Post #27 – November 7, 2012 – Xi’an, China

Where we were: Pingyao, China and Xi’an, China
What we did: Bus ride from Pingyao to Xi’an
Budget: 450 Yuan/$75; Spent: 310 Yuan/$51.67

Jeff here. Today was a sad day. Today I learned that my grandpa, at the age of 101, had passed away. Although it is always hard to lose someone you love, it made it easier that I had been in Peru just last year to celebrate his 100^th birthday. I spent moments with him then that I will never forget. He has left a great impression upon his family and has left a great example of a life well lived. My heart is heavy and with my family during this difficult time. I wish I could be closer to them. 

Today we left the frigid, budget traveler’s nightmare that is Pingyao. We woke up early to eat breakfast at the restaurant we had dinner at the night before. It was a great breakfast. I had an omelette that was immaculately prepared, and Patty had pancakes that were delicious. The lady there is so nice. When we went to pay, instead of offering me a couple Yuan in change, she offered me a bill, effectively giving us a small discount. I insisted on paying the full amount, but the offer speaks to the down-to-earth nature of this woman and that her restaurant’s inclusion in Lonely Planet has not gotten to her heard, unlike the other places in Pingyao.

We had arranged for tickets on a highway bus to Xi’an through our hotel, and they had arranged some motorized carts to take us to the bus stop. We were supposed to be the lobby of our hostel at 10am. I was determined to ask the owners for a discount because of the horrible smell in our washroom, which I’m not sure we’ve mentioned until now. It basically smelled like a sewer, and the smell often seeped into our room. We couldn’t escape it and it was disgusting. It was overall a horrible experience in Pingyao. Anyway, so I told one of the owners that our experience at the hostel had not been very good because of the smell (I had already mentioned this to them before, but they didn’t do anything), and that I was wondering whether she would consider providing us with a discount. The look on her face was one of shock. I think she is not used to hearing anything bad about her hostel. But then her look turned to disbelief and she informed me that our room is no different from any other room at the hostel. I mentioned again that the smell really ruined our stay and she offered to pay the 10 Yuan ($1.70) ride to the bus stop. Yippee. I intend on writing a scathing review on the Hostel World website. What goes around comes around.

We left the hostel where there were two carts waiting for six hotel guests. I guess we were all supposed to fit in one, covered cart and our luggage in the other with no cover. However, we all couldn’t fit into one cart, so I sat with the luggage for the 10 minute journey with the frigid cold blowing in my face. Thank goodness for the gloves we bought yesterday!

We were then dropped off outside the city, where we waited for about 20 minutes or so in the middle of nowhere for the bus to arrive. At least the driver stayed with us; otherwise, it would have been slightly scary. The bus was packed with people and Patty and I unfortunately could not sit together. She sat right behind me. The ride there was an interesting one. It was about a six hour drive with a number of notable things. First, even though we were driving through mostly rural areas along the highway, it was almost entirely inhabited, mostly by farmers. We even saw some dwellings within hillsides. Second, and connected to the first, a ridiculous number of hills were cultivated with terraces. It was amazing to look out the window of the bus when passing over particularly hilly regions and see terraced hills as far as the eye could see. It really spoke to how ancient the culture truly is. Lastly, the infrastructure along the way was just incredible. New bridges and highways were being constructed everywhere. We even saw a massive new bridge being constructed that was about halfway done. The amount of money being pumped into the infrastructure in China must be just insane. Not to mention the highway we were driving on, which was traversing some super hilly country, but pretty much just stayed level the whole time with bridges and tunnels.

While the country side provided some much needed entertainment, the show they began playing on the TV about halfway through the ride was obnoxious. There was some terrible singing, terrible acting, and everything was loud and annoying. The closest thing I can relate it to would be Saturday Night Live, except the super ghetto version of it. Three hours of that show very nearly drove us mad. We were sooo happy when that ride was over!

One thing Patty wouldn’t let me forget to add was that people were actually eating peanuts and sunflower seeds on the bus and leaving the shells on the floors. The bus was a disaster by the time we got off. Some of the people here are pretty savage.

We then got completely ripped off by a taxi to our hostel. We paid 70 Yuan for about a 15 minute ride, when we paid 80 in Beijing for an hour ride. Sigh. We are determined to stop getting ripped off by this country!! Anyway, we made it to our hostel just fine and we entered to find it extremely comfortable. Our rooms are very nice and clean. We have a bathroom in our room, which is a dorm room with four other beds. Three other people are currently in there, but we think they’re Japanese because they’re super clean and respectful.  There’s also a very nice restaurant/bar. We had an excellent dinner there. In fact, we’re super excited about eating breakfast there in the morning!

Tomorrow, we’re off to explore Xi’an. We’re not sure what to expect. We have to book a train ride for later in the trip and hope to make it to a free museum. Hope it’s better than Pingyao! What am I talking about….of course it will be!

Good night!