Shuyuan Youth Xi'an

Ollaan nyt kolmatta paivaa Xianissa. Kierrelty vahan kaupungilla mut ei paljon muuta. Ma olen yrittany paivitella kuvia ja junamatkan juttuja tanne. Herasin tanaan seittemalta, etta ehtis ees hetken olla koneella rauhassa, no eipa siita paljon hyotya taas ollu. Ei onnistu toi kuvien laittaminen sitten millaan. Hukkasin viela paivyrinkin junareissulta. Jai jonnekkin hostellin poydalle varmaan. Oli todellakin aikamoinen kokemus toi junamatka. Sinansa ei ne Hard seatit niin kovia ollu, mut ei ni...

Kyllapas me ollaankin jo maleksittu taalla Xi'anissa pitkaan. Kaytiin eilen Annikan pakottamana juoksemassa kaupungin muurilla. Mentiin koko muuri ympari. En tiia kuinka pitka se on, mut pari tuntii siina vierahti. Loppumatkasta oli kylla pakko kavella. Ihan mukava lenkki kun en ole juossu muistaakseni kolmeen kuukauteen lainkaan. Ja juoksen edelleen jotenkin vaarin kun tulee vaarat lihakset kipeeks aina. Mul oli jopa kamera mukana, mut kun otin ensimmaisen kuvan, niin kuinkas muuten kun akku...

The Xi'an train station was not the crowded mess that the Beijing train station was and we got out in short order. We had contacted the Shuyuan hostel in Xi'an the night before and they were waiting for us with a "Lisa Jankowsk" sign as soon as we got outside. The girls that were waiting for us spoke excellent English and somehow we found out that there were dogs named "Terra" and "Cota" at the hostel. There was also a cat named "Hot Pot"; apparently because it was lazy. We hopped in a van wi...

A not unexpected late rising saw me reaching Tiananmen Square around 2:30pm where what seemed like the whole of China had descended on it given the crowds. To get a good view of the square and the masses covering it I climbed up to the top of the Gate of Heavenly Peace which I passed by on my earlier visit to the Forbidden City. From the top it gave some great views of the square or at least it would have if you could see it through the hoards of people and tour groups following their little ...

So today I was meant to leave Beijing but here I still am with no possibility of getting a train outa here till after the weekend at the earliest. I also had to change hostel since I had only booked for the 6 nights and it was now fully booked for tonight but Beijing has no lack of hostels though so finding another did not take long even if my first choice was also fully booked out. Having an extra day in Beijing with no real plans I thought of going to the Summer Palace which I'd not yet see...

After another street pancake thingy for breakfast (so wish I knew what it is called) I headed rather appropriately to the Aviation Building to get the shuttle bus to the airport. I bought my ticket and was about to get on the bus when a women, seemingly directing people onto buses and checking tickets, stopped me and asked when my flight was. Answering that it was not for another three hours she immediately started saying "No time, you take taxi!". A bit confused, since I was told the bus onl...

Simply going to book my train ticket to Chengdu led to one of those great traveling coincidences were on trying to find the advance ticket booking office (for some reason inside a bank) I met Idan & Lihi from Israel trying to do the same which at this point we didn't know we would be spending more than just the time in the ticket queue together, even if it was a long 2 hour wait - so much for advance booking. Also here was Oralia from California but teaching English in Okinawa as it turned ou...

With an extra day in Xi'an due to not being able to get a ticket outa here till tomorrow I spent the morning simply updating my journal and having a less than healthy breakfast at some market street food stalls (just try finding something un-fried). Wandering back down the road I ran into Idan & Lihi so we decided to go do some shopping or at least Lihi did so we had little choice in the matter, think if she did not have the restriction of having to carry everything she would have bought enou...

Thinking I'd done good and had got up early I was still rushing to the supermarket at the last minute to grab some supplies for the train journey after Idan & Lihi had already been. Although food is served on the train the look of the gelatinous pans of rice and meat that cruise up and down the train every so often really don't look too appetizing especially after the same trolley has been past a dozen times. We marched to the front of the waiting area at the station so were first on board wh...

MARVELOUS CITY!

It is so different being in a huge city, being that we have been in our tiny tiny town for over a month and a half. The city is so clean, and the air is extremely fresh. We were so happy to meet up with our awesome friend and fellow teacher Jake! When we arrived in Xi'an we took a taxi (also something we haven't seen in a while) to our hostel. We stayed at Shu Yuan Youth hostel which was very nice and right next to the South wall of Xi'an. Xi'an is one of the only citi...