Got up in a leisurely fashion. We were mostly packed before breakfast at 8:30 to 9:15, then we went out to check a shoe shop round the corner — Warren wouldn't mind another pair of shoes. However, no luck, so we returned to the hotel to finish packing and be downstairs to check out and get a taxi to the station.
Before we left we couldn't resist taking a photo of the tangle of wires in the street in front of the hotel. This kind of wiring is all around Xi'an!
The coordinator from the hotel got her husband? uncle? father? whoever to drive us (and her) from the hotel to Xi'an Bei, the station for the high speed train, for 100 yuan. We got to the station at 11:30am, went to section B1 to catch the G88, scheduled for 1:30pm.
We were seated in the train by 1pm because a friendly porter (for a fee) took our baggage down and ushered us through the priority line. Good thing, as our bags found a good storage space before the rush of people in the other lanes started pouring into the train.
The train departed strictly on time (what else?) at 1:30pm. It stopped at the following stations on the way:
- Xi'an Bei 1:30pm
- Zhengzhou 3:15pm
- Shijuazhuang 4:30pm
- and finally, Beijing Xi 5:55pm.
We were met at the station by a representative Sundowners, who drove us for a half-hour drive through traffic a lot saner than that in Xi'an, and we were at the Qianmen Hanguo Hotel by 7pm. The Desk Staff made a phone call and held out the phone to Warren. On the other end was our tour guide for the Terracotta Warriors, who arranged to meet us in the foyer tomorrow at 8am. They then handed us our tickets for the journey from Beijing to Ulaanbataar on Wednesday morning.
And, of course, we got our room key, so we went up to room 3031 to have our dinner (the dried noodle dishes we has bought for the train trip but not eaten) and to settle in for the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment