Wednesday 2nd August 2017

An early start today after an average sleep. I think I was worried about waking early. After settling the bill which is always a little challenging without the language we caught another taxi to the station. I was very grateful to Lulu for her explanations when we caught the first train with . the company. It made this excursion very straight forward. We had plenty of time and it was very stressless.

Taiyuan to Xi’an is 598km which we travel in 3 hours. We travel at upwards of 200kmh but it feels so smooth and quiet. Also in air-conditioned comfort. We were in 2nd class this time which still had a bit more room than on the plane. The scenery is very green again, such a surprise for me as last time we were here in winter and it was very grey. We pass fields of corn, orchards of apples, and terraces of corn and rice.

We navigated the train station to the taxi rank like seasoned professionals. Our taxi to the hotel was like dodgems without the bumping. He wove in and out of the traffic at lightening pace.  He always seemed in control and seemed to focus forward and beside, never seemed to look to the rear. They don’t get angry, they just toot to communicate and then move.

After our rest we headed out for a walk at about 3pm. We went to the Daxuexixiang Mosque, where we adorned our scarves and looked at the very old buildings. They date back over 1300 years ago. We then decided to get an electric scooter ride (Conned but who cares, we got a rest for 10 mins and got ridden a couple of kms 20CNY, more than a taxi) and were delivered to the bazaar near the Drum Tower. We then walked to the Drum and Bell Towers and then hailed down a taxi to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Unfortunately Lonely planet was incorrect and it closed at 6pm, so it was too late to go into the grounds. The Pagoda is magnificent from the square. We then taxied back to the Muslim Bazaar where every food imaginable was available. I tried a potato chip on a skewer. It was one continuous coil on a stick.  Then a Crab stick which was 4 fried crabs on a stick. Then I had quail eggs on a stick with a sesame sauce. Colleen tried the yoghurt ice cream. Not a great diet today but the only thing I missed trying was octopus on a stick. The bazaar was very very busy, wall to wall people, atmosphere, bikes, scooters and little trucks, tooting and weaving their way through the tiny, narrow alleyways. We arrived back home after 8pm. I think I wore Colleen out again. Oops!!

Time for an early night as we have a big bus trip starting at 8.25am tomorrow.