Tue 15th In and out of sleep. The open window lets air flow in and also voices from outside early in the morning. Along with a faint clock bell/chime. The Spanish guy and Red head were up and out early. It was then I discovered there was a bloke in the bed adjacent to mine and his girlfriend in the bed opposite to me. Must have been very quite getting in. They were up before us too, couldn't quite catch their accents. Chinese? American? European? The ear plugs w...

Mon 14th 33°c sunshine and cloud. We were joined by Jeremy on the visit to the Terracotta Army. So we were all up early and out the door. We needed Bus (5) 306 according to an online blog. The fare was ¥7 (£1), it was more of a local bus, so there were 12 stops before the Terracotta Army. We were to get the same bus home - about 1 hour ride. The bus station is next to the train station which is a 2km walk (not far). The queue for the bus was extensive full ...

Sun 13th What a sleep! At last. On the hostel's blurb it says it has "The comfiest beds in China." They do indeed! The air conditioning may not have worked, but with the softer matresses and pillows and the fact there were 3 of us in the dorm (less snoring!) a good sleep was had. It did wonders for the congestion and headache that still clung to me from Beijing. Coffee then breakfast in the park. A nice start to the day watching people play with their children....

Sat 12th May When you exit a train station in China you are directed eithier up or down a stairway, along a passage and out into your city/destination. You do not pass anywhere near the waiting areas. Other than on the platform you don't mix with anyone else boarding another train. So once out of the station you cannot go back in without a ticket. So waiting inside Xi'an's (population over 8.7 million) train station was not an option. Luckily for us it was warm ...

Friday 11th May Off to Xi'an today. We slept on and off through the night no dramas this time. My cold was easing up but I was still congested and coughing. Taking aspirin helped clear my head for a while a least. Downstairs in the bar we ordered breakfast for the last time. During which time Frank tried to buy a bottle of water - we found out that 1 bottle of water was cheaper from reception than the bar as a back and forth went on between Frank and the barman...