The day after our adventure around Xi'an's old wall, we slept in and purposefully opted not to take the 8:30 am tour bus that our too-chipper hotel liaison had suggested. We and our guidebook had better plans. After getting some much needed rest we headed toward the train station to take the bus to the Terracotta Warriors. Our spirits and hopes were high with plans for a bakery stop en route. Ann wanted coffee from the moment she woke up that morning. I wanted a snack. But we became increasingly desperate as we got closer to the bus station with no sign of a bakery. Unfortunately, it appeared to not be in the cards. Morale was low, but we pressed on.
Then, just as hope was almost lost we found a bakery! Bakeries in China have been our coffee source (Starbucks is here but it's obnoxious and expensive, in that order) when we aren't drinking instant. We headed in, purchased the aforementioned coffee and also grabbed some dubious looking baked goods for the road. The food situation at the site of the Terracotta Warriors was described by the guidebook as "diabolical". And readers who are worried that I didn't get my snack, fear not: we made a stop a short while later for pulled noodles.
The Xi'an Train station is crowded, messy, dirty even when compared to other Chinese train stations. The bathrooms are even worse (and should maybe be described as "diabolical"), hidden below ground among a tangle of what looked like cheap sleeping arrangements for stranded travelers. We will not speak of this again.
Despite the train station debacle, Mike and I managed to find our way to the bus outpost and (with a little asking around) found the correct bus relatively easily. It was pretty remarkable.
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| The first pit with the largest number of warriors. |
The museum that houses the terracotta warriors is amazing. It's a massive hangar stretching out over the statues which are displayed in-place, right where they were discovered and where the excavation still goes on. The result is that there appears to be continuing work on the site (museums are usually such static things!) as new objects are unearthed and statue fragments are pieced together. Everything involved is on such a large scale! The warriors themselves are complex - the bodies were mass produced (well before what I had thought of as the "invention" of interchangeable parts!), and the heads and hands were individually made for each statue.
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| Although the bases are largely similar, the heads were individually made, each with its own facial features and expression. |
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| Chicken on the street! |
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| Night market |
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| Night market |
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| Bell tower at night |
Ann and Mike
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