The Second Wall - Blogabond

We tried to go walking yesterday around the city at about 1:00 PM. It was a tad warm. 100 degrees warm. So, our walk only lasted about a mile. I took these pictures during our short walk.

This first one shows a sentry point on top of the wall around the 'old' city. This wall is not the original wall built arojund the city in 194 BC. This one was built in the 14th century.

The moat in the picture below surrounds the entire wall and stands as a barrier to invading soldiers:

Eric and I decided to go back in the evening so we could bike the entire wall. The top of the wall where we began our bike ride looks like this:

Here is the bike I used:

It's not your average mountain bike as it has only one gear (pretty low). They also don't adjust the seats so it turned out to be quite a nine mile ride.

That's Eric in the background:

He's taller than I am and so he was even more uncomfortable on his bike than I was on mine.

This picture:

shows a park on the other side of the moat about a mile into our journey.

And the wall just keeps on going and going....

Here is an area that actually connects the wall with the other side of the moat:

You can see how narrow the walkway is. This was to prevent invading troops from being able to assault the city wall in great numbers. By backing them up in thin lines, it was easier to pick them off with arrows, cannon shot, and fire.

Here's a shot from one of the sentry points:

This is a shot of the train station that we arrived through and will leave through this afternoon on our way to Beijing:

There are many people that beg for donations by either coming right up to you or, more passively, singing or playing an instrument. We caught this woman singing below near the train station:

Don't know what she was singing but she did have a pleasant voice. Many people were donating to her and her partner. The box on the edge of the banner is pretty full of Yuan, China's currency

These next two pictures show what traffic is like here in Xi'an:

If you look carefully, there is nothing but chaos. It's a battle to cross the street and frequently cars and taxis are passing by you with inches to spare. We have gotten pretty good at stepping in front of busses and cars and hoping they slow down enough to allow us to cross. I've found that more often than not, if the driver makes eye contact with you, you're 'safe'. But if he doesn't, then it's much wiser to wait to step in front of the next vehicle behind him. It's quite maddening to be honest with you but it is also a little fun playing the ultimate game of chicken.

Here is a picture of the small road leading into the area of our hostel as well as a picture from the outside of the hostel itself:

This is a very large hostel with three floors, a restaurant, and a bar. They also have several washing machines that cost 10 Yuan per load which includes soap (about $1.50). They have drying racks but they were all full so I had to hang my clothes on the railings overnight. Traveling by hostel is the most affordable (ok, cheapest) way to travel and the people are usually very friendly and honest. As long as you don't leave things laying around (money and electronics) you're things are safe. That includes my shorts, pants, and undies hanging on the rail all night. Everything was nice and dry this morning!

Yesterday, our four-bed (two bunks) room was filled by a couple from Belgium. She is a research psychologist who was here for a conference in Beijing and then had her boyfriend meet her after it's completion. They had a poor experience on the train from Beijing and so were a little tired last night. They each can't be more than 25 or so. What this Kyle lacks in age he more than compensates with his snoring. I started with ear plugs but that was no match for his accoustical tremors (he literally rattled the bunks and he wasn't even in mine!). So, I had to put my MP3 in to try and counter his noise. My volume maxes out at 20 which is very loud and probably ear-damaging if done so frequently. I finally settled on a setting of 16. I am very tired today but since our trip to Beijing is a little over 12 hours and all at night (we leave here at 6:42 PM), I imagine I will sleep like a rock and arrive in Beijing ready to go. Weather is iffy for Thursday and Friday with rain predicted and highs in the 70's. After this heat, however, I welcome the change.

I'll write more Friday (Thursday to you guys). We will be staying at the same hostel I stayed at when first arriving in China. They were great there and instead of rolling the dice with another hostel, we are going to stay there instead.

Hope all is well. More later....

written by

akstoltzy on June 16, 2010 from Xi'an, China

from the travel blog: China

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