Day 55 is one that can easily be forgotten in my book. Our early morning flight from Shanghai to Xian was delayed by about 6 hours. Instead of leaving at 7:30a.m. our plane left at about 2 or 3p.m. Consequently we spent hours sitting in the airport; some slept, did homework, played cards, and wrote in journals. I did not exactly mind it, because it is the first time in a while I have been able to sit and do nothing. While I was doing homework, Dan and I had a good talk about the trip and life and all the things we have been annoyed by. I will not bore you with all of the self-discovery we made.
We arrived late in Xian so we had to wait to see the Terra Cotta Warriors until the next day (yesterday). We headed to dinner and then to the hotel. Since we got very little food at dinner, a group of us decided to find some more food. We left the hotel and took Chin with us since he knows the language and since almost no one here speaks good English. My favorite part of that night is when Chin asked someone for directions to the closest McDonald’s. Poor Chin was leading a pack of helpless Americans to fulfill our greasy food addiction. Sadly enough we never found McDonald’s, so we had to settle for KFC, which was not the worst thing in the world.
The next day began with an early morning at a Chinese Folk Art Museum. I got to try my hand at ancient calligraphy and I purchased an original painting by a Chinese calligraphy student. It was great! The next destination was finally the Terra Cotta Warriors! I do not know what else to say about it except it looks exactly like the pictures I have seen. Do not get me wrong, it was unbelievable, but it is one of those places that I already knew what to expect. One thing I did not realize was how many soldiers there actually are. Close to 5 thousand are supposedly guarding the tomb of the first Chinese emperor, and only a small fraction of them have been excavated. Another thing I never really thought about was the fact that the warriors were actually found in shambles and had to be pieced together when they were first excavated. It can take up to a year or two to piece together just one warrior. The government has decided not to excavate much more than they already have because of cost and preservation issues.
After the Terra Cotta Warriors we ate the best lunch that I have had in China so far. Northern China is known for multiple ways of making noodles. The restaurant we ate at had demonstrations of noodle-making and cooked them right in front of you. It was very tasty and entertaining. We headed to the airport directly after lunch to fly to Beijing. We stayed the night in Beijing at a hotel close to the airport, only because we had another early flight the next day (today).
So right now, I am on a flight to Mongolia. Yep, Mongolia, possibly the most remote location I will ever visit. I am pretty excited about it too, especially after being in overly-crowded Asia for 3 weeks. I do not even care that I might freeze my face off! Tonight we get to sleep in Yurts, also known as Mongolian tents. I am excited, but also a little nervous because subzero treks to a modern bathroom in snow in the middle of the night just sounds terrible. I am hoping it works out better than things look like in my head. I figure if I expect the worst possible situation, well it cannot be much worse than that.
We arrived late in Xian so we had to wait to see the Terra Cotta Warriors until the next day (yesterday). We headed to dinner and then to the hotel. Since we got very little food at dinner, a group of us decided to find some more food. We left the hotel and took Chin with us since he knows the language and since almost no one here speaks good English. My favorite part of that night is when Chin asked someone for directions to the closest McDonald’s. Poor Chin was leading a pack of helpless Americans to fulfill our greasy food addiction. Sadly enough we never found McDonald’s, so we had to settle for KFC, which was not the worst thing in the world.
The next day began with an early morning at a Chinese Folk Art Museum. I got to try my hand at ancient calligraphy and I purchased an original painting by a Chinese calligraphy student. It was great! The next destination was finally the Terra Cotta Warriors! I do not know what else to say about it except it looks exactly like the pictures I have seen. Do not get me wrong, it was unbelievable, but it is one of those places that I already knew what to expect. One thing I did not realize was how many soldiers there actually are. Close to 5 thousand are supposedly guarding the tomb of the first Chinese emperor, and only a small fraction of them have been excavated. Another thing I never really thought about was the fact that the warriors were actually found in shambles and had to be pieced together when they were first excavated. It can take up to a year or two to piece together just one warrior. The government has decided not to excavate much more than they already have because of cost and preservation issues.
After the Terra Cotta Warriors we ate the best lunch that I have had in China so far. Northern China is known for multiple ways of making noodles. The restaurant we ate at had demonstrations of noodle-making and cooked them right in front of you. It was very tasty and entertaining. We headed to the airport directly after lunch to fly to Beijing. We stayed the night in Beijing at a hotel close to the airport, only because we had another early flight the next day (today).
So right now, I am on a flight to Mongolia. Yep, Mongolia, possibly the most remote location I will ever visit. I am pretty excited about it too, especially after being in overly-crowded Asia for 3 weeks. I do not even care that I might freeze my face off! Tonight we get to sleep in Yurts, also known as Mongolian tents. I am excited, but also a little nervous because subzero treks to a modern bathroom in snow in the middle of the night just sounds terrible. I am hoping it works out better than things look like in my head. I figure if I expect the worst possible situation, well it cannot be much worse than that.
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