Another Triumph

20th October 2010

I suppose I should really have called this "The Big Ooops!" Last night after I had emailed the blog to Graham for posting we went down to one of the hotel restaurants for dinner. It was a beautiful restaurant - the Chinese equivalent of white linen table cloths etc. Our reception was less than warm. We were directed in no uncertain terms to the Western Restaurant on the 2nd floor. We declined and were eventually seated in an almost empty restaurant. We chose our food and the wine prices were very ok - 48 yuan a bottle. Less than £5. Great. I am so "beered out". We had a bottle and it was fine so we ordered a second. The bill came. We had misread the decimal point - it was £45!!!! To put it in perspective the whole meal cost us £130. At home that would have been par for the course. Live and learn. Enjoy!

We had booked a car and driver for the day today. He picked us up at 10.00 to go to the Terracotta warriors. We had the option of stopping at other places. We asked to see Bam Po. It is a neolithic village discovered in 1953 and made into a Chinese Heritage Site. We're so glad we chose to see this. It was only completed in 2008 and has the most modern technology imaginable. I've videod quite a lot so hope it comes out ok.

Not our choice but we were then taken to see how the terracotta warrior copies etc were made.

The idea was that we would buy, which of course we didn't. We did have bit of fun though! Donnie said afterwards that he would have liked to have bought one (not with JJohn in it!) but we knew there would be another chance.

Don't know where to begin to blog about the Terracotta Warriors. I can see why they call it the 8th Wonder of the world. It is so much to take in.

What is hard to grasp is how recently they were discovered - only in 1978. How could a farmer know what he was seeing. The restoration and discovery goes on. It's a bit like the Great Wall. I really feel the need to reflect and think about what I have seen.

Back to the hotel and the guys headed out to find a supermarket. Cath and I went for another Chinese massage. This one was different and even more painful if that is possible. Neither of us wanted to moan with the pain!

Tomorow we plan to walk the city wall. Don't know if we'll manage all the way round. When we get back to the hotel it will definitely be the guy's turn for the masochistic thing.

We have just returned from a fabulous dinner and we're sitting in our room having a nightcap while I blog. We went back to the street where we'd had our beer and Donnie had "lost" his jacket yesterday. We had an excellent meal with 4 beers all for under £20. Quite a contrast to last night's debacle!

Another wonderful day is over. We are just sooooo lucky.