“Welcome to Xi’an!”
We made it; our journey ended at the Skytel Hotel, just next to the South Gate of this beautiful city. The trip was a little grueling at times – a 3 hour drive to LAX complicated by an accident that snarled traffic, and the chaos of Tom Bradley International Terminal under construction. We flew Asiana this time, and what a nice airline! Plenty of room with great reclining seats, tvs on every seatback, USB port and full power plugs at every seat. The food was good and the attendants were attentive. The layover in Seoul Korea was entertaining too, great shopping, and I have my eye on a leather padfolio in one of the shops for the trip back.
We will spend 2 nights here in Xi’an. Last night after we showered and napped, we walked to the center of town and ate at the famous dumpling restaurant – the parade of dumplings was never ending! All shapes, sizes, flavors, some looked like little chickens, ducks, rabbits – all delicious. We walked around outside for a short time; after dark the Drum Tower and Bell Tower are lovely. Today we will do some light touring, more eating, more napping, and meet up with Jan and his group tonight for the official welcome dinner.
It’s hot here. As always (and I’m sure my past blogs will have this same paragraph), I’m assaulted by the noise, the smells, the pollution. It takes me a few days to get over this part – thankfully our room is wonderful, quiet, cool (!!) and I was able to sleep through the night. As my jetlag subsides, my blogs will become more than just reports of daily activities
Until then…more coffee, then breakfast!