Back from Xi'an

This weekend, Charlie’s parents took us both to Xi'an for a chance to see the Terra-Cotta Army. Something I was very happy about as Xi'an is quite a pain to get to and had I not been invited to fly there with them, I probably wouldn't have gone there at all. This was to be our first internal flight in China and given our past experiences we were slightly worried at the prospect. Imagining a cargo plane, with a drunk as a pilot, we were all relieved to find a relatively new commercial airliner (I’m not sure which, but quite possibly a Boeing?). One hour, a coffee and a pack of nuts later we landed in Xi'an.

Arriving at the hotel, we were upgraded to 'Horizon Club' rooms, which meant access to the Horizon Club, surprisingly. We later found that this offered free snacks and soft drinks round the clock, with free alcohol between 5 and 7.30pm. Its surprising how I came to enjoy Beefeater's Gin and Tonic when it is entirely free.

The first afternoon we arrived, we visited the Bell Tower, which is right in the centre of Xi'an. It does exactly what it does on the tin. One interesting thing I liked was the McDonalds and Starbucks that surrounded it. I should have taken a picture of every Starbucks I can find near to a popular tourist attraction in China.

I also enjoyed taking this video of the traffic around the Tower. Driving in China is as crazy as you can imagine, with total disregard for road markings, other drivers and pedestrians.

The next day, we went to see the Terra-Cotta Army, or tried to anyhow. Fuelled by a huge buffet breakfast and a dip in the Spa, we left in our hired taxi. Forty five minutes later, about the same time we should have been arriving and after persuading Allison that we were not in fact heading in the wrong direction, we arrived at the airport. Our trust in the taxi driver had been misguided. Four westerners in a taxi, where else could they possibly want to go? It was then another hour or so to the Terra-Cotta Army, which was not that far from our hotel in the first place.

The soldiers themselves were definitely worth seeing. There were over 6000 in one pit alone (with three pits in total) and every face is different to the next. They call it the ‘Eighth wonder of the world’, I am not sure about that, but it was quite a sight –

The remainder of the stay was spent relaxing. I ate more than I ever thought possible, had a great sup of lager whilst playing pool and darts and nearly fell asleep in a red hot bath (No I didn’t use bath salts - Honestly!).