We conquered Mt.Huashan (and have done a few other things too!)

Wow, have we had a couple of big days.

Yesterday we left in the morning for our pilgramage to the Terracotta Warriors museum. It's an hour long drive fron Xian and we used the time in the bus for some karaoke singing. I don't quite know if you'd call it singing, but it was a lot of fun. The Terracotta warriors didn't fail to disappoint. It is a real moment to walk into Pit 1 and see them laid out before you, row after row after row. The girls were all very impressed. It is wonderful to see them gain such an appreciation of the historical significance of this find. Olive, our new guide, was terrific. She gave us commentary as we walked through the pits and we were in command of knowledge that gave us greater insight. Many a picture was taken and I'm sure you'll be privy to some amazing slideshows on our return.

We left the museum after 2.30 and made our way to Mt. Huashan. We didn't get to the Gondalas that took us up the mountain until nearly 5.00pm so we knew we would be completing part of the climb in the dark. The gondalas themselves caused much excitement- they go up 1600 metres on a steep incline and the girls were surprised at the height. We started the climb just after 5.00pm and it was pretty much everything I remembered from last year - up and up and up! The girls were great. It was hard, but all of them showed strength of spirit and put their all into getting to the hotel at the top of the mountain. By 6.45 most of us were at the hotel, and a few of us bringing up the rear made it by 7.00pm. It was dark but it just made for a more interesting experience. We got to see the lights of the surrounding area below.

The hotel was basic, but it is simply amazing that there are even hotels up there. Everything on that mountain needs to be carried up. We all went to bed early ready for our 5.15 start to the day to see the sunrise. We hiked to an area where we could see it but cloud cover prevented us from getting a view. The girls were happy to begin the descent, and even happier to finally get back in the coach and sleep on the way back to Xian. On our return we celebrated with a visit to Starbucks!

We freshened up, had a lovely lunch and hit the Muslim Quarter market for the afternoon. Off to dinner soon.

I'll try and get a quick post in tomorrow if I can. We ride bikes around the city wall tomorrow and leave in the late afternoon to catch a sleeper train to Beijing. The girls are having a wonderful experience here and we are enjoying their company. They are a pleasure to be around (when they aren't squealing that is!)

We're in Xian

Woke in Yangshou to no rain. Wait a minute! Am I seeing right? I was, but it was only momentarily. Rain returned happily to see us off from this very friendly town. The girls really enjoyed their time here. It gives them an opportunity to interact with the Chinese poeple in a way that is not possible in the bigger cities. We bid farewell to Dragon and Mr. Moore, extra guides who accompanied us on this part of the trip. Before we left we sent off some postcards that will probably arrive after we return home. Amazing that I can update this blog and give you almost instaneous feedback, but a postcard still takes an age to travel to its destination!

We had a two and half hour bus trip to the airport for our flight to Xian. Then it was an hour and a half flight to this city centre. We had to farewell our guide, Stony, at Xain airport. He has had to return to his family due to a situation there. The girls were very sad to see him go but all understood that family comes before all else. At Xian airport he handed us over to our new guide, Olive, a lovely young woman who is more than capable. She has a very happy outgoing manner and has already endeared herself to the girls. We settled into our hotel, The Bell and Drum Tower, and headed into the Muslim quarter for dinner. Xian is a city, not a small town like Yangshou, and the girls were very aware of the difference. Many more people and beggars on the streets. Dinner was an interesting variety of tastes and we were thankful to not have any garden variety molluscs make an appearance!

Everyone was very tired after a day of travel and retired to their rooms to get ready for the big day ahead. We visit the Terracotta Warriors tomorrow and then tackle Mt. Huashan for our overnight stay on this mountain. I'm pleased to report that in my discussions with the girls all realise that it is going to represent somewhat of a challenge, but they also recognise that it is going to be a challenge with great personal reward at its completion.  

I won't be able to post tomorrow, but will try and do so on Thursday. Thanks for all of the comments. The girls have been thrilled to see that you are watching and interested.  Sorry no photos today. The hotel has no wireless so I'm having to use their desktops for internet connection. All of their screens are written in Chinese and I can't figure out how to read the USB to retrive the pictures I copied to it. I'll try and get some up on Thursday.