Crapping on a yak.....overland to the other side of the world and the rest: Day 116

I wake up as we are entering Xian at about 7am. JC has heroically driven all night, having power naps on his steering wheel during traffic jams. We check into the hotel immediately and it’s very comfortable. I crash out for a few hours.

Laurie and I leave the hotel at half past one to find Joost, hoarse from last night, cleaning the truck. It looks like someone has dumped several bins from a pub on the floor.

Xian is close to where the Terracotta Warriors are kept, and Laurie and I decide to visit tomorrow.

Today we go to the Muslim Quarter, sampling food from street stalls. I enjoyed a lot of it, e.g. various forms of fried tofu and some stuffed pancakes, while Laurie bought some sort of sweet cake which turns out to be inedible. Eventually, having had bits and pieces, I decide that I want to sample a Chinese McDonalds, which by Xian’s Bell Tower and the South Gate of the old town wall. Western fast food chains are very busy, but are also a kind of luxury, as they are much more expensive than the average Chinese restaurant.

I get a shave in a barber shop from a woman. This turns out to be a not very good idea. I have grown a goatee over the past few weeks. Firstly, obviously women don’t often shave faces. Secondly, they wouldn’t be used to the wiry hard hair of the average westerner, Chinese facial hair usually being quite fluffy. She uses a minimal amount of cream and it hurts.

As we leave the barbers, it is getting dark, and we find that the Muslim Quarter has turned into a heaving street market. Bartering here is less extreme than the other parts of Asia we have been through. I was offered a bracelet for 35 Yuan and I made a counter offer of twenty. The trader just put the bracelet down and waved me away.

puppies for sale

The architecture here is traditional in the Qing & Ming dynasty style, but the area is very much geared towards tourists and there is a slightly unreal feel to it.