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We finally arrived at Xi'an railway station at about 1 am, feeling the worst I have ever felt. After 30 hours of no sleep bed seemed like a dream. We grabbed a taxi and agreed on a price and were taken to Hang tang inn hostel. We checked in, and hit the hay!
Before I knew it morning had arrived and I appeared to have contracted some gross cold from the train. Luckily Melissa was up for 9 or i couldn't imagine leaving bed today! I got up showered, and headed down for breakfast! I picked just toast and jam and a green tea. It actually dawned on me while ordering my green tea that I haven't had a coffee or a normal tea in one month, so I think I am going to try and keep it that way. I also couldn't tell you the last fizzy drink I had either! (Does beer count?) I set up my wifi, informed dad I was still alive and then headed out.
First on our hit list was the bell and drum tower. They looked like traditional Chinese buildings but which housed medieval drums and bells. It is sort of hard to make that sound exciting haha. There were also various signs saying 'do NOT strike the drums!', meaning I had to of course strike the drum. I think 50 yuan was slightly expensive for this excursion, but at least the next part was worth it. We then took the tube to the big wild goose pagoda. It was immense! It was a lovely big garden with temples and Buddha statues and monks! At one point the monks were singing in unison and praying together. I silently got a snap of them together but was worried it might be a bit disrespectful. The big wild goose pagoda is surrounded by a lake which has a light show every night, which is the reason we are heading there tomorrow night! I should hopefully get some good snaps of that.
We got the tube back and headed to the Muslim quarter; a place in Xi'an famous for its food! We sat in this little street restaurant and I had potatoes boiled then sautéed in chilli and garnish, they were so tasty! And only 8 yuan. 80p! At this point my bad head cold was playing up so we headed back to the hostel for a few games of pool! Later that night we walked down to hang tang hostel which is owned by the same people. We met a guy Paul on the train who is also traveling, so we went to see him and see how he was getting on! Mel and I ordered a daiquiri each but it came out looking like kryptonite!!! I have never seen a drink so toxic looking in my life! After chatting with Paul some more we were interrupted by the waitress. She pointed to a group of Chinese men who asked if we spoke English as they wanted to gambae with us (down drinks). Initially I wasn't really up for it due to tiredness and my cold but I quickly realised this could help! We sat with the Chinese folk and they kept saying 'gambae' repeatedly. Everytime you shout that you down your drink! It took me several hand gestures for them to realise that I had a cold and I wounding be partaking in any 'gambae' haha.
Paul, Mel and I stayed for a while and had good craic, up until the Chinese guys started being arsey. They kept shouting 'minue' which the waitress eventually told us means pretty girl. Time to make our excuses! After one of the men trying to BUY Melissa, we said we had a train tomorrow and thanks for the drinks. The waitress told us that they enjoyed our company and they were only joking, but it's hard to joke in a different language!
Paul, Mel and I went back to our hostel and had a couple of drinks. We chatted for a while about travelling each persons reasons which was nice. Paul headed back to his hostel then Mel and I hit they hay! Tired!
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