Very Tired Sleepy Land of China - Part 24- Day 18 - Leavin' Xi'an'
You know the bad night sleeps you get when you are anxious about leaving a place at the crack of dawn in order to get to the airport on time…? Well – I had one of those nights. I woke about 4am and couldn’t get back to sleep. All the better to have a really bad night sleep on the morning of New Years Eve right??
Anyhow – we had to leave the Mecure by 6am because we were a little concerned about getting to the airport on time (considering it had taken us more than an hour in the first trip to Xi’an – no thanks to the “happy scenic route” taken by the taxi driver).
We physically got up at the fantastic time of 5:30am – I might have caught a quick glimpse of CNN’s World Sport whilst I was packing my bag and I truly believe that there is a ESPN Ocho in existence. They were showing “Shin Kicking” and “Cheese Rolling” competitions (amongst other events) – prime Ocho viewing in my opinion.
As we checked out of the Grand Mecure – I think we had woken up the Doorman (who was in a deep coma when we arrived). When he recovered – he fetched us a taxi and we were on our way.
The taxi didn’t use a meter (the first ever in China not to use one) – but there was a flat rate of 180 yuan, cheaper than the first taxi trip – so we agreed to it. Something we didn’t really agree to was the five minute stop at the petrol station (but we had no comeback as we didn’t speak Chinese – all we could give were menacing grimaces). Another thing we didn’t agree on was taking a “scenic route” to avoid all the toll roads (that b@stard!). Although we didn’t take the toll roads – it was a much faster trip than the first taxi ride (despite the petrol station stop) – probably mainly due to the complete lack of traffic at 6am in the morning.
Upon arrival at the airport (about 6:30ish) – we discovered that we were too early to check in (they were only checking-in the first flight to Beijing – we were on the second). After a bit of a hissyfit on my part – there were a few tears on Ant’s part but we resolved everything (sort of) by going to the Coffee Shop. We thought the prices would be steeper than regular town coffee (about $4 or $5 AUD) – but these were “extreme coffee prices” at about $9 for a percolated cup of coffee (didn’t appear to be an espresso machine in site). As we were taken to a seat personally – we sought of felt obligated to buy something – so we chose the cheapest drink we could find – a 38 yuan (or $6.30 AUD) “milk tea”. We were sort of expecting a “Bubble Pearl Milk Tea” – but all we got was some hot milk with a tea bag in a high-ball cocktail glass (which gives you third degree burns on your hands when you try and use it).
Going through the eight security checkpoint layers (you get your passport and ticket checked before security by a stamp happy guard, then you get your passport and ticket checked by another security guard then you go through the security screening with yet another ticket and passport check, followed by a ticket and passport check) we made it to the other side. To both of our surprise – there was a “King Power” store. If you have ever been to Bangkok International Airport – you might have noticed that all the duty free stores are all the same and are called “King Power” and are owned by the Thai Government (not really sure who they are at the moment??). That is why we were a little surprised to see a Thai store in a Chinese airport – maybe it is a knock-off “King Power” store??
To my amazement – I found icy cold cans of “Diet Coke” for only 4 yuan each (only 2 more expensive than from in town – but still way cheaper than Australia). Ant and I went a little crazy and bought a dozen cans between us. “I am Nicholas and I have a Diet Coke addiction.”
I was a little concerned about our flight being delayed. Last night when I was on the Sofatel treadmill – one of the CCTV channels was showing Beijing Airport being totally snowed in (yes it is snowing in Beijing) and all the flights were being delayed. However – our flight was pretty much on time (that’s one up on Guilin dammit!). The flight itself was OK although the food was a little sugary to say the least (a bread roll (plain) – with plenty of sugar, a muffin – packed full of sugary goodness followed by a “Custard Roll” with sugar.
Overall – we had a great time at Xi’an. Of course the highlight was the Terracotta Warriors – but, during our time in Xi’an – we had pretty much bowled over all of the tourist sites in the city (which were all great). The hotel was good (no real overheating as we could control the temperatures) and we did a little bit of shopping too (!). Very recommended.
Anyhow – we had to leave the Mecure by 6am because we were a little concerned about getting to the airport on time (considering it had taken us more than an hour in the first trip to Xi’an – no thanks to the “happy scenic route” taken by the taxi driver).
We physically got up at the fantastic time of 5:30am – I might have caught a quick glimpse of CNN’s World Sport whilst I was packing my bag and I truly believe that there is a ESPN Ocho in existence. They were showing “Shin Kicking” and “Cheese Rolling” competitions (amongst other events) – prime Ocho viewing in my opinion.
As we checked out of the Grand Mecure – I think we had woken up the Doorman (who was in a deep coma when we arrived). When he recovered – he fetched us a taxi and we were on our way.
The taxi didn’t use a meter (the first ever in China not to use one) – but there was a flat rate of 180 yuan, cheaper than the first taxi trip – so we agreed to it. Something we didn’t really agree to was the five minute stop at the petrol station (but we had no comeback as we didn’t speak Chinese – all we could give were menacing grimaces). Another thing we didn’t agree on was taking a “scenic route” to avoid all the toll roads (that b@stard!). Although we didn’t take the toll roads – it was a much faster trip than the first taxi ride (despite the petrol station stop) – probably mainly due to the complete lack of traffic at 6am in the morning.
Upon arrival at the airport (about 6:30ish) – we discovered that we were too early to check in (they were only checking-in the first flight to Beijing – we were on the second). After a bit of a hissyfit on my part – there were a few tears on Ant’s part but we resolved everything (sort of) by going to the Coffee Shop. We thought the prices would be steeper than regular town coffee (about $4 or $5 AUD) – but these were “extreme coffee prices” at about $9 for a percolated cup of coffee (didn’t appear to be an espresso machine in site). As we were taken to a seat personally – we sought of felt obligated to buy something – so we chose the cheapest drink we could find – a 38 yuan (or $6.30 AUD) “milk tea”. We were sort of expecting a “Bubble Pearl Milk Tea” – but all we got was some hot milk with a tea bag in a high-ball cocktail glass (which gives you third degree burns on your hands when you try and use it).
Going through the eight security checkpoint layers (you get your passport and ticket checked before security by a stamp happy guard, then you get your passport and ticket checked by another security guard then you go through the security screening with yet another ticket and passport check, followed by a ticket and passport check) we made it to the other side. To both of our surprise – there was a “King Power” store. If you have ever been to Bangkok International Airport – you might have noticed that all the duty free stores are all the same and are called “King Power” and are owned by the Thai Government (not really sure who they are at the moment??). That is why we were a little surprised to see a Thai store in a Chinese airport – maybe it is a knock-off “King Power” store??
To my amazement – I found icy cold cans of “Diet Coke” for only 4 yuan each (only 2 more expensive than from in town – but still way cheaper than Australia). Ant and I went a little crazy and bought a dozen cans between us. “I am Nicholas and I have a Diet Coke addiction.”
I was a little concerned about our flight being delayed. Last night when I was on the Sofatel treadmill – one of the CCTV channels was showing Beijing Airport being totally snowed in (yes it is snowing in Beijing) and all the flights were being delayed. However – our flight was pretty much on time (that’s one up on Guilin dammit!). The flight itself was OK although the food was a little sugary to say the least (a bread roll (plain) – with plenty of sugar, a muffin – packed full of sugary goodness followed by a “Custard Roll” with sugar.
Overall – we had a great time at Xi’an. Of course the highlight was the Terracotta Warriors – but, during our time in Xi’an – we had pretty much bowled over all of the tourist sites in the city (which were all great). The hotel was good (no real overheating as we could control the temperatures) and we did a little bit of shopping too (!). Very recommended.
posted by NicknAnt @ 2:01 PM
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