September 29, Xian

After a rowdy 13-hour train ride, we made it to Xian. The night started off with a few beers, vodka shots (some other Brits on the train [not in our group] had just travelled across the Trans-Siberian and picked up some cheap vodka in Russia), and ended with an early morning hangover. Not too bad though. However, with 6 people in a room, triple bunks on either side and Jeff and Liz on the top, it made getting down to use the bathroom difficult. Then once we got there the smell was analogous to smelling salts which quickly killed any leftover buzz we might have had. Actually - here's a little toilet talk - they are Horrid. Supposedly tomorrow we get to look forward to stopping at what our guide calls the worst toilet in all of China as the bus driver will stop there for lunch. Yum! He says, "it's not the smell, but the burning of the eyes."

Our group is really fun, and Vanessa, one of the Australians has the best quotes. We were all talking about office-isms and what different countries use. Most of us - Europeans, Australians, Americans, all use - things like "stepping up", "team player", but Vanessa has a new one I personally like which is, "I hope we are all dancing on the same table." Ha - gives a little insight into her spunky personality.

Xian is where the Terracotta warriors are. We arrived by train around 9 AM yesterday, had breakfast at a youth hostel, and then saw the warriors - about 1 hour drive from town in the afternoon. They were amazing. There are 3 pit areas and guess-timated to be around 8000 warriors and countless horses. Everything is to scale. One of the 4 farmers that discovered the statues in 1974 while digging a well was there to autograph books. Also, a President of some country (we didn't catch which one) was there so we weren't allowed to view certain areas until after he had passed through.

Last night we went to the Muslim quarter for dinner and shopping. We had this neat sort of fondu with different meats and veggies. Unlike American fondu which cooks with oil, this uses boiling water that is flavored with spices. There was also bread with zatar spices on it that reminded Liz of the Latif Bakery in Saudi. After dinner and beers, the rest of the group went out to drink more and ended up a night club (we saw photos and heard stories - and boy are they all hurting). We walked around the Muslim quarter more to begin the bartering process with a few vendors. We went home for an earlier night - still around midnight - so that we could maximize the following day.

Today we had coffee and ended up meeting up with a few of the other group members. It poured rain most of the day, but fortunately we were prepared. We've been feeling extremely unfashionable with our 2 pairs of pants and 2 shirts (not to mention smell a little, but each night we wash laundry in our room), but today in the rain felt quite snazzy and dry. Everyone else soaked. Ha! Actually we've heard that there is snow in Tibet with a temp of 7 celsius. I'm sure we'll start to look even more fashionable as warm and dry become the envy.

Today we did some shopping. Bought two chops (stamps) and a recorder for Kristin (Jeff's sister is a champion player). These recorders are the size of an egg and quite popular. We've both tried to play it, but I think will need lessons from Kristin. :-) Jeff thought it would be cute for Kristin to have a pocket-size recorder so whenever she feels an urge to play, she can entertain. Ha, ha!

This evening we did venture out without our guidebook for dinner and were able to order two dishes that were quite good, probably the best we've had since being here. We also toured the Mosque in the Muslim quarter and Liz was able to get the closest to the inside of mosque as she's ever been as in Saudi/Middle East there are huge boundaries for non-Muslims. The outside looked very similiar to a Chinese padoda, with a little Arabic writing here and there. Today being Friday and the Muslim holy day, there were more people there praying and we did hear the call to prayer. It was neat..

In this city there are two large towers, the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower, and surrounded by a large city wall. Usually when it's not raining, tour groups will cycle the 14 km perimeter of the wall inside the old city. With the rain we instead opted to walk and shop. The Bell Tower has a large bell (we didn't go inside as we heard it wasn't that interesting), but the Drum Tower was quite neat. They had this large drum inside that you could bang on for 5 yuan. Jeff videod Liz banging on it. Afterward they put on a show with 5 drummers all playing, tapping their sticks, and dancing. It was very entertaining, also videod.

Tonight we take another overnight train to somewhere and then a bus for another 7 hours through the grasslands. We are going to start getting some altitude with this journey. I'm not sure if we'll have internet there, but do know there is a place in Lhasa Tibet (8 days away). Keep tuned.

We miss you all and think of you often. Love Liz and Jeff