Robbie’s Travel Adventure!

Yesterday we went to see the terracotta warriors. We went on a tour run by Clarence Guo, who dad used when he was here. To begin with Tristan was rather reluctant as Clarence’s tour cost 400 yuan, where as the hostel one cost only 160. I told him that the tour came highly recommended and that we would see more than just the warriors. So he decided to join us. Clarence arrived with his van at about 9.30am, and we set off. First we went to visit a Daoist temple in Xian. Having Clarence to guide us round was extremely helpful as he could explain everything to us, as well as asking questions. Places we have visited before, although interesting, were lacking some explanation. That was not the case here. After the temple we headed out of the city. Instead of taking the motorway, as most tours usually do, we took the roads through the surrounding towns and villages. Eventually we turned off the main road onto a dirt road. We headed up the windy road till we got to the cave village. The village was amazing, everyone who saw us seemed very friendly and said hello with a big smile on their face. We went into one of the houses, where we were welcomed again with a big smile and hello. We looked around the rooms, with the bare clay walls in the side of the hill, the clay bed and pillows as well as the stove with bellows. It was really nice to see how these people lived, keeping up tradition. After this we headed to the warriors. We stopped at a restraunt close to the museum, there was no room to sit so the owner let us sit upstairs in their living room. Clarence ordered us a selection of local dishes, the meal was possibly the best one we’d had in china so far! After a very filling lunch we headed into the warriors museum. Clarence guided us round, giving us information as well as his own theories on the warriors. Although i had seen the exhibition at the British Museum this was completely different. The scale was pretty mind blowing, with so many of the warriors still buried and not restored, and the huge pits. Once we got back to the hostel we all agreed the trip had definately been worth the extra money! In the evening our hostel held a free Dumpling party (although the website says free ‘dumping’ party). We got to make traditional dumplings, and of course eat them! Today we had a more relaxed day, just wondering around town looking at things like the walls. Tomorrow we head for Hong Kong, via Guangzhou! So my next post will be from Hong Kong. Hopefully Bridgette and Ian will have a better internet connection than the hostels and i can get some photos up!

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