Luado Youth Hostel Xi'an

... on what I did.

Terra cotta warriors - This is what everyone comes for. And justly so... they were amazing. I don't know if I would call it the 8th wonder of the world though. I think that's a bit too hyped.

Muslim Quarter - This is a must-do. Lots of places to get mini-meals (xiao chi, 小吃) and test out local delicacies. I tried a bunch of foods. They sell many other cultural items such as clothing and artwork. Bustling at ...

... Random! That night we had a group dinner to say goodbye to everyone.

This morning we packed our bags and put our things into one of our friends rooms then our group headed to the famous

Terracotta Warriors. It was amazing. 1000s upon 1000s of individual terracotta people, animal, carts and weapons all in nice rows laid out ...

... very thirsty, so I had a Venti iced tea for 21 yuan ($3+). We headed to the pedestrian street and saw lots of clothing for sale - socks, tops (human coat racks), nail polish, beelts and jewellery.

We ate at the underground mall at Cherry Blossom (another Japanese restaurant) - a sushi bar. We had 1 salmon, 1 shrimp, 1 cucumber, 2 Cokes, 1 tea fro 37 yuan ($7).

We walked back to the hotel and I freshened up while Bill used the internet for 15 minutes at 15 yuan ($3). He ...

... we still weren't able to fall asleep. The noise and biting bugs were unbearable, but if we blocked out both with the blanket then it was too hot and there was no more padding. Finally, somewhere between one and two in the morning, I fell asleep. The street noise had ceased, the light had turned off, and I was too tired to be uncomfortable. We awoke shortly after 5:00 to start our journey up the mountain. I had a very swollen lip and left eye due to the bugs ...

... in a cot as a baby. However, it was soon time to get off and we all poured off the train into a throng of people trying to get you to stay at their hostel. I got myself on the 603 bus and got off just after the Bell Tower. I had instructions to head south and managed to find my hostel relatively quickly. I am staying in a place called Backpax. It is a funny place because it is on the top floor of a building which looks like it should be ...

... it seems to have a very capitalistic feel to it. The classes are much more divided than in Beijing, more homelessness is noticeable. We didn't really have a comfortable vibe like we did in Beijing. After returning to our hostel we were able to get our room, which all have electronic key cards, so of course ours didn't work! So we had to wait around while the girls at the hostel figured it out and we were eventually moved to another room next door. Finally we got ...

... excavated from a pit to the west of the tomb. Muslim Street Founded during the height of the Tang dynasty in 742, this is one of the most tranquil places in town and the center of a sizable Muslim community, residents in Xi'an for over 1,200 years. As with Baxian An, half the adventure is getting there, as you veer left just north of the Drum Tower. The covered alleyway, Huajue Xiang, has good-humored vendors selling all manner of weird merchandise and it ...