Day Thirteen

Chilling out & leaving for Xi'an

Up about 9.30am due to the noise of the people bouncing around in the cafe / sit off room below. Instead of lying there we thought we should get up & start are packing as we check out at 12 noon & we will be heading for our overnight train later for Xi'an.

Clothes all squashed in, bags packed we went to reception & checked out. We needed to find somewhere for breakfast. We decided to head to the bakery we found the other day to see if we could get some nice bread to eat. In the bakery there was a big selection that we could choose from so we went for these stick breads with what looked like cheese & ham on, they were ok but nothing special. We also chose this weird looking sandwich. Inside it it had egg & this other mad meat as a bottom layer, it looked like 1/2 a sandwich & it had a piece if ham on top & was glazed with cheese - well it was horrible but it got munched because we were hungry. After eating that we went to a cake shop & bought these chocolates moose things with sponge in it - now that was lovely. With that not being enough we also grabbed a ice-cream from the McDonald hole in the wall (yes you can get McDonalds this way, it's great). After being greedy we went back to the hostel as they kept our rucksacks for us & said we could chill & use the facilities till we had to leave for our train.

We sat on the sofas for a bit & relaxed & we didn't do very much for a while. Soon we got bored & went on the Internet. We decided to look at onward travel through China & the next stop off after Xi'an (but I can't tell you these plans we made otherwise it won't be fun for you readers)!

A trip to the Wu Mart the local supermarket & we bought some supplies for our overnight journey & we bought some pot noodles for our tea (yeah we are getting sick of them pot noodles)! After our little self made tea it was time to say our goodbyes & grab a cab bound for Beijing West Train Station. if yesterdays experience was anything to go by then this trip may prove scarier than once thought.

We said goodbye to our tour man Michael, he was a real gem for us whilst staying in Beijing. He was the only one who could speak English & was willing to help us. He literally got us from A to B & sometimes Z without any hassle. He showed us the best sights to visit in Beijing & everything. He was a proper great & genuine guy with a great sense of British humour.

After our great guy Michael got us a taxi we jumped in & headed for the train station. We had not been in a taxi in China before so this was going to be an experience. The roads are crazy, nobody stops at red lights, zebra crossings aren't really proper crossings & you have to tackle bikes, carts, buses & cars all beeping their horn crazy. There is a road system in Beijing but it's not followed at all! The taxi was darting in & out of lanes like no tomorrow. It's mad because if you have a dispute with another driver they just beep their horns in annoyance a couple of times & then everything is forgotten - back home motorists would be dead that's for sure. The taxi stopped at the train station & we could believe the cost, it worked out about £4 to drive for about 30 minutes (1 1/2 hour bus journey the night before).

At the station & with our bags scanned through the big machines we headed for the waiting area. Well, you will not have seen anything like it. People everywhere, they where on seats, on the floor - hundreds of people everywhere. It was like playing Where's Wally from when we were kids but instead of trying to find Wally in the crowd we were trying to spot other western people - there wasn't any, only us!

As the train leaving time drew nearer then people started to queue up. At this point we noticed some Italians in the line & we were speaking to them for a bit. The shout went out for all passengers to queue up & have their tickets ready so they can go to the platform & get on the train. Tickets checked once again before boarding the train. In our seats & me tucked up in a sleeping bag we were ready for the off. The bottle of coke open & the biscuits on the go we started to play cards. As usual Andy won most of the card games (I let him really)! A quick trip to the nasty hole in the floor (toilet) & we were settled for the 12 hour train ride. Playing more cards we realised that people could smoke on the train, we are so not used to that & it was chocking us. People have no courtesy or respect for other people in China. We have come to realise that they are quite selfish, not all but the majority are.

Settled down for the night & off to sleep. We can't wait till the morning to see what Xi'an is like. Bring on the Terracotta Warriors.........