Xian - Terracotta Warriors anyone?

Saturday, December 27

I have been so excited for this day - the Terracotta Warriors are considered the 8th wonder of the world and I fly to Xian to spend the day with them! I booked a tour so we headed out around 8:30 for a day of adventure. The terracotta warriors were found by a local farmer in 1974. They have unearthed 2,700 of the believed to be a total of 8,000. The warriors were constructed 2,200 years ago by the Emperor who wanted to protect his tomb in the afterlife. Hello ego-maniac! It took over four decades to construct. We visited Pit 1,2 and 3.

We then visited the Hot Springs which was a place that the Emperor visited and frankly felt like a little waste of time.

We then headed out to the Golden Goose Pagoda where I determined I was born in the year of the Earth Rooster. This means that I tend to prefer motion to stillness, I like to travel and make new friends and we try our best to establish our reputations so we can get others' trust. We have imperatorial demeanors which is where I got lost in the description since those are really big words so I bought the book to learn all about me, the Earth Rooster! However, I did review how this interacts with the Aquarius symbol and learned that we are the wisest people in the 12 constellations. Good enough for me...I bought the book for $12 US and plan to use it at my next review with my boss...."but see here, it says that I am wise...."

Oh, and remember the 2 women I met at the Italian restaurant...I ran into them at the Golden Goose Pagoda...of course I did. It really is a small world out there.

I spent 20 yuan to burn incense and 2 candles to Buddha. I made a wish and got down on my knees...I hope it works!

We then went to the city wall which is about 7 miles wrapped around the city and gives you a nice shot of how bad the smog really is....

Lastly, we visited the Drum Tower which was just silly so back to our hotel we go!

Sunday, December 28

I head to the Xian airport at 6am and after we are on the road for about 20 minutes, I realize there is NO WAY we are making it as I am sure we are going to run out of gas. I stare at the gauge the entire trip and realize that I need to have more faith in the smart taxi drivers as we do make it. It also dawns on me as I am traveling to Beijing to pick up my "trip around the world" main flight to fly to Hong Kong that in the past 8 days I have flown Seattle-Norita-Beijing-Shanghai-Xian-Beijing-Hong Kong and I feel better that I have had every right to feel like a complete lunatic over the past eight days. I am looking forward to being in Hong Kong for 5 days straight!

Oh...so did I mention that when I land in Hong Kong I decide to take the train to my hotel. I actually found the MTR without a problem and take the 20 minute train ride to a bus station. So for those of you that have seen Nightmare on Elm Street where the opening scene has Freddy driving the kids around like a crazy person. Yep, that was my driver....I am telling you that I cannot make this stuff up!!!! I am thinking about buying a car in Thailand to avoid all this craziness.....

Thanks for the comments on the blog - I am enjoying hearing from you!!

Kel