Xi'an and the Soft Sleeper fiasco

Whoever said three cities in 9 days was doable is insane...oh wait, that was me. LOL

Seriously, if I was a well seasoned traveler or was traveling with a group (including someone else to help with the responsibilities of getting us where we needed to be) it could be ok. But, I was NOT expecting the stress of handling all of this myself and have decided it was the stress of planning the trip that caused all of my sickness during the months preceding the trip.

How do I know this?  BECAUSE I GOT SICK ON THE TRIP TOO and didn't get sick again after we were back home.  When did I get sick? Oh, just the worst possible time...on the overnight train to Xi'an.  I thanked God for opening the doors that caused me to book a private room with a bathroom, although it was much more expensive.  I was so sick all night. I don't know what I would have done in a room with strangers and a bathroom down the hall.

The room was cool. The beds were hard as a rock, but I wish I could have enjoyed the experience more. There was no time for enjoyment.  I just wanted it to be over. TWELVE HOURS, with a bad stomach on a train is not what I would recommend to anyone.

But, here is the cool room  and the scene of the crime.....

Poor Abby was exhausted after just three very busy days and didn't get much sleep on the train with me being sick.  She sure was a trooper though!

We stayed in a beautiful hotel in Xi'an but missed a whole day of our planned itinerary.  I stayed in bed and Abby watched movies on HBO (only channel with English) and ate room service all day. I never heard a complaint.  LOL

Unfortunately, the part we missed included the Dumpling Banquet and the show.  We could have gone on Day 2 after we crammed in everything else, but I still wasn't feeling great and the thought of stuffing myself with Dumplings was not appealing at all and Abby wasn't hard to convince (she was overwhelmed and exhausted).

 Here are a few of the room service meals Abby enjoyed (to a total of $100 for the day! and all I got was some toast and a sprite)

 

Here is the part of the bathroom I wish I got to enjoy....

 

Here is the part of the bathroom, I actually got to "enjoy".....

 

On the second day in Xi'an, we went to the Shaanxi Museum and the Terracotta Warriors which made up for the whole horrible ordeal on day one.

As for the Terracotta Soldiers, there is nothing more I can say other than WOW.

 This last picture shows that although they have excavated thousands of soldiers, there are still thousands more to uncover....

 I recommend doing some online research about these if you don't know the story. It's simply amazing and unbelievable how old they are and why there are there.


I'm not much of a museum person, but the real reason we went to China was so Abby could learn about the culture.  There is no better way to learn about a people then to see their history and this is found in Museums.  She thoroughly enjoyed this part of the trip and it made me happy to give that to her.

 Yes, these are REAL gold pieces....

Before we headed back to the hotel, we went to the Dyan Pagoda (or Big Wild Goose Pagoda).

This was built to store ancient Buddhist manuscripts that were brought back to China from India via the Silk Road.

It is still used today.

If I have the chance to go back to China, I will definitely make sure I get back to Xi'an.  We missed so many things that we wanted to see (ancient wall, bell tower, Tang Dyansty show and Dumpling Banquet).

Last stop, Shanghai....