Day 8: Yangshuo/Xian
We woke up, packed our bags, had breakfast, and checked out of the hotel at noon. We had an hour before our taxi arrived to take us to the airport, so we hung out in the hotel’s common room and updated the blog.
Keeping the blog up to date
We were pleased to find our taxi driver was the same lady who drove us to the terraces. Driving through the rain toward the airport, she stopped to grab a bag of oranges from the trunk and gave them to us to take along to Xian. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time for our flight, the weather a foggy, rainy mess.
This is good advice in any country
One last look at Yangshuo scenery
In line behind people checking about 73 pieces of luggage
Our flight to Xian arrived nearly 40 minutes early, and after collecting our luggage we found the airport express bus that would take us into the city. An hour later we were dropped off in the middle of downtown Xian, where we bargained for a taxi ride to our hotel. Refusing the first overpriced offer, we were chased by another driver who offered us the trip for half the price. This taxi was not so much a car as a motorized cart (unfortunately, no picture), but both we and our luggage fit inside and we wove our way through the jam-packed streets to our hotel.
Hazy skies over Xian
We were curious to see our hotel, the Ibis Xian, as I had found an amazing deal online and booked a room for $12/night. We were pleased to find a nice, clean room with free internet and breakfast, plus a good view of the city, and after unpacking a bit we set out to find some dinner.
Best hotel deal in the city
Wandering through the streets looking for something to eat, we found a bunch of street food stalls crowded with people (always a good sign!). We bought two big steamed buns filled with pork and shrimp for 3 RMB (about 45 cents), and after buying a Coke and two ice cream cones at McDonalds, our dinner came to $2. We walked back to the hotel and made our plans for the next day.
Lit-up street in downtown Xian
Evening exercisers
Cheap, delicious dinner
Hope you tipped your cab driver well; she certainly took good care of you two. The twelve dollar room looks quite nice. Love, Mom and Dad
I love the road sign that suggests not “driving tiredly”. I think we need more interesting road signs like that in the US! Love the blog, guys…
Wow…wow…wow…it is so fun to see the amazing things you are experiencing. Gee, I think dad and I should visit there – hey, $12.00 rooms(that actually look quite comfortable and clean!) and $2.00 meals make this cheaper than van camping!!! 🙂 We can appreciate the taste of fresh oranges as we had that experience in California…yummmmmm. You must have made a good impression on your cab driver as she got you a bag of them! Way to go! Matthew, the pictures are great….Nicole, the ‘travelogue’ is totally entertaining> Can’t wait for the next day!!! hugs, mom