Overland from UK to OZ: Week 13

On leaving Lanzhou, we drove alongside the Yellow River and past very neat and productive market gardens. Every square inch of arable land seems to be used and it has been wonderful to see the fields with the corn growing in such profusion.

The Yellow River at Lanzhou

Market gardens outside Lanzhou

It was another long day but our hotel in Xi'an was lovely with comfy beds and good clean bathrooms. We were all hot and tired but headed straight out to McDonalds for a well deserved Western meal! It was probably my first McDonalds for 10 years and boy did it taste good. The younger ones on the trip planned to work their way through KFC, Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks and all the other American chains that were in town.

Arriving in Xi'an

Dinner at McDonalds

The Warriors, the Terracotta Warriors were our destination for the day. We were not the only people with that plan in mind and it was crowded and hot with many pushy Chinese tourists. They have not learnt the lesson of orderly queuing but we are gradually getting better with our elbows and I find that the Australian Rules hip and shoulder tackle comes in quite handy. It is probably blasthemous for me to say that I enjoyed seeing the Warriors more at the British Museum. Of course, it was great to see them marching in their legions and to get an idea of the scale of the whole place but you could not closely see the detail on them and at the British Museum you were so close it was easy to see the lines on their faces and the folds of their garments. Again the carriages and horses were behind glass cases and it was hard to see them clearly. What I had not realised was that the Warriors had mostly been destroyed and what we could see was the result of painstaking restoration. Each warrior took on average six months to restore and there were hundreds of them. The bronze horses and chariots took six years to restore. The farmer who found the warriors on his land was signing books - life has probably become a little easier for him!

Farmer who discovered the Warriors

The Warriors

Horses and Warriors

Partially restored Warriors

The following day Wendy, Colin and I took the Hop On Hop Off bus round Xi'an. Xi'an is a huge city and it was a good way of orientating ourselves. We stopped at the Big Goose Pagoda and watched the fountain and music display.

Big Goose Pagoda

Having fun in fountains at Big Goose Pagoda

In Big Goose Pagoda Park

Stall in Big Goose Pagoda Park

At the South Gate we left the bus and walked on the City Walls to the West Gate which is apparently the start of the Silk Route. In the evening I walked through the Muslim market and was greatly tempted by the food in Snack Bar Street but only ate a flat bread as my stomach has definitely had enough spices for the time being!

Dustbin on City Walls

View from City Walls

Chengdu was our next city and the Giant Pandas a very worthwhile attraction. They are maybe a little more energetic than koalas but not much and we were seeing them early in the day at feeding time when they are most active. Apparently for the rest of the day they perform their favourite pasttime, sleeping! I spent ages watching a mother and her 8 month old offspring. They were rolling around and playing together. The infant kept falling through the slats of the platform but happily got up and played on. Eventually the mother had had enough and retired to a bed of bamboo where she lay on her back and chewed at a bamboo shoot.

How Cute!

Even cuter!

With George, our guide's little daughter, Nicky

Mother with her 8 month old offspring

The Red Pandas were a lot more active and were climbing trees and playing around. They are much smaller and very cuddly. The whole place was very well run and maintained and a credit to the Chinese Government.

Red Pandas

Back in town we asked to be dropped off so that we could explore but we were given rather dodgy directions and walked for miles seeing nothing interesting and eventually caught a taxi which took forever to get back to hotel.

The following morning George took me to the hospital as my "problem" was still giving me troubles. Now that is an experience I do not wish to repeat. The doctor wanted me to have liver and blood tests but I had walked past the place where they were drawing blood and there was no way I was going to have my blood taken in those unsanitary conditions so we settled on me giving a sample. I will leave you to imagine how that was - actually even if you did it probably wouldn't be nearly as bad as it was! They decided I had an infection - I could have told them that! So more antibiotics and other pills to restore the balance of my gut.

The next morning I was feeling better and a few of us went to the Narrow Lanes which are restored Chinese lanes with old Merchants' houses now used as shops and restaurants. We stopped at Starbucks for a delicious coffee frappe and Steve and I continued to walk ending up at a wide modern Chinese street with extremely expensive gold and silver shops. There were two lovely parks near this street and we watched people doing Tai Chi and dancing. There were picturesque pagodas, children fishing for goldfish and families walking. The trees, plants and ponds all combined to make it a haven of rest and tranquillity.