Well we've now been in Xian for two days. We arrived at 05:30 yesterday morning into a train station that was as busy as some of ours at morning rush hour. There were also several groups of people and bags just sleeping on the street outside the station. We were also watched by a group just because I was writing something down! Obviously don't see English writing very much! Getting to the hostel was a bit of a nightmare, we were too early for the free pick up so tried to get a taxi. The problem being that nobody could read English and the ones that could didn't seem too know where it was!! It turned out to be just next door to the South gate of the city wall! We got here in the end! Big hostel with a couple of courtyards, which feel like a haven away from the busy city life!! There's also a dog, 2 cats, a few fish and a turtle!! Also had to admit to Caroline this morning that I saw a small lizard by the sink last night! Had too remind her that that was nothing compared to Oz!!
After a bit of a relax, a couple of cups of coffee and some food we headed out just after 12pm for an explore. We had a wonder first and then visited the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower. Different places but opposite each other in the centre of the city walls. Also got to see some Chinese youngsters playing the drums. From here we then had a look around the Muslim Quarter.
The evening was spent in the hostel with lots of people having a bbq and one too many beers!!
Today we got up late (Had a very lazy morning in bed!), after having a spot of lunch we headed out! We went over to the enterance to the city walls. From here you can either cycle or walk around the whole of the wall. Walking would take about three hours so we opted to hire a bike! (Bear in mind neither of us have been on a bike for many a year!!) But it was fun. The bikes we a little to be desired but the 14km round trip took us about 90 minutes. Some good views but we both decided that Xian is not a very pretty city and theres far too much building works going on. After an ice cream we went for a walk around some street markets before walking the lenght of West Street to find a park we had seen from the wall. Found it in the end, had a walk around and also came across some statues for all the different Chinese Zodiac signs. Had my photo with the dog and Caroline with the rat.
After a long walk back we settled on dinner at a Chinese restaurant just round the corner from the hostel. Good food at good prices!!