Travel to Xi'an
My time in Beijing is now over... so its my time to travel to Xi'an, taking the Chinese local trains, I knew it would be better than the trains i took in Vietnam, but i was very very surprised!
I made my way to the train station today, for the big trip, the journey was 1,180km and the journey was only 4:25 as i was taking the high speed train.
Upon arrival at the station, I came across the usual craziness, to pickup my tickets, I had to go through the usual airport style security. Once through join the massive que, i was worried then, as there wasn't a single latin letter in the room all the text was in Mandarin! But i did the classic Brit abroad, got to the front and passed my passport to the women (my ticket was pre booked by my cousin, so i didn't have to endure that part!). They needed the passport as you need ID to pretty much do anything here. The women did her work, and i got my ticket!!
The next step was, of course another ID check and another airport style security! Finally through, i went to the lounge, which was "quiet"!
Luckily i have learnt like the locals here, so it was a good pushing session to get on the train! Once on, everything became civilized again!
We set off, got the usual announcements, then I noticed a speedometer on the wall, building up very quickly, so i had to take a snap at the cruising speed!
A few hours in, time for a drink and a snack, a German Black beer and peanuts and Chili, a LOT of chili, good job i had the beer!
A 4 hour train journey for £55, you would expect it to be pretty grotty, but as you can see, its more like an airline!
A few snaps of the Chinese countryside!
4:25 later I arrived in Xi'an!!
This part was easy, I booked my hotel and it was only 1.2km away from Xi'an railway station, so i thought perfect, i could save some money (no shock there) and walk, I started walking and it looked differently to my map, e.g the roads looked like motorways!! I carried on walking where i could, but gave up after 2km and saw a taxi!
I showed him my hotel name (as most taxi drivers don't speak English or cannot read our letters, so you have to write it down in Chinese), and he took me... I carried on driving straight down the road i was on, then after about about 10km, we drove past Xi'an station, I took the train into Xi'an north!! Grrrr!! So i eventually got to my hotel, the taxi was the equivalent of £3, and he even refused to accept a tip!
Xi'an City
I checked into my beautiful hotel, the Grand Mercure, which must of been something very important in the past, with how grand the buildings and area are!
Once settled in the room, i thought i would have a wonder around town and a nice easy night, a few snaps were taken, and i was suprised about the city, i expected a small ancient town, not somewhere that would make me think of Hong Kong!
Tomorrow I go to see the Terracotta Army... I cannot wait! Night Guys
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