Xian Bell Tower Hotel Xi'an

After a final stretch of the legs in Chengdu, FSQ and I headed to the airport for the flight to Xian. The luxurious surrounds of the Bell Tower Hotel are, not surprisingly, right next to the Xian Bell Tower. The Bell Tower is smack in the middle of the city, acting as a chinese-style Arc de Triomphe for the Xiannesse (or is that Xiannites, or Xianwegians). Location, location, location means that our view is sensational, especially at night as we look right up the trouser leg of the Bell Tower...

The train trip was very fun - fairly quiet (both the mechanics and the people). No stops. Had to get up a few times in the night. In the morning, we watch the countryside ... corn, pomegranate and apple trees, limestone hills. Caves, a few towns. A nuclear reactor with power grid. Many trains going the other way. Stubborn cow. Lots of smoke and smog. We reach Xi'an and detrain. Our guide, Xiang, is waiting for us. We meet another family (Italian) who will be taken to same hotel. Their driver ...

A short 1 1/2 hour flight from Chengdu had us arriving in Xian. Again the flight did not cost much more than the train that would have taken 12 -16 hours to get us there. This was the first place we have traveled to and had a problem because we didn't prebook accommodation. It seemed many of the backpacker type places were full. I left Jack standing in a cool outside corridor of one of the hotels with our bags. It was really hot and not going to be pleasant to try and carry the bags around wi...

Day 80. This is becoming all to common..... 3/7/08 I arrived at the city center at 3.30am. The backpackers' I wanted to stay at was locked. But in a city of 7 million and major tourist destination, it was not hard to find a 24hr McDonald's to hang out at. There were a few Asian's after a night out there, half sleeping like me. Around 5.30 a group of English guys after a large one crashed the joint. Around 6 I went to find a way in to the hostel. Access denied I laid on the street like a tramp...

I had an adventure getting on the train last night. My taxi driver was crazy and I barely made my train. It was so crowded at the train station. I was with only Chinese people. I guess I got the ticket that all the locals get. It was fine, I just slept the whole time, except it was very loud and stinky. I put earplugs in and racked out. I am staying in a four star hotel in Xian. Its not what I expected. It has fancy stuff but its kind of dirty and although the room is cheap all the services a...

We arrived in Xi'an around lunch time and proceeded for the next 3 hours to annoy the hoteliers of the city in the search of ESPN or Star Sports - yes you guessed it, Tottenham were playing that evening. Eventually we retired to the overpriced Bell Tower Hostel in defeat and the realisation that the Chinese simply don't relate to the Premiership in the same manner as the Thais. That evening we made our first trip to McDonald's, Steve was suffering from withdrawal symptoms. We were approached ...

On a passe la premiere journee de Xi'an a decouvrir que le site de travelpod est bloque dans la ville, donc j'ai demander a ma bonne soeur de les poster pour moi, de marcher dans le quartier musulman, trop marcher, j'ai mal au pied de cette journee qui s'est terminer par de la danse ce qui pourrait expliquer le fait qu'il y a eu un double effect sur mes pieds qui sont pleins d'ampoules maudit ouch.

Donc la bouffe est delicieuse comme d'habitude dans le quartier musulman qui est mainte...

Finalement c'etait pas la ville au complet qui bloquait ce site.

Xi'an est une ville entre quatre mur en carre qu'on va peut-etre faire le tour de today, monter dessus. Je sais pas si je vais etre capable parce que je suis rendu a a peu pres 6 ampoules sur chaque pied.

La journee d'hier etait pas tres productive, which is probably bound to happen in one month. Mais on en a profiter pour faire notre lavage. Ils voulaient nous charger deux brasses meme si on avait pas tant de ling...

The flight from Newark to Beijing took 12 hours and flew across an entire ocean. The train ride from Beijing to Xian took 10 hours and felt three times as long. Unable to get sleeper seats, the three of us were relegated to soft seats. In this case, the word "soft" serves more as an optimistic euphemism than any reference to the truth. Sleep was like the fruit dangling over Tantalus' head, which, by the way, would place me squarely in Greek hell. But that is just my overdramatic American-self...

Around 11:00 I said farewell to my good friend Roy and Gao and set off for the Bell Tower hostel, a few km away and which overlooks the bell tower which I visited the previous day. A day of personal admin, updating my travelogue and planning further visits in Xi'an. In the evening I chatted with an English chap called Andrew (a post grad Theoretical Physicist studying the 4 forces-I now know what they are). Tomorrow off to stay at another hostel.