Day Fourteen

Arrival at Xi'an

Through out the night the train carriage was silent apart from the noise of spitting - it was horrendous & they sure get to the pit of their stomach when it comes to spitting. They were just spitting on the floor right behind us, it made me feel sick! I was rudely awoken on the train about 7am by a Chinese train worker who just so happened to want the all train curtains & nets - are you joking mate?! Nice one for giving me a unexpected wake up call - cheers pal! We have to say that the Chinese are up there for being one of the rudest population on God's green earth & why are they so frigging loud as well! I had been awake for 2 minutes when a a stupid woman trying to sell coffee & the dodgy breakfast was prancing up & down the aisle screaming "coffee, you want coffee?!" I thought any longer of this & not only will she be wearing the coffee but she will be in a coff-in! These people & China are testing our patients that's for sure.

Off the rickety old train & on the platform of Xi'an the weather is totally different to that of Beijing. There is a real mist in the air & the place looks poorer but still as busy & with crazy roads like Beijing. Out of the station we where greeted by 2 people from our hostel which we had booked for our 3 night stay in Xi'an. They where standing on the street with a board that ha my name on it. How kind of them to come & pick us up free if charge & take us back to the hostel.

Driving down some narrow streets we passed a big bell tower which was in the middle of the road, almost like a round about. Future down the road was massive shopping malls & department stalls, to be honest they looked at bit out of place but no doubt we will go & investigate that area later or sometime soon.

We arrived at the hostel & oh my gosh what a change from Beijing. The hostel is very traditionally Chinese & there are these big massive iron doors with big knocker that we have to walk through. The hostel its self is a bit mad as some is outdoors & some is indoors. All the furniture was traditional dark wood which had nice carvings in them. On our way to our room there are lovely red Chinese lanterns hanging up & there is lots of writing on the walls from past travellers & guests that have stayed. Our room itself is just lovely & again very traditional. It's the cheapest out of the lot but it looks the best. The bed is a triple king-size (it could fit about 5 people in it) but it is high up on a platform so you feel quite regal when you climb into bed - it's just lovely!

After a snooze for a couple of hours we explored the Internet & planned are next move in China. We got the lady on the reception desk to write down in Chinese exactly what train tickets we needed so when we go to see the Terracotta Warriors tomorrow we pass the train station so we can get our tickets then & hopefully without any hassle.

The weather had took a turn for the worse & it had now started raining so we grabbed our waterproof macs & headed out to find a supermarket so we cab buy supplies for our stay in Xi'an. As we came out of the hostel we decided to wonder round. We came past this big massive shopping complex & inside there was every designer shop you could think off, Prada & Versace etc. It's mad how the poor is so mixed in with the rich as next to the shopping complex are dindgy restaurant places which are so cheap you can get a decent meal for £1.50 - it's so mad!

We eventually found the supermarket called Vanguard & it was massive compared to the Wu Mart supermarkets in Beijing. We grabbed some fresh fruit, some fresh orange juice, a few goodies & some of them bloody pot noodles - that was supplies sorted for the next few days. We have to admit that we are now starting to miss cereal as breakfast is the one thing in China which they don't really do normal (well in fact the don't do anything normal). Although we have notice that this fab hostel we're staying in does a full English breakfast so I will report tomorrow on how nice it was - that's if we are still alive hahahahaha!

Heading back in to our nice hostel we only happened to see an Irish couple that were on the Great Wall of China tour with us. They were relaxing after enjoying tea in out hostel so after we had eaten our tea we heading back downstairs & in to the bar where we joined them & a few others in a group (also another Scouser) for a few beers. It was nice to be enjoying normal conversations with other Westerners!

After the beers & a bit of a laugh we headed for bed as we hadn't realised the time. A good nights sleep was in order as we are going to see the Terracotta Warriors tomorrow & I can't wait.........