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Mon 14th,Escaping from Pingyao on the 12.30 coach heading for Xi'an,got into the rickshaw and did the normall khamakasi run avoiding everything that gets in your way,it really is amazing to see it's so busy with people on all sorts of vehicles and pedestrians coming at you from all angles and just about missing each other,and giving a hoot on the horn seems to work wonders its unbeliveable that in all our time here we have just seen 1 accident and that was last night,anyway we were dropped off at a toll station and waited in the rickshaw for the coach to arrive,we got on and were pleasently suprised to find the seats were comfortable,a bit to hot but best of all no smoking,no smoke and smog for at least 6hrs bliss,with the help of my mp3 player a bit of Prodigy and Newton Faulkner(thanks again for the great cd Zo)we were sorted,the bus pulls up at some real random places on the way with chinese people comong out of bushes and climbing down from bridges,we pulled into a service station for 20mins then on our way again,the view was'nt very good as it was getting dark with a bit of snow,it looked really bleak and cold,we pulled up in Xi'an about 18.30 got into a taxi and away from the coach station,Xi'an is like heaven compared to Datong and Pinagyao,it's clean and a lot more modern with nice buildings,our hostel (Shuyuan)is a lovely place near the city walls,we have already booked an extra night,tried out the big bar in the hostel and can say the beer is nice.
Tues 15th,Myself and Jamie up at 6.30 ready for a trip to a panda rescue centre, Ian not feeling to great this morning so decided to stay in bed and sweat it out nothing some ice cream wont sort out,6 of us set out from the hostel at 7.30 and arrive about 9.20,good bunch with us and had a good laugh on the way all English apart from a lad from Cleaveland(usa),it started to snow when we were there which pleased Jamie he had wanted to see some snow fall,we have seen plenty on the ground,after a lot of coaxing from our tour guide we got to see some of the panda cubs who posed very nicely for the camera,they have about 20 pandas here and are hoping to breed a lot more as they are still an endangered species,only 1,600 in total,they have some more rare animals here facing extinction if they are not looked after and breed more,the cheeky monkey's were good and tried to wee on one of our group,had a nice chinese lunch and then back to base to get our laundry done,Ian is good again and waiting for his ice cream to arrive.
Wed 16th,the Terracotta Warrior trip today,we had heard from a few people that it was'nt that great there but fortunately we found the place fascinating to see.We had booked the trip up through the hostel to save any hassle,you can get there by bus and then taxi but we thought for the sake of about $8 pay the extra,only downside they take you to a place that makes models of the warriors,they show you how the mould works and how they paint them and then the finished article,I could have sent 1 home for about 900 pounds which would have looked nice in my doorway but decided against it and bought a coffee instead,they also make some nice furniture and rugs but to be honest as nice as it all was not practical when carrying a big rucksack everywhere and besides we just wanted to see the army.We do are normal obstacle course trying to avoid all the street sellers selling thier crap,and arrive at the mueseum,the army was found by accident by a farmer digging for water in the drought in 1974.There are 3 vaults open to the public at the moment, they have found a 4th and are busy working on that one now along with the emperor's tomb,they were built for China's first emperor Qin Shi Huang(259-210 bc)with over 6000 of the 8000 warrior's and horses in vault 1,vault 3 was a good place to start,the smallest one,you dont really see to much here but they have some original's in some glass cases,the rest are in pieces on the ground,they have managed to restore 1.000 of the soldiers,then into vault 2 which is better as this one contains the infantrymen(900 of them)with chariots,they leave the best till last,this is where you see the majority of the warrior's standing up in thier trenches it really is an increible sight,you cant get to close to them but still get some good pictures,it's a shame because everyone of them has different features amd livesize.Returned to the hostel and treated myself to a full body massage with my 2 American mates Max and (paddy)Kirk,good experience as this is no back street brigade it's the bees knees and only y1,000 about 10 pounds for 80mins,start with your feet including clipping my toe nails and work up,it bloody hurts sometimes but we came out feeling great.Into the bar downstairs to meet up with a few more travelers for a couple of social drinks,need to keep away from Mark who lives in Saigon as he makes us stay and drink till the early hours.
Thurs 17th,We decided to have a nice relaxing day, today after so many day's on the go,we have done something everyday since landing in Tokyo the 6th Nov,myself and Jamie needed a lay in after meeting up with Mark and Max again and having 1 or 2 shandy's,Jamie is a bad influence on me and in turn Mark is a bad influence on Jamie(it's better to blame each other)anyway we had a good night and its only downstairs in our hostel,it's said it's one of the best bars in Xi'an(maybe it's the bar staff that said it).We had a walk up to the Muslim market,could not belive the prices,we got some Lacoste and Burberry t shirts for £3 each a full Chinese football kit for a tenner which I will be modeling very soon in the good weather,next stall was even better I bought a Rolex watch and Jamie bought a Breitling ,after some major haggling we got both watches for £6 each,all original stuff of course and after 2 day's they are still working,what bargains!!!back to the hostel to safe guard our valuable goods then out to a favourite restaurant of our tour guide the lovely Jia Jia,not bad food but again they bring the rice out after the other dishes,have got it written down in Chinese now to bring the rice out at the same time as the meals,also included in the price was 20 fags worth of passive smoke each,very nice smell but bit dissapointed that the level of hocking and spitting has really fallen behind other Chinese cities we have been to.
Fri 18th,Cant believe we got caught out with Mark again last night,we tried to hide behind our beer mats but he found us so we had to be sociable and have a drink with him,early night though we were back in the room just after 3.30am,checked out of the room at 12 so a few hours to kill so had a walk around and eventally hired a tandeem and a bike to go for a ride on top of the wall that goes around the city about 13kms,fortunately for us we only had an hour so we only managed to get 1/2 of the wall done,good fun on the tandeem though,said goodbye to our many friends at the hostel and Xi'an(really nice place)grabbed a scary rickshaw ride to the station to catch the 20.20 overnight train to Chongqing,not with the Whitleities this time we are in with the Caversham Heights brigade,we had a 4 bed dorm sharing with a Chinese man but he got off after a few stops,we put our secret weapon on him,mine and Jamie's socks and Ian's snoring and farting worked a trick are own little room,for a light sleeper like me it was a bit of a nightmare as it's like a hand brake skid everytime the train stops and it feels like your going to get de-railed when it crosses other lines,but it was luxury compared to the other compartments.
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