Master Squatter

We arrived in Xi'ian at 3:00 in the morning where we were picked up at the station by a girl from the hostel. Fortunately we booked ahead and asked them to meet us at the station so that we could be taken directly to the hostel. It was reassuring to know that we didn't have to hike the streets with our backpacks getting lost in the early hours of the morning. The girl from the hostel asked us questions about our trip but I struggled to keep my eyes open and stay focused. As soon as we got to the hostel I went to bed.

I woke up at about 10:00 in the morning but didn't feel too good. In addition to the never-ending cold that I had picked up in Beijing, it seems I have an extremely upset stomach too. After several trips to the bathroom within a 10 minute period I realise that I have finally mastered the squatting technique but regret eating the nasty food that was prepared for us on the train. I dragged myself to the nearby areas in the city and noticed subtle similarities between Xi'an and Beijing - smog, over-population, excellent street food (including chicken on a stick, duck pancakes, fried octopus etc.), high humidity and beggars of all kinds. Xi'an however, seemed to attract the younger generation and looked a little 'trendier' than the nation's capital. Our hostel overlooked one of the two large bell towers in the city on the square below. I wanted to learn more about it but didn't have the energy. Especially after our exhausting experience trying to get tickets to Shanghai. It took us two hours to wait in line only to be told that they had nothing available on the date that we wanted to leave. Luckily a helpful guy, who doesn't speak English, communicated to us that we could take the coach to Shanghai instead. We happily follow him to the coach station just across the square and attempted to buy our tickets. It was a blessing in disguise. Because the coach goes directly straight (instead of curving around the country like the train) we will get there even quicker. The coach is also a 'sleeper coach' which means we will have a bed for the 13 hour overnight journey. Having sorted that out, I went back to bed for the rest of the day.