Panda-mania

Been a few days since my last entry. Having real issues with the Wifi in this area. Can't download pictures, so those have to wait until I get into a better area. Can barely get onto this website which is disappointing to me. Left Xi'an 2 days ago and headed for the train which will get me to the train to Chengdu. I had spent all day hiking the city wall of Xi'an. 12 km hike that was flat but in the burning sun. Nice walk which gave me a view of the Xi'an city. I returned to the hostel and had planned on taking a taxi to the south railway station which was an hour taxi ride away. Lady at the hostel told me I could catch an earlier train which would cost me $2 instead of an expensive taxi ride. Went to the train station and after a bit of running

back and forth got my ticket and onto the train. Feel bad for the people around me because I was sweating like a pig and had been all day. Got to the south train station and thought am I in the right place. Was kind of out of the city and very rural looking. The place was out of a movie. I walked into an outdoor place where people were laying around on the pavement. After a few inquiries, I found where I could get my ticket. Thought I will go in the building and sit in the waiting area. Well after going through security, I entered a one room metal building with a few seats. Place was filled with a big cricket type bug and mosquitoes. Sat down for the 3 hour wait for the train. Place kept filling up full of people waiting for their trains. People were yelling and in was genuine chaos. All I could do was laugh and hope I got on the right train. Met a couple from Philadelphia after a while, so we talked the hours away swatting bugs and marveling at the chaos. Finally got on my train. It was totally dark so I had to spend some time finding my bunk and then we were off. I was the

only foreigner in that part of the train so I got lots of stares, a few smiles, and genuine curiosity. Crazy trip that finally arrived exactly on time. Had no trouble finding my hostel and I was safe again. Decided to go out and do some touring, but got totally confused and lost. Was very hungry since I had only some bread to eat since I hiked the Xi'an wall. Couldn't find the restaurant, so I went back to the hostel and met with the tour guide about my Tibet trip. His news was less encouraging, but while I was sitting there I met a guy from the Netherlands. I brazenly asked him if he was hungry and would he like to join me for supper. I think this travelling is changing me and giving me confidence to talk to people! He was hungry, so we went out and found the restaurant. It was the first good news of the day. It was a Sichuan Hotpot. Extraordinary spicy and hot! Boy was it good (paid for it in the bathroom the next day)! We were the only foreigners in the restaurant, so it was a bit of a struggle ordering. Got our food and had an awesome meal. Everything around us was noisy hustle and bustle. Perfect atmosphere for China. Went back to the hostel and had a few beers with a German fellow and the Netherlands guy (Frank). Went to bed about 1 after a very interesting trip and day. Got up and was meeting Frank to go the Panda facility in Chengdu. We got their by about 1 pm in the afternoon and proceeded to spend the next 4 hours touring the huge complex. The pandas were incredible. Saw lots from babies to adult. Crazy, lazy animal is the best way to describe them. They have done a great job bringing there numbers back up and the pandas are now thriving. Bought my girls birthday presents there, as I made contributions to the Panda preservation in their names. Hope they like that! Not sure if the introduction back into the wild has been that successful, but they are working on it. Very encouraging what we saw today. Off to bed for me. Tomorrow I am staying at the hostel working on my trip to Tibet and maybe send a package of Christmas stuff home. Need a day of relative nothing I think!