091008 – West Street to Outside Hostel
Sleep-in
Pack bags and checkout
Wander out for breakfast and internet
Walk around
Go back for extra jackets
Repack and head to post-office
Lunch with Dom
Mini-bus to outside hostel
Cooking Class
Dinner with Sweden
Early night – rotten sleep
Thursday, November 13, 2008
081008 – Yang Shou - West Street
081008 – Yang Shou - West Street
Late sleep-in
Late breakfast and free internet
Shopping
River Cruise
Dinner with group
Adam helps me negotiate for jacket and back-pack
Massage
Sleep
Late sleep-in
Late breakfast and free internet
Shopping
River Cruise
Dinner with group
Adam helps me negotiate for jacket and back-pack
Massage
Sleep
071008 - Train to Yang Shou - West Street
071008 - Train to Yang Shou - West Street
Train arrival
Bus to Yang Shou
Check-in
Orientation walk
Dinner
Sleep
Train arrival
Bus to Yang Shou
Check-in
Orientation walk
Dinner
Sleep
061008 – Shanghi to Train
061008 – Shanghi to Train
Free breakfast
Pack and checkout
Train to Yang Shou
Free breakfast
Pack and checkout
Train to Yang Shou
041008 – Shanghai
041008 – Shanghai
Sleep-in on train
Arrival and taxi to hotel
Check-in and showers
Lunch
Orientation walk
Browsing shops
Wander back
Drinks
Taxi to night-district
Drinks with Swedes
Wander
Meet up with others
Zapatas for dancing
Taxi back
Sleep
Sleep-in on train
Arrival and taxi to hotel
Check-in and showers
Lunch
Orientation walk
Browsing shops
Wander back
Drinks
Taxi to night-district
Drinks with Swedes
Wander
Meet up with others
Zapatas for dancing
Taxi back
Sleep
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
031008 – Xi'an
Today began with a sleep-in, definitely necessary considering the intestinal maelstrom I've been battling lately.
Finally, the decision was made that enough had been allocated, for now. Trying not to disturb Dom too much, I managed to pack, isolate the stuff that I was planning to post, take my morning dose of antibiotics, shower and chat to Charlotte from back home on the internet for a good hour. As I was finishing up my preparations, Dom appeared to reanimate and made a staggering lurch to the bathroom. Finishing quickly with the lights now on, we discussed the timings for the day and I made a hasty departure for the post-office.
Today would be an interesting exercise of choreography. I'd woken up early enough but had left the room much later than I'd planned. It was about 1030 when I ran into Adam, Katie and Sadat on the street and we agreed to meet at midday to tour the wall. This meeting would coincide with the checkout time, leaving about an hour to send my package home and get a coffee or go to the markets. There might be some time this afternoon, after the wall....
urgh, and I was feeling really wrotten.
The post-office was cloaked behind the facade of a mobile phone shop and two columns of teenagers dancing around with brochures, trying to advertise things to the locals. This appeared to be the only challenge for use, however, as once I got inside I was helped by everyone. One gent took my bag of stuff and packed it into a box (while inspecting it to make sure it was appropriate for postage) and then sealed it. Another girl (who spoke better English than I do, most elegant) gave me the forms to fill out and then processed it, along with selling me stamps to send my post-cards. In all, it cost about $40 to send the 2.9kg of hats, books, dolls and trinkets home via sea-mail.. maybe it would even get home before me!
One oddity was a man who appeared on the upper level of the post-office, screaming and bellowing. Making his way down the escalator at a break-neck speed and out the door, his cries of rage and anguish faded into the street. No one really seemed to notice or even interact, so I got back to my packaging.
Post-cards to my friends and package to parents on its way, it was time for some more sustenance. I'd had some fruit for breakfast and would have murdered for a nice bowl of muesli with yoghurt.. I was feeling far too dodgy for asian food and needed a pick-me up...
Starbucks was the only thing even remotely close to what I needed...
I felt dirty.. like a little piece of me had died while I ordered that coffee.
Technically, the coffee was well executed and fulfilled its purpose, and the Starbucks DID have free WiFi which allowed me to get the various applications on my iPhone to run properly.. but I was sad to once again stray from the “Traveller's way” and resort to that which was familiar.
The walk to the coffee shop had been punctuated by a crowd surrounding some creature screaming bloody-murder. Wandering close to the congregation of people, I saw above the heads and between legs that there was a man of similar appearance to the “expressive” chap that had broken the monotony in the post-office. Two other men were with him, one having put his arm into a lock-hold and the other working in concert to hold him on the ground by putting a foot on his neck. The continued screams and bellows of animal rage had me thinking that either the police with handcuffs or an ambulance with chemical restraints would probably be arriving before too long. Such voiceless expressions spoke of an inner pain, of loss beyond imagine, or of a near overdose of amphetamines.. Quietly slipping past, I continued through the subway towards my promises of coffee. There was nothing that I could possibly do to help here.
A little late on the trip back from the coffee shop to the hotel, I could only hope that I would be able to get to the markets in the Muslim quarter later. Meeting Adam and Andy in the lobby, they had waited for me and continued to wait while I fetched my bag and checked out. They truly are two of the most awesome travelling companions that I could ask for.
After briefly begging a maid to let me in (my key appeared to have stopped working at midday), jamming the last two things into my pack and humping down the hall to Lillian's room before a quick check-out, we were on our way.
The walk to the city wall was longer than I had originally remembered, I think that the last few days of exercises had done wonders to my knee though and I hardly noticed the walk or the pace. Meeting Greg and Alice inside of the wall, we started our little stroll along the battlements.
The Xi'an City Wall is a couple of kilometres along each face and encompasses all of the old city. It is approximately 20 metres high about street level on the interior wall and has a steep drop into a moat for much of the exterior wall that we saw. Wide enough for a dual-carriage way highway, it is an impressive piece of fortification. You could have park two or three mac trucks side by side on it.. or possibly land a plane along it, it is certainly long enough for the average run-way. The top of the wall facing the oncoming enemy was capped with parapets along its length, some with additional steps though the majority had their lower edge at waist height and the finished above my head. About every 200 metres there was either a guardhouse building or the vacancy for such a building, ongoing construction and restoration work was taking place in several locations.
Best traversed on a bicycle in less than “100 minutes”, such a convenience may be hired for 20 Yuan plus a 200 Yuan deposit (or leaving your passport).
Well, hired by anyone but us...
Despite having half a dozen of the two wheeled vehicles in their little yards, none of the bicycle vendors would loan us a machine... leaving us to start a fairly long walk..
Starting at the South Gate and walking about 1.5km to a giant circular outpost. Acting as the junction between the South and West wall, this outcrop worked in concert with the West gate to offer mutual coverage and protection. The view across the old city was much of what we had come to expect from the time we had spent here, a strange interspersed mix of ancient tile roofs with block concrete. Rejuvenated antiquity with decaying contemporary siblings. Looking out over the wall, the outer city was cloaked in the profoundly thick smog.
With visibility at a little over a kilometre, the skyscrapers that we had been unaware of till now were great looming shadows stretching high above the world. The ancient city wall had been shielding us much of the modern progression of this place.
Looking back along our path, the rows of red lanterns on the outer edge of the wall lined the distance. Disappearing into the thick atmosphere, we could not see where we had mounted the wall. Even each of the guard towers would have been beyond visible distance from each other.
We turned around and made our way back when we got to the West Gate, deciding that we would get lunch in what I remembered being introduced as the Academic district. These markets were much slower paced and no where near as packed as the Muslim quarter. Much more sedate and somewhat more refined, the shops sold brushes, ink, calligraphy and carved name-stamps. Stalls full of little curiosities, beads, bracelets and necklaces of carved stones and jade. This section of the city was devoid of the fade watches and sunglasses. There was no cheap-gaudy junk here, plenty of touristy things but certainly a lot more pleasant and refined than elsewhere. The vendors were no where near as busy, but felt no need to hassle or harass the people passing by. Foreigners were smiled at rather than confronted and it took a good minute or two of browsing before the inevitable “good price! what you want?!?!?!”
Working in tag-team with some of the others, I picked up a little fake jade necklace made of a small green disc with a centre hole and suspended on a red cord. Very similar to what I gave Marianne for Christmas a couple of years ago. Adam and Greg paid 5 Yaun to watch a man blow a little chicken out of toffee in the same way as you would from molten glass. Continuing on to lunch, I was still feeling really dodgy but joined the group for vegetarian dumplings. Absolutely delicious and incredibly cheap, we ate all we could for about 2 Yuan each (about 40 cents) and I started to feel a lot better.
We dispersed on the way back to the hotel, stocking up on fruit and food for the train journey tonight, I took off back to the markets in the Muslim quarter to pick up some final cheap junk..
Navigating through the crowd and tight corridors of the marketplace, I irritated a pair of pick-pockets by being a little too vigilant and made off to less dense areas. I picked up a little stamp and watched the older gentleman carve the chinese character translation of my name in the bottom. Incredibly impressive for freehand work, I also got a pack of postcards and a little container of ink thrown into the deal. Working forward, I got some filthy cheap Ray-Ban Aviator glasses knock-offs. I was tempted to get a fake Rolex, he was offering a reasonable price for the Automatic winders... but I resisted.
I was a little disappointed that I couldn't find the day-pack that I'd planned on buying, having to hunt for nearly an hour ot find a suitable substitute. That said, I got a nike knockoff at a lot less than I expected and it was a bit more compact. The girl convinced me to buy a leather wallet as well. She was unimpressed at how much I paid, the filthy look telling me that I wasn't getting ripped off too badly.
Purchases made and my new man-bag filled with the prizes of would-be pick-pockets, I took off back to the hotel feeling a lot safer about my possessions. Stopping only long enough to buy a cheap little combination lock, I noticed the stall with the day-pack I'd been hunting for earlier. Not taking the risk of seeing the bag I'd hunted for, I doubled my pace and told myself that I'd gotten a better case for my laptop at a much better price than I'd expected. Quit whining..
Back in the hotel, we shifted bags from the storage room to the lobby and killed time till the bus arrived. The short ride and little walk after had us sitting in the train station for about an hour. Managing to find free wifi, the technologically gifted amongst us made excellent use of the facilities. Soon enough, and half way through downloads, we bugged-out of our little refugee camp and made our way through the check-points to the platform. Long walk later, we were in our compartments and settling in for the night.
Tomorrow lunchtime would see us in Shanghi.
Finally, the decision was made that enough had been allocated, for now. Trying not to disturb Dom too much, I managed to pack, isolate the stuff that I was planning to post, take my morning dose of antibiotics, shower and chat to Charlotte from back home on the internet for a good hour. As I was finishing up my preparations, Dom appeared to reanimate and made a staggering lurch to the bathroom. Finishing quickly with the lights now on, we discussed the timings for the day and I made a hasty departure for the post-office.
Today would be an interesting exercise of choreography. I'd woken up early enough but had left the room much later than I'd planned. It was about 1030 when I ran into Adam, Katie and Sadat on the street and we agreed to meet at midday to tour the wall. This meeting would coincide with the checkout time, leaving about an hour to send my package home and get a coffee or go to the markets. There might be some time this afternoon, after the wall....
urgh, and I was feeling really wrotten.
The post-office was cloaked behind the facade of a mobile phone shop and two columns of teenagers dancing around with brochures, trying to advertise things to the locals. This appeared to be the only challenge for use, however, as once I got inside I was helped by everyone. One gent took my bag of stuff and packed it into a box (while inspecting it to make sure it was appropriate for postage) and then sealed it. Another girl (who spoke better English than I do, most elegant) gave me the forms to fill out and then processed it, along with selling me stamps to send my post-cards. In all, it cost about $40 to send the 2.9kg of hats, books, dolls and trinkets home via sea-mail.. maybe it would even get home before me!
One oddity was a man who appeared on the upper level of the post-office, screaming and bellowing. Making his way down the escalator at a break-neck speed and out the door, his cries of rage and anguish faded into the street. No one really seemed to notice or even interact, so I got back to my packaging.
Post-cards to my friends and package to parents on its way, it was time for some more sustenance. I'd had some fruit for breakfast and would have murdered for a nice bowl of muesli with yoghurt.. I was feeling far too dodgy for asian food and needed a pick-me up...
Starbucks was the only thing even remotely close to what I needed...
I felt dirty.. like a little piece of me had died while I ordered that coffee.
Technically, the coffee was well executed and fulfilled its purpose, and the Starbucks DID have free WiFi which allowed me to get the various applications on my iPhone to run properly.. but I was sad to once again stray from the “Traveller's way” and resort to that which was familiar.
The walk to the coffee shop had been punctuated by a crowd surrounding some creature screaming bloody-murder. Wandering close to the congregation of people, I saw above the heads and between legs that there was a man of similar appearance to the “expressive” chap that had broken the monotony in the post-office. Two other men were with him, one having put his arm into a lock-hold and the other working in concert to hold him on the ground by putting a foot on his neck. The continued screams and bellows of animal rage had me thinking that either the police with handcuffs or an ambulance with chemical restraints would probably be arriving before too long. Such voiceless expressions spoke of an inner pain, of loss beyond imagine, or of a near overdose of amphetamines.. Quietly slipping past, I continued through the subway towards my promises of coffee. There was nothing that I could possibly do to help here.
A little late on the trip back from the coffee shop to the hotel, I could only hope that I would be able to get to the markets in the Muslim quarter later. Meeting Adam and Andy in the lobby, they had waited for me and continued to wait while I fetched my bag and checked out. They truly are two of the most awesome travelling companions that I could ask for.
After briefly begging a maid to let me in (my key appeared to have stopped working at midday), jamming the last two things into my pack and humping down the hall to Lillian's room before a quick check-out, we were on our way.
The walk to the city wall was longer than I had originally remembered, I think that the last few days of exercises had done wonders to my knee though and I hardly noticed the walk or the pace. Meeting Greg and Alice inside of the wall, we started our little stroll along the battlements.
The Xi'an City Wall is a couple of kilometres along each face and encompasses all of the old city. It is approximately 20 metres high about street level on the interior wall and has a steep drop into a moat for much of the exterior wall that we saw. Wide enough for a dual-carriage way highway, it is an impressive piece of fortification. You could have park two or three mac trucks side by side on it.. or possibly land a plane along it, it is certainly long enough for the average run-way. The top of the wall facing the oncoming enemy was capped with parapets along its length, some with additional steps though the majority had their lower edge at waist height and the finished above my head. About every 200 metres there was either a guardhouse building or the vacancy for such a building, ongoing construction and restoration work was taking place in several locations.
Best traversed on a bicycle in less than “100 minutes”, such a convenience may be hired for 20 Yuan plus a 200 Yuan deposit (or leaving your passport).
Well, hired by anyone but us...
Despite having half a dozen of the two wheeled vehicles in their little yards, none of the bicycle vendors would loan us a machine... leaving us to start a fairly long walk..
Starting at the South Gate and walking about 1.5km to a giant circular outpost. Acting as the junction between the South and West wall, this outcrop worked in concert with the West gate to offer mutual coverage and protection. The view across the old city was much of what we had come to expect from the time we had spent here, a strange interspersed mix of ancient tile roofs with block concrete. Rejuvenated antiquity with decaying contemporary siblings. Looking out over the wall, the outer city was cloaked in the profoundly thick smog.
With visibility at a little over a kilometre, the skyscrapers that we had been unaware of till now were great looming shadows stretching high above the world. The ancient city wall had been shielding us much of the modern progression of this place.
Looking back along our path, the rows of red lanterns on the outer edge of the wall lined the distance. Disappearing into the thick atmosphere, we could not see where we had mounted the wall. Even each of the guard towers would have been beyond visible distance from each other.
We turned around and made our way back when we got to the West Gate, deciding that we would get lunch in what I remembered being introduced as the Academic district. These markets were much slower paced and no where near as packed as the Muslim quarter. Much more sedate and somewhat more refined, the shops sold brushes, ink, calligraphy and carved name-stamps. Stalls full of little curiosities, beads, bracelets and necklaces of carved stones and jade. This section of the city was devoid of the fade watches and sunglasses. There was no cheap-gaudy junk here, plenty of touristy things but certainly a lot more pleasant and refined than elsewhere. The vendors were no where near as busy, but felt no need to hassle or harass the people passing by. Foreigners were smiled at rather than confronted and it took a good minute or two of browsing before the inevitable “good price! what you want?!?!?!”
Working in tag-team with some of the others, I picked up a little fake jade necklace made of a small green disc with a centre hole and suspended on a red cord. Very similar to what I gave Marianne for Christmas a couple of years ago. Adam and Greg paid 5 Yaun to watch a man blow a little chicken out of toffee in the same way as you would from molten glass. Continuing on to lunch, I was still feeling really dodgy but joined the group for vegetarian dumplings. Absolutely delicious and incredibly cheap, we ate all we could for about 2 Yuan each (about 40 cents) and I started to feel a lot better.
We dispersed on the way back to the hotel, stocking up on fruit and food for the train journey tonight, I took off back to the markets in the Muslim quarter to pick up some final cheap junk..
Navigating through the crowd and tight corridors of the marketplace, I irritated a pair of pick-pockets by being a little too vigilant and made off to less dense areas. I picked up a little stamp and watched the older gentleman carve the chinese character translation of my name in the bottom. Incredibly impressive for freehand work, I also got a pack of postcards and a little container of ink thrown into the deal. Working forward, I got some filthy cheap Ray-Ban Aviator glasses knock-offs. I was tempted to get a fake Rolex, he was offering a reasonable price for the Automatic winders... but I resisted.
I was a little disappointed that I couldn't find the day-pack that I'd planned on buying, having to hunt for nearly an hour ot find a suitable substitute. That said, I got a nike knockoff at a lot less than I expected and it was a bit more compact. The girl convinced me to buy a leather wallet as well. She was unimpressed at how much I paid, the filthy look telling me that I wasn't getting ripped off too badly.
Purchases made and my new man-bag filled with the prizes of would-be pick-pockets, I took off back to the hotel feeling a lot safer about my possessions. Stopping only long enough to buy a cheap little combination lock, I noticed the stall with the day-pack I'd been hunting for earlier. Not taking the risk of seeing the bag I'd hunted for, I doubled my pace and told myself that I'd gotten a better case for my laptop at a much better price than I'd expected. Quit whining..
Back in the hotel, we shifted bags from the storage room to the lobby and killed time till the bus arrived. The short ride and little walk after had us sitting in the train station for about an hour. Managing to find free wifi, the technologically gifted amongst us made excellent use of the facilities. Soon enough, and half way through downloads, we bugged-out of our little refugee camp and made our way through the check-points to the platform. Long walk later, we were in our compartments and settling in for the night.
Tomorrow lunchtime would see us in Shanghi.
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