troopytracks

Xian is a very large and very busy modern city, the numbers of people moving around on the 10m wide pavements is just amazing. Everything is tidy, clean and people are immaculately dressed. The vast majority of people moving around are under 3o yrs old. Cities are not really our thing though and we are ready to go back to the countryside once we have done all we need to do here.

When we left the hotel, we again went through the back streets. It is much more lively and is where normal Chinese people do their shopping. Prices are lower and the sights and sounds are much more interesting. One of the things that we had not seen before was the naan bread ovens, the bread is stuck to the sides of the oven to cook and flipped over half way through.

We loved just looking at the different ways that things are done. Even the butchers shops are interesting as you can see all the action.

Some of the meat looks more tempting than others.

We preferred the look of the bread dumplings and the dried kiwi fruit.

We continued our walk past the bell tower and on to the Canon service centre to pick up the lens. As promised it was all ready and with a new auto focus unit and complete clean, the cost was 48 pounds. Great to have it back as the small camera is great for quick shots but does not take as nice pictures as the Canon.

Tonight we are going to have Peking Duck in one of the special restaurants at the south of the walled city …. yum!

We left before 9.00 am for the drive into the city, which took about 45 mins. There was a lot of dodging and weaving as we stood our ground through the traffic. If you are too timid you would never get anywhere. The big bumper helped! We spent an hour or so driving around looking for a hotel that was within the walled city, that had parking and was reasonably priced. We ended up finding a central one for an average of 30 pounds a night for the two nights.

We needed to catch up with the website, wash clothes and get our camera lens repaired if possible. We had not been able to use the main camera since UB. We did not do much in the way of sightseeing, but did walk through to the Bell Tower and the Muslim back streets on our way to a restaurant for lunch. Afterwards we found a Canon Quick Service Centre, who said that if we got the lens to them by 6.00 pm, would have it ready to pick up by 2.00pm on Sunday!! Great service if it works out.

That evening just went around the corner for noodles. Cost 35 Yuan for three, including three portions of noodles, one curry dish with rice and three glasses of grape juice.

Left the little guest house at Pingyao and headed south towards Xian. It was a sunny day and there was little in the way of smog until we got close to the Yellow River. The view of the river and mountains would have been great but it was not possible to see far.

The day was not very exciting as we had to cover over 490km on freeways. It was really just a blur of very good roads and frequent toll booths. At the end of the trip we will add the tolls up and give a total.

We arrived at the site of the Terracotta Army and museum at around 3.30 and decided to go ahead and visit as it did not close until 7.00 pm. Entry was 110 Yuan and parking 15 Yuan.The site is set in park like grounds and big hangers protect the pits that contain the remains of the army. There is also a modern museum with lots of photos and relics from the site. There were also pictures of celebrity guests (like the Clintons) walking among the soldiers in the pits. We had to make do with the view from above!

Among the other items on display were replicas of the chariots that the Emperor Qin Shi Huang (first emperor) of China used to ride in. He was 13 when he took the throne and it is believed that work started on his mausoleum 246 BC! He was buried here in 210 to 209 BC. As our boys would say … well old!

Having spent about two and a half hours at the site, we drove into the nearby village and then out into farmland to look for a camp spot. We found a place only a couple of kms from the site. It was actually next to a grave and so Spring was not totally relaxed in her little tent!
Apparently in the small villages people can be buried on your own land. Cremations are recommended in city areas for obvious reasons …. there are so many people here!

It suddenly rained hard in the night and the wind was gusting around the camper and tent. Spring thought she was going to get blown off the hill and so we had to get up in the night and move the camper to give her some shelter from the wind. By the morning the wind had dropped and the sun was out. Lucky as it cleared away the smog. Sometimes, when you are near a power staion the air is not that great!

However today was a clear one, which is apparently quite unusual in this area. When it was time for lunch we pulled off the freeway and dropped into a little village. They were drying and sorting maize.

As normal as soon as you stop the car, interested people pop their head in to take a look. They are not shy!

Marjool liked the trousers that all the little children wear here. They have a big hole so that they can squat to do their business.

We drove most of the day and caught odd glimpses of parts of the Great Wall. We had avoided Beijing and so did not do the normal Great Wall sightseeing visit. We will have to do that another day!

At around 5.00 pm we arrived at Pingyao. It is a walled city that has been preserved and although it has geared up for tourism it is still lived in by many families who have been there for many generations.

We stayed in a little guest house that was 120 Yuan a night for a room.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening wandering around the town.

In one little courtyard we saw lots of really brightly coloured decorations. They are used for funerals.

We ate that night in a tiny little restaurant. It cost around 40 Yuan for 3 (about 1.30 pounds each) including beer and tea! We then walked back through all the little antique shops and alleys back to the guest house. Its strange not sleeping in the camper!

The posts for China are now being posted by Ben as we cannot do them ourselves from here. Thanks Ben!

Diesel price is around 7 Yuan here which is around 70p / ltr.

Had a quiet night in the desert and Spring slept OK in the tent. Marjool gave her a hot water bottle ….. she’s got to have someone to spoil (and lets face it, it will not be me)!
We headed south towards Datong firstly on the national routes. Our first stop was in a little village where the houses were all made of mud and straw bricks cut from the ground. Some of the houses were now being abandoned as the young move to the cities. All around the village were pits dug in the clay with covers on. They were about 3 meters down and then went off horizontally for about 2 meters. We found out that the villages store vegetables in them for the winter … just like the Russians.

There was a lovely old couple that we met who explained how life was in the village. They were tiny and very sweet! It was useful to have the guide (which is compulsory for self drive in China anyway) as we can get more detail about local life.

We carried on down the freeway towards Datong stopping at frequent intervals to pay tolls. Local roads tend to be jammed up and so to cover the distances we are using the freeway. Not our preference but the costs would be too high in terms of the daily guide costs if we went the slow way. Shame.

We arrived at the Huahong Grottoes (Yungang) and worked our way through all the new visitor centre complete with brand new temples, stone bridges and artificial lake. The entry fee was 150 Yuan each (about 15 pounds) and parking an extra 15 Yuan. This must put the price beyond many locals. However the Chinese tourists seem very wealthy and generally drive big luxury European or Japanese cars and have the latest Canon cameras. There is a lot money around.

The grottoes date back to 453 and are basically lots of man made caves that have thousands of Buddhas carved into the rock, ranging in size from a few cm to 17m high. Many of them are still painted but others have lost their decoratin and are now bare rock. There are 53 grottoes in total and a series of temple buildings built up against the rock face.

The largest Buddha is right at the end of the rock face.

After leaving the grottes we headed into the hills and found a bit of farmland to camp on. It was actually a terrace and so made a nice flat camp spot. We cooked dinner outside and listened to Chinese music.

We spent most of the day wandering around the town again trying to find a wifi place. Despite how advanced it seems in China compared with Mongolia, there is no real 3G availability and so the ‘tethering’ that we have been using to link our laptop to the internet via the phone, does not work here. We also discovered that the site that we use to update our blog is blocked here, and so posts from China will not be easy.

As we walked around the town there was lots of little interesting sights like the nut and seed stall.

We now also had our temporary number plate displayed in the car.

After waiting until 3:45 on the second day, we finally had the customs clearance and could leave Erenhot on the southern road! Just outside the town the desert landscape is decorated with dinosaurs and some artificial trees. Interesting!

This evening we stopped in a landscape that is still very barren, put up Springs new tent and had an early night.

We set off early and got to the Mongolian side of the border at around 8.30 (it opens at around 8.00) and initially joined a queue. We were soon surrounded by UAZ jeeps full of day trippers crossing the border for shopping. When they would not let us out, we pulled out and off the side of the road into the desert sand, backtracked and then drove all the way to the front of the queue …. much to our surprise and the locals disgust we were allowed in the pole position ….. serve them right for not letting us in!!

The border can only be described as chaotic, with everyone trying to push in front of you at each desk you get to …. time to sharpen your elbows!

First make sure that you get a document like the one below if you want to get your car into China. Without it you may lose another day and 300 or 400 US$.

As you get through the first barrier you are given a document to allow you to record the three steps of the process. First in Quarantine control, second is immigration and third is customs. Without all stamps you cant leave! We managed to get a number of a young lady called Sudaa ( means pearl in Mongolian – I think) who speaks good English.  We have a phone number if you need it! She helped us through the process and was really nice.

We made it through within an hour and drove the short distance to the Chinese border. Suddenly everything was dust free, green with plants and trees and very organised. The contrast was amazing!

When we looked up and saw the flag flying in the breeze, we knew we were there!

We met our guide who seemed really nice and was called Miss Spring … we were to call her spring.

We went through immigration and a customs check that involved a separate clearing company. We then followed a van to a hotel car park where would stay until the car had been cleared.

While we were waiting we wandered around the town which was a really lively place. It was also very clean, tidy and modern in comparison with the Mongolian towns.

At one point we had to meet a policeman who had to check our Chinese number plate. This is the policeman and the guide Miss Spring.

In the evening we went for hot pot, which was lovely ….. it had been a long day, and we still had no idea how long it would take to clear the car.

That night we slept in the car in the hotel car park as we were not allowed to move the car until the clearance process was complete.

There was little to do for the weekend in Zumin Uud other than relax in the bit of desert just outside the town. It was pretty windy and so the town tended to get a lot of dust blowing around. We camped in the same spot as Friday night and just tidied the camper and sorted out as much as we could. Washing was a problem as we were running out of water after the trip from UB. We decided to make a few pancakes and pineapple fritters while we waited!

Unfortunately WordPress (which we use to update our website) is blocked in China and so unless we find a way around it, we will not be able to update the blog for the part of the trip. Next time we have good Internet we will send an email, with pictures, to someone to show the entry process into China. This can be posted from the UK. We will then try to find a more practical way of keeping the site up to date. Sorry!

Camped last night a few hundred meters away from the track (or series of tracks) that still form the main road from UB to China. It was quiet except for the occasional truck heading towards the border.

Again it was warmer again overnight with no frost and so we got up a bit earlier and were on the way by 8.30am. For some reason we normally fiddle around until at least 9.00 am or even 9.30 am. I think as it warms up we’ll spring out of bed earlier and earlier!

Arrived in Zamin Uud at about 11.00 am and went to the customs office in the main railway station. I explained that I needed a ‘manifest’ document that could be used to clear the car through Chinese customs, and a really friendly man, who spoke perfect english said that I could pick up the form at the customs office just inside the first gate at the border crossing. He even phoned ahead so that the customs officer who would issue the form was ready when I arrived. I was also given phone numbers by three people I spoke to, to call if we had any problems! The document cost 3000T (150 pence). Great, we had the missing piece of paperwork. Fingers crossed that our guide for China would have the rest!

Unable to go any earlier into China we will have a couple of days in or around Zamin Uud. Our first impressions have been positive, it is certainly a busy place and everyone we have met so far, or asked for directions, have been really friendly.

Tomorrow we will explore more but for now this is the view of the town from where we are camped.

We rounded the evening off with a few games of boules and then showered with the solar shower. We will use the next couple of days catching up with e mails and refining our plans for China. We need to sort out things that we don’t need to access anymore ….. now that Russia and Mongolia are behind us! Suddenly South East Asia seems like a more reasonable target.