It was a rather cramped, hot and noisy night's sleep on the train, made worse by me still feeling ill but hey ho - it got us to Xi'an. We were met at the station by someone from our new hostel who paid for us to get the local bus back, and more importantly escorted us so we knew where we were going! It was a nice gesture and as we travelled further out of the city walls it made sense why they offered it.

We arrived at the hostel and noticed that we were staying opposite a lovely park - Da Cien Temple Park and 2 minutes walk from the Big Wild Goose Pagoda which we could see from our tiny window! It has such a lovely relaxed feel here or maybe it is just the contrast from the hectic city of Beijing? Maybe my mind will change when we enter the city walls tomorrow.

We settled in our compact but nice room and then went out for a mooch of the local area. We spent a long time simply walking around the park, taking in the atmosphere and talking. We also went into the Big Wild Goose Pagoda area which felt very spiritual and relaxed, people where praying and lighting incense sticks as well as there being monks wandering around! We walked a little further afield and went to an advanced booking train station window. I was so impressed and proud of us (and the Chinese lady who served us!) as there was a lot of pointing, nodding, gesticulating and writing things down but I think we have the tickets we wanted to get us to Chengdu on the night train on Tuesday!

Feeling a little ill we headed for some comfort food at Papa John's and I also bought some more medication from the local pharmacy behind the hostel. I have no idea what it is or if it will help but am willing to give anything a try! I uploaded my Moscow pictures using the free internet at the hostel which has taken a while I know! Back in the room Neil had a little mishap and ended up deleting all his photos since day one from his memory card! Gutted was not the word for both of us but we reasoned that A. we still had my photos and B. we will always have the memories in our minds' eyes! I like Xi'an and am enjoying relaxing here. The park across the road from us has a water fountain show every night, where the jets of water mirror some music and lights. It was spectacular and the photos do it no justice at all. We got back to the hostel and I snuggled down in bed. I am feeling very sorry for myself as I feel like I have been ill with a cold for ages and I just want to be better now but I am still looking forward to exploring Xi'an tomorrow.

We had a lovely long lie-in and got up about half past 10! We showered and headed for the bus stop to catch the bus into the city walls. We caught the bus with no problem and got off just outside the bell tower which was our first visiting spot. We decided to grab some breakfast which consisted of spicy potatoes from a street vendor which were delicious, cheap and filling. Once we finally found the entrance to the bell tower (it's underground and around as it now sits on a busy roundabout!) we paid up and went in. The bell in the tower used to be rang at dawn to mark the start of the day. We looked around here before heading to the drum tower where the drum used to be beaten to mark dusk and the end of the day. Both of these towers offered really good views of the city.

After this we went into the Muslim quarter and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of this area as well as sampling some of the food on offer. It is so good to see so many people in China just kicking back and passing the time be it playing cards or checkers or dancing in the parks - people just seem laid back. We were again the centre of attention and ended up being photographed with a young Chinese girl. This is still weird to me because to us we are just normal, and being in a culture with lots of colours and creeds is just normal but this doesn't seem to be the case in China. Then, thinking ahead to tomorrow we walked to the train station to try and suss out the buses for the Terracotta Warriors tomorrow and to make sure we knew where to go to get our train when we leave. We ended up getting lost and walked miles around a poor looking area of Xi'an where we were looked at and shouted hello at. It may sound threatening but it doesn't feel it at all, the people seem kind and it is simply the novelty of seeing a westerner. We finally found the station and once we thought we knew what to do when we need to catch the train, we got the bus back to the hostel - we were packed in like sardines! No matter how full the bus is, the driver still always stops and lets people get on.

Off the bus we went for something to eat choosing a local eatery just behind our hostel. We chose one that had pictures on the wall and pointed at a dish each we thought we would like. The young boy who is front of house doesn't speak any English and we don't speak any Mandarin so this was fun, but we ended up with two huge delicious noodle dishes washed down with a sprite for 2 pounds 40! I was so proud of us as it wasn't easy. I felt a little better today but am still bunged up and have a huge headache. It's only 8pm and I am tucked up in bed ready for the night!

After a very early night last night I woke up feeling a lot better - still not 100% but heading in the right direction. We chilled out in the room for a while before setting out for the bus to the city walls. We ended up getting off at the wrong stop but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we stumbled across an eclectic market that we would have missed. The market was selling all sorts of Chinese knick-knacks, but having had no breakfast we bought a warm bread roll filled with a concoction of vegetables, mostly pickled and a tea-stained egg. Neil ate most of this, so I had some pineapple off a street vendor and some drinks and we felt ready for the day.

We walked towards the city walls crossing the death trap roundabout to get to the entrance. Once we were up on the wall we had fantastic views of the city, and we decided to walk around rather than cycle to take in more of the sights. Whilst strolling along we bumped into Lesley who was cycling the wall with her new group - it was lovely to see a friendly face! As we continued to walk around the walls we took in a lot of sights. There was lovely architecture of the walls, gates and towers but it also gave great bird's eye views of some day to day life in China. We saw a market or two from high above, one being for locals selling simple clothes and another one selling jade jewellery and knick-knacks. We saw what we think was some kind of Chinese fashion shoot going on down one pretty side street. There were numerous people sat around little tables playing all different games, people were sleeping in chairs, and others were using the outdoor gym or ping pong tables. We also got the opportunity to see a seriously poor side of Xi'an along the hutongs where people were using blankets and cardboard as roofs to their houses, this was as well as some un-used garages that families were living in. We walked past the train station, and looked down at the masses of people waiting to board trains knowing that we will be in the melee in a few days' time!

We caught the bus back to the hostel and mooched around the park area for a while. It was such a lovely warm day so we sat under a cherry blossom tree contemplating life and deciding where we want to live when we finally go 'home' and be grown-ups! While we were deep in conversation trying to decide huge things about our lives, a Chinese family had noticed us and we posed for the obligatory photos with all different members of the family. We missed a trick by not getting a photo on our camera too. As another family had seen all this commotion, they also jumped on the bandwagon and I had jaw ache from smiling by the end of it all, so we decided to get up and get some food - people seem less likely to want our photo if we are on the move.

We went to a restaurant for tea, but I think it was a chain type place. No-one spoke English so we pointed and nodded and ended up with some very weird and not tasty food. It was fine and filling but a long way off all the delicious stuff we had eaten in Beijing. With the meal we were given some horrible warm sweet milk stuff - it was a little bit like Mongolian tea and I couldn't bring myself to drink it. We then ambled back to the hostel via the supermarket for some supplies. When we got back we were told there was some work going on so we had no power so we were shown to the room by candlelight. We have sat in candlelight (well Maglite lights - Thanks Mum and Dad Hanes!) for a couple of hours hoping the power comes back on during the night else it'll be cold showers for us tomorrow. It's all part of the adventure.

We got up bright and early as we planned to head for the Terracotta Warriors. We were both disappointed to learn there was still no electricity meaning no hot showers, so after a baby wipe bath, we dressed and headed for the bus. We got to the train station with no drama and nipped into a shop to get some drinks. I bought what I thought was apple juice but it turned out to be apple flavoured sweetened milk - I simply could not stomach it!

We walked along to where we had seen the Terracotta Warriors buses yesterday and we were greeted with more people than you have ever seen…..EVER! There was some semblance of queues here and there but people were pushing and shoving. To make matters worse Neil and I couldn't work out if we needed a ticket or not before we got on the bus or even where we should be queuing for the bus we wanted. After wandering around, we decided we didn't need a ticket so joined a slow moving queue. This was very frustrating, as we could see people pushing in and especially because we were not even sure that when we got to the front of the queue we would be in the right queue!

To make matters worse it was raining - not fresh rain either. It was huge brown splodges which show the obvious pollution in the air and we understood a little better why the Chinese people wear the face masks now! It was that thick and dirty that it marked our clothes! At the same time my famous patience was tested as a Chinese lady tried to jump the queue and push in front of us. She chose the wrong tourist, as I politely told her there was a queue and pointed at the back of it. She simply laughed at me before trying to push her way in further down the line. Unbelievable.

After about 45 minutes we got onto a bus, thinking we'd be the last ones on as the bus was full. How wrong we were. The conductor - a surly looking Chinese lady - ushered more and more people on to the bus, even making people move up in their seats to fit 3 to a seat! And we were off, still not sure we were on the right bus until the afore mentioned conductor came along and took our money. We paid the 80p for the hour long journey checking with her it went to the Warriors and sat back to enjoy the scenery. Not sure where we should be getting off we grabbed the phrase book and pointed at the warriors bit, everyone we asked told us to stay on the bus. We needn't have worried as when it was time to get off the conductor, the driver and everyone else on the bus turned to us and told us to get off. The Chinese people, although they push, shove, spit and sound rude, are a genuinely friendly and welcoming group.

Off the bus we crossed the road and headed towards the main attraction. After paying 10p for a rather filthy toilet we got our tickets from the booth avoiding the hawking guides and ticket in hand went to the, not one but two, ticket checking and security gates before we finally reached the museum.

We spent about 3 hours wandering around the three pits, looking in awe at the warriors carved years ago. There was so much detail on them even now, and so many of them, they must have taken so long to make. There is believed to be more excavation going on and more warriors still to be found. Legend says that the warriors were built to protect the first Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang, to protect him in his afterlife and to ensure he had people to rule over. I wonder what he was so scared of?

We were having a drink and resting our feet when Lesley walked past us with her new group, too far away for us to say hello, but twice in two days - now that is a small world!

Once we had decided that we had seen enough of the Warriors we headed towards the exit with trepidation as we now had to find the bus back to Xi'an. We headed for the parking lot, where there were lots of buses but none of the green ones we recognised so we started up the hill where we had been dropped off. At this point I saw a green bus and stuck my hand out to flag it down but the conductor simply waved back at me. Very friendly but didn't help us get back. After a little giggle we saw where we thought the buses were coming from so directed ourselves to that area. At the same time another little green bus headed towards us, so chancing my luck again, I stuck my hand out to flag it down, and this time surprisingly it stopped. So we jumped on checking it was going to Xi'an as we did so!

The conductor came over to get our fare and was very amused by Neil and how hairy he was, even pointing to other Chinese men to show them. We had never really noticed before but Chinese men seem to have very little body hair. He also tried to converse with us asking Neil if I was his wife. We let out a huge sigh of relief as we were now on the home stretch. Again the bus got filled to the rafters and we were squashed in like sardines, but we did it! We took a terrifying chance and it paid off.

We got the local bus back to the hostel and after chilling out for a while went to the local place behind the hostel for some cheap and filling food. Our first and only meal of the day costing just 2 pounds 70 pence for two bowls of broth, 2 cans of pop, and two huge bowls of noodles. We then went back to the room and sat by candlelight again as the electricity still isn't on. All in all a great day, we saw an amazing Unesco sight but more than that we felt like real independent travellers :o) .

We woke up a little later today to find we still had no power and now the toilet was also broken. We were not too concerned as we were checking out today anyway. We took our time getting ready and packing our bags before heading to check out. At the desk the hostel worker told us they would like to offer us a 20% discount due to the power cut which we didn't argue with. It was a lovely gesture especially as it was a whole row of premises not just the hostel.

We left the hostel (leaning our bags there until the train later) and spent the day just relaxing and people watching around the local park. We got a picnic lunch from the supermarket and enjoyed watching the children who were fascinated by the water fountains and their parents blowing bubbles, the families playing with toys and on the slide and just the general day to day.

They have park police in China who constantly blow their whistles to make people stop doing something they shouldn't be, which happens a lot in China - people seem to simply ignore the rules! These things included sitting on the grass, running, being in the fountains and as I almost found on lying on a bench. After a lovely long relaxed day we returned to the hostel where they now had electricity. We used this to our advantage and checked the internet for the details of our next hostel before heading to the hutong behind the hostel for some tea. Another lovely filling meal for a few pounds.

We collected our bags and went to get the bus to the train station. We expected the bus to be packed but were pleasantly surprised when there was lots of space for us to stand up with our packs on. Two Chinese girls had other ideas and spent the entire journey trying to get us to sit down, even moving seats so we could. It was very hard as we couldn't explain to them we didn't want to sit down due to the language barrier. I knew that if I took my pack off and sat down that I wouldn't want to get up again!

We were soon at the station and after quenching my thirst, we had our tickets checked, went through security and were confronted with a departures board entirely in Mandarin so I decided I would ask someone for help. In hindsight it may have been better not to have chosen an elderly looking Chinese man who I thought was trying to steal my ticket, but was simply trying to hold it closer to see it. He grunted and pointed us upstairs, so after checking with a member of staff we headed upstairs to the waiting area for our train - again a sea of people were in this area waiting for numerous trains.

We were happy we were in the right place and our suspicions were founded when an American girl and a Chinese girl started to talk to us. We were the only westerners in the waiting hall! They were also on our train heading for Chengdu so we boarded with them although they are not in our carriage they came to see us for a chat once we were moving. We found our beds easily enough and were soon settled. We walked to the girls for a while, finding out that they both worked at an international school in Xi'an which they both love. The Mandarin girl is a translator for some of the children's parents and the American is a teacher. They are heading to Chengdu for a short holiday but sound like they enjoy their everyday. Neil and I are now tucked up on opposite hard sleeper top bunks and I am again looking forward to being somewhere new.

It was nice of the girls we met to say we had done a really good job with buying tickets and travelling alone without a Mandarin speaker. This was a real boost and makes us confident for the rest of our time in China.

We hope everyone at home is OK and still enjoying our blog and photos! We miss you all lots!

Lots of love xxxxx