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So here we are in Xi-an, we caught a flight with China Eastern Air today, we originally wanted to catch a train, but that was fully booked & it was much cheaper, to fly then wait it out in Beijing for another 10 days, both money wise & time wise.

The trip was interesting. We left a little later than we had originally hoped & then the ticketing agent that we booked the flights with (so much easier than trying to book a flight online - tried that for 6 hours & the sites kept crashing + they  are all over the place & price difference is minimal or the same as online) accidentally wrote the wrong terminal # on our e-ticket, so we ended up going to Terminal 3 instead of Terminal 2, by the time that we realised the mistake it was 12.45pm, our flight was at 2 - DOH!

We caught the free shuttle bus, which takes you between the terminals. From terminal 3, you have to go to level B to do so & the shuttle bus is quite easy to find. The ride to Terminal 2 was about 20 minutes. We checked in for our flight by 1.10, but still got on (despite all the signage stating that the flight check-in closed 60 minutes before departure). All foreigners have to show passports for photo ID both at check in & security, although the security check area seemed more like immigration.

For domestic flights here you cannot carry more than 100ml of liquids, so I had my water bottle taken & Geoff, who had forgotten to pack the white vinegar we bought in Mongolia (for hot chips - which I haven’t really eaten much of) in his checked baggage had some questions asked about the vinegar. We told them that it was cu (vinegar) & then when they opened the bottled & inhaled deeply, seemed annoyed that it was indeed vinegar - quite funny really. Although there were a few moments when we thought, Oh crap, this is going to go really bad - especially when they took Geoff’s passport + the bottle of vinegar & ushered him to another area with more security, but it all worked out - phew!

We boarded at 1.30 & the plane was on the runway by 1.50, in the air at 2 - so don’t be late for your flight, you might miss it. Apparently the departure time is actually the time you are in the air.

The flight was good, we managed to get an English copy of the China Mail, which was fortuitous as the video screen we had in front of us was broken, (so we missed the safety briefing & other entertainment they had playing). They served drinks & food (sandwiches, so Geoff got a double helping, apparently they tasted ok too), I brought food on the plane, which I ate.

Getting to our accommodation was a bit of a task. We finally arrived 4.5hrs after touch down. We weren’t sure if we had a booking, but in the end we did, which was great. We were originally told that we could only have a double room for one night, but when we got here were told that we could indeed have one for 3 nights - it’s a mystery, no-one ever seems to know what the hell is going on.

We caught the shuttle bus from the airport to the Melody Hotel (near the Drum & Bell tower) for 25Y each. Fortunately we had bought a map at the airport (robbed for 10Y) in English, which had bus numbers on it. If you stay at 7sages hostel & take the shuttle bus in & try to get a taxi I hope that you don’t have as many issues as we did. Taxi’s either flat out refused to take us (fare was too small) or tried to rob us. The fare should be no more than 10Y, but they wanted us to pay up to 60Y - NO WAY!!

In the end we caught a 610 bus most of the way (1Y each) & then got a tuk-tuk driver to take us the rest of the way (15Y) not the cheapest, but our experience with the Tuk-Tuk driver was nice, he didn’t try to rip us off (well, not any more than we were prepared for at that point - 4hrs later) & he took us to our destination - FIRST TIME EVER!!! 

The hostel is really nice. We are in one of the new double rooms, so although there is an Ethernet port for Internet access that hasn’t been setup & the TV isn’t working yet either. We do have a really nice bed, not too hard, like Beijing & a huge bathroom + more importantly an air-conditioner!!!

Tomorrow we will see the Terracotta Warriors, self-guided. The cheapest tour that they have is 200Y each for 1/2 a day. Too expensive for not enough time & having to get frustrated with a guide telling us “you have 1hr to see ….. ” - we are both looking forward to it

We woke up a little later today, about 8am, normally I seem to get up at 5 or 6am & I caught up on a past post, whilst watching the only English TV channel, 24hr news. Subway line #1 was experiencing some delays & people were being encouraged to catch other means of transport after someone “fell” in front of the train. Subway line 1 seems to be one of the only lines that does not have automatic opening doors, so one could easily “fall” in front without any issues - perhaps that is why that they have the barriers there for so many trains in the first place here?

Anyhow, after that we went to the post office to post a couple of packages, one containing a couple of paintings that we bought, one by a Deaf artist in Mongolia (UB) & the other one that we found which we liked + a box of stuff, mostly books & some souvenirs. Boy was that a mammoth effort, we should have allowed at least 2 hours to do that.

We bought the big box (with the books etc) a few days before & left it unsealed (only the bottom taped up) as we had read that was the thing to do, as they like to look at it first. We had bought a knife from our cooking class a few days ago (40Y = $8) & that was taken out of the package, you can’t post it, although you can put it in your checked baggage when you fly - WTF? Not sure how to send it back, or if it will get to Canada, but it would be really cool if it did.

We sent it express post with China Post - DON’T DO IT!!!! It cost us $600 + to post (3048Y). We couldn’t get out of it either, all the paperwork was done & signed & stuck to the packages. We should have looked for a parcel company to send it through instead, but we were already running late for our flight, FUCK!!!! Earlier this morning, we received an email from Michael saying that our car still wasn’t sold, so a mistake like that really bites!!!

Off to the airport now to catch our flight, should have left at 11, but we are leaving just after 12pm now, hope we get there in time.