We headed back to the airport for our flight to Xi'an, home of the terracotta warriors. The experience was relatively painless despite being the only westerners on the plane. The flight was delayed setting off although we had no idea why due to the language barrier. By the time we arrived in Xi'an it was dark and the bus drop off point which we thought was the main railway station turned out to be a random hotel somewhere within the city walls. Having some limited Mandarin would really help in these types of situations. Neither of us felt threatened in any way but it's just really uncomfortable being so disorientated and lost in an alien city, especially late at night and in the dark. After wandering around a bit we decided that a taxi was the best option and managed to flag one down. The driver was very helpful and (we think) phoned the hostel we were staying in to get directions as it was well hidden down a side street. We probably paid over the odds for the fare (£5 instead of £2) but it was well worth it to deliver us to the door. The hostel was buzzing and we dumped our bags in our room on the fourth floor. There was no lift and we were both conscious of the size and weight of our bags as we dragged them up the stairs. We ended the evening with what we thought was a well deserved beer toasting the fact that we'd arrived and looking forward to seeing what Xi'an has to offer.
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