Day 4
Xi'an
8/7/2015
The Bullet Train trip - Beijing to Xi'an
The sight of the Bullet Train took me back to my Engineering days where seminars on Bullet trains and Maglev trains were " THE THING". Finally, I get to travel in one of those trains that was shown in one of those presentations. Running at an average speed of 300 km/hr , we reached Xi'an in 5 hours.
Xi'an
Xi'an is the eastern most point of the Silk Route and the capital of Shaanxi Province. The present President , Mr.Xi Jinping is from Xi'an as well. Xi'an was included in our itinerary because of the Terracotta Warriors. Definitely an architecture marvel.
We took a cab to the Xi'an main train station & got one of the 306 buses to visit the Terracotta Warriors. Since the idea of travelling with our backpacks and walking around with them looked burdensome, we decided to leave our luggage at one of the many "Left Luggage" counters inside the station. The one hour bus ride was very comfortable and we got a good view of Xi'an city, including the famous City wall of Xi'an (right next to the Railway station ) during the journey.
The Terracotta Army
This is one of the most famous archaeological finds in the world. With around 7400 life-size Terracotta warriors and their horses , the most distinctive feature of this army is that NO two faces are alike. Emperor Qin Shi Huang constructed this army to guard over his tomb. Archaeologists believe that he expected his rule to continue in death as in during his life time. The reason behind the construction of the army sounds like a paranoid man's whim. Neverthless the army is magnificent. The dedication and work that went into unearthing and maintaining each piece was indeed applaudable.
The archaeological site is split into three pits, out of which Pit 1 is the largest and the most important. It is believed to contain 6000 warriors out of which only 2000 are on display and horses , all ready for battle. The bronze chariots and horses that were unearthed near the Tomb on Qin Shi Huang is also wow-worthy. Pit 2 contains 1300 warriors and horses whereas Pit 3 has 72 warriors.
There are broadly 5 types of soldiers there : the Kneeling Archers, the Standing Archers, The cavalry men and their horses, The Generals and the mid-rank officers.
I kept a miniature version of one of the generals as a souvenior. Now I have a general on my mantel piece in my home to guard me from the unknown enemies :).
We headed back to the train station for our luggage and then took a cab to Han Tang Inn, the cosy hostel we had booked for the night.
After a relaxing bath we got some dinner and ventured out. The alley was lively with groups of tourists and locals sitting around, eating and drinking beer.
The magnificence of the warriors fresh in our minds, we went to sleep.
Day 5
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| The biggest Pit- Pit 1 |
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| Well, one for the record! |
The archaeological site is split into three pits, out of which Pit 1 is the largest and the most important. It is believed to contain 6000 warriors out of which only 2000 are on display and horses , all ready for battle. The bronze chariots and horses that were unearthed near the Tomb on Qin Shi Huang is also wow-worthy. Pit 2 contains 1300 warriors and horses whereas Pit 3 has 72 warriors.There are broadly 5 types of soldiers there : the Kneeling Archers, the Standing Archers, The cavalry men and their horses, The Generals and the mid-rank officers.
I kept a miniature version of one of the generals as a souvenior. Now I have a general on my mantel piece in my home to guard me from the unknown enemies :).
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| A Kneeling Archer |
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| A cavalry man with his horse |
We headed back to the train station for our luggage and then took a cab to Han Tang Inn, the cosy hostel we had booked for the night.
After a relaxing bath we got some dinner and ventured out. The alley was lively with groups of tourists and locals sitting around, eating and drinking beer.
The magnificence of the warriors fresh in our minds, we went to sleep.
Day 5
9/7/2015
Xi'an
Next day morning, we made a quick visit to the Bell Tower since we had very little time to spare before we rushed to the railway station to catch the train to Chengdu. The large bell at the Bell Tower is rung at dawn while its alter ego, The Drum Tower marked night fall.
We rushed to the Xi'an main train station in a tuk-tuk.
Train trip - Xi'an to Chengdu
The train was an AC seater and ours was a 15 hour journey. Not exactly being the ideal kind of seats for an overnight journey, we were surprisingly quite comfortable during the trip. It was one of the most picturesque train rides of my life. Through mountain valleys sprinkled with a few streams and rivers, the journey was beautiful. I was reading a malayalam novel "Verukal" during the trip and every time I looked above the book and outside the peaceful scenery with mountains in their grandeur would leave me gazing at it for a good 5 minutes. We managed to catch some sleep with Shiveta sleeping on my lap( I don't know how she does it. The tall Shiveta crouches and buries into a coccoon and sleeps very comfortably on my lap) and me sleeping with my head resting on her back. The toilets were cleaned every 3 hours or so. We reached Chengdu at 5 AM.
Next day morning, we made a quick visit to the Bell Tower since we had very little time to spare before we rushed to the railway station to catch the train to Chengdu. The large bell at the Bell Tower is rung at dawn while its alter ego, The Drum Tower marked night fall.
We rushed to the Xi'an main train station in a tuk-tuk.
Train trip - Xi'an to Chengdu
The train was an AC seater and ours was a 15 hour journey. Not exactly being the ideal kind of seats for an overnight journey, we were surprisingly quite comfortable during the trip. It was one of the most picturesque train rides of my life. Through mountain valleys sprinkled with a few streams and rivers, the journey was beautiful. I was reading a malayalam novel "Verukal" during the trip and every time I looked above the book and outside the peaceful scenery with mountains in their grandeur would leave me gazing at it for a good 5 minutes. We managed to catch some sleep with Shiveta sleeping on my lap( I don't know how she does it. The tall Shiveta crouches and buries into a coccoon and sleeps very comfortably on my lap) and me sleeping with my head resting on her back. The toilets were cleaned every 3 hours or so. We reached Chengdu at 5 AM.
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