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NOMADIC LIFESTYLE, EARTH, United States
After getting my first passport in 2006 and traveling to climb Kilimanjaro in Tanzania my life changed. I began the process of getting rid of all my possessions and traveling the world. Traveling to over 125 countries and all 7 continents, hostels have been my home. This "new life" has taught me what is important and it was NOT accumulating money or possessions. Traveling is the best education. I hope my blog will encourage others to travel. My World Tattoo was a way for me to express my PASSION FOR TRAVEL.

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Showing posts with label Xian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Xian. Show all posts

CHINA, Xian, City Walls and Muslim Quarter























The hostel is really great. Dorms rooms are $3.00 a night and you get a free beer each night and free internet. It seems as though the room is free with the freebies. Mostly English travelers here right now. The hostel has a bar in the basement, a restaurant, travel agency and two outdoor courtyards.

The City Walls are in a rectangle around the old city center and total 14 km in length. I walked from the north gate to the south gate or about 1/2 way. The walls are 12 meters wide at the top.

The Muslim Quarter is really exciting at night with everyone cooking "meat on a stick" and other things which I have no idea what they are.


























































































































































CHINA, Terracotta Warriors, Xian












































September 8, 2008

This morning I went to visit the site of the Terracotta Warriors. It was quite impressive with approximately 1200 of the estimated 8000 warriors having been unearthed so far. There are also many terracotta horses. It is said that every warrior has a different face and were modeled after the emperors soldiers. They were built and placed in his tomb to guard him in the afterlife.

A girl from Finland convinced me and several other backpackers from England and France to play a drinking game that only she knew. Bad idea, one of the backpackers missed his flight the next day. Luckily I went to bed at 1 am and did not stay up with the others who were up till 5 am.

There are fewer English speaking Chinese than I expected. Almost no one speaks any English except at the hostels, tourist attractions and McDonald's. Even at KFC they shove the English menu in front of you and wait for you to point.     



























































































CHINA, Overnight train from Xian to Chengdu








































































September 12th to 13th

This was to be my first experience overnight on the train in a hard sleeper car. The three alternatives that you have when traveling on the train are soft sleeper, hard sleeper and hard seat. My trip from Beijing to Xi'an for 11 hrs (9pm til 8am) was a hard seat. Fell asleep once and fell into the aisle much to the amusement of the Chinese on the train. Don't do this for more than 6 hrs.

I had an idea what the hard sleeper would be like. 10 compartments in the car with six beds in each compartment. The compartments have no doors so that everyone walking down the hall can see each person. I was fortunate enough to have gotten a bottom bunk as nobody wants a top bunk, climbing in and out with the ceiling staring at you all the time.

When I got to my bunk, across from me were two elderly Chinese (of course) gentlemen talking and eating fruit. I quickly realized that one of these men was going to have to climb up to the 2nd or 3rd bunk. So I offered my bottom bunk for their 2nd level bunk, mostly by pointing and gestures. He was very appreciative. Though it would have been interesting to see how well he did climbing up into that bunk. Probably would have done better than I did for the next 16 hrs. Hoping Karma will remember this.

The couple in the picture at the train station were university students going home on the National Holiday. They both spoke pretty good English and were eager to practice. Being that the train was 1 hr 40 minutes late we had plenty of time for practice.

The hard sleeper is exactly as it sounds. Kinda reminds me of a metal ironing board with that thin pad covering it. But I saved an extra $12 by not getting the soft sleeper. As all backpackers know, the more money saved, the more you can travel.