Greetings!

Well firstly our apologies - we've been bad bloggers。Loads has happened since we last blogged, and in particular, Esther learned a few days ago（the night we arrived in Chengdu）that she would be made redundant within 4 weeks。Not the kind of news you want to get in the middle of a holiday! So we've had a few things on our minds, as you can imagine.

Also, if you're wondering where all the pictures are at, the two memory cards we were using have picked up a virus and aren't working properly. We've got another now, but you'll have to wait till we get back before we can clean the first two up...

So.. on with the trip!

Our second day in Xi'an was more eventful than the first! We got out of the Hostel early (i.e. about 11...) and made our way to the train station where we intended to pick up a bus to the site of the Terracotta Warriors... but we were thrown off the scent by a cabbie with a decent offer (there and back, an hour each way with 3 hours onsite for 20 quid）, so we took a taxi instead!

The warriors were amazing - they are impressive in themselves, but it's the story of the guy who built them that makes them so special... basically, the first Emperor of China unified China by conquering the various kingdoms, then successfully established a system of governing such a huge country (including starting the building of the Great Wall), and all well before he was 30! But apparently he was also a paranoid control freak who managed to piss (or/and kill) off everyone who worked in his government... so to ensure he had the same power after life as during he built himself a 10,000 strong army of clay and had them buried not far from his tomb at his death. They are lifesize, each with a bronze weapon of some sort (now removed), and most amazingly, each one is different.. no two faces are alike!

As chance should have it the farmer who discovered the buried Warriors back in 1974 when constructing a water well...was onsite to sign a Terracotta book memorabilia + a photo op! Well no one can accuse C and I of being cheesy but when in Rome you Roam...

That night we caught a plane to Chengdu - goodbye Xi'an!

Chengdu Day 1

So after receiving the news from my place of work via email/phone call! it was fair to say I was feeling pretty sh**ty! But C grabbed some beers, noodles and I pondered what to do next。 After a crappy night sleep... we took some time out the next morning /afternoon and just chilled and of course cursed my old work place!!! Not wanting to have the rest of the trip spoilt by the disappointing news... we vowed to get on with enjoying China。

Chengdu Day 2

We got right on with enjoying China by getting up the next morning （well， afternoon...）to head to see the Giant Buddha of Leshan。 It was a couple of hours outside Chengdu by local bus（no taxi this time!）, so it was about 3 by the time we got there。Turned out to be perfect since no-one else was there as they'd already been and gone!

Estee was beside herself with excitement... [I sure was, I'd been googling the bugg... um... Buddha for months!]... It was a pretty amazing build up too... the outer temple area was filled with a load of already impressively large Buddhas in various states of repose.. reclining, seated, laughing, stop-signalling... once past that, you have to climb up a giant stairway lined with... Padlocks. [yeah.. weird but amazing, so I had to take some shots.. it was like going to meet someone famous, and I kept wondering.. are we there yet?]

Yep, Estee is right! After the trial of the giant padlocked staircase, you then had to find your way through the maze of trails... only the pure of heart can find the right path! Oh... lots more stairs too。

So when we finally reached the right path, C exasperated said "So where is he then?? There's some mound over there" Er...that was no mound that was Giant Buddha's hair! LOL Oh my word we were here! We made our way round the corner and sure enough there was his big ear, face and all :-) You had to be there...it was truly an amazing sight! He stood a extraordinary 71m, apparently he's twice as tall as the 'Christ the Redeemer' in Brazil。

So to see the 63m below his head, we had to climb down a narrow zig-zag stairway cut into the cliff, taking photos of his huge hands，knees etc as we went。Once at the bottom, we studied his big toenail to see if Lonely Planet was right to say you could have a picnic on it。Well yep, you probably could though it would be a picnic for one... Anyway， it was flippin amazing。

We got back pretty late that night, so had some food（fantastic twice cooked pork!）and a couple of beers at the hostel before hitting the sack totally shattered。

The next day was Panda day... we'll fill you in on that tomorrow!

E&C x