of the morning we found a big yellow sign saying that this was the queue for the Terracotta Warriors bus so we waited and waited. Only to be told by a local that we were in the wrong place and this was where all the local skanks were to try and get you on their buses! On the hour bus journey to get there we got a free bonus thrown in and we were able to see the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx (outside a hotel in the middle of no where?!?!?) But the warriors themselves were amazing and there were hundreds of the things, dont want to give anyone a history lesson but they are well worth a visit and you'll see them in all their glory when we finally manage to upload some more pictures.

Later that day we saw the drum and the bell tower, much the same as Beijing, I think all major cities have them a bit like our Church bells telling everyone the time.

The last day we saw rain for the first time since we've been here which was quite refreshing after the heat wave. We planned to go to the Shaanxi History Museum but it was very expensive and they were doing work on it so we went to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, just had a wander round and had our photos taken with some statues which were quite amusing. Also had the rankest KFC ever, which we got on the cheap cus Si collected the tokens from his crisps (anything for a cheap meal,even in China.)

Then came the time for us to leave Xi'an which meant another mental train station. The "queue" consisted of lotsa of people shoving and pushing with what appeared to be large bundles of rags with them! Got 2 Russian's ion our cabin this time who shared some of their local spirits with us (a bit like cheap brandy), which we needed as the train journey was 17 hours. Still didnt help us sleep much as Bec got our first case of "travellers stomach" at 3.30 which kept us awake most of the night, helped by the fact that they kept locking the toilet doors when the train stops, which was every 5 minutes for half an hour at a time!But all better now after a good rest and some food.

Hope all is well at home, thank you all for your messages and keep sending them its nice to hear from people back home.

Will update again soon

Love to you all

Bec and Si xxx