The Seven Layers of Audio Hell
Greetings from Xi'an, the home of the famous Terracotta Army, which we have not seen yet, having just arrived this morning off of the train from Pingyao. A number of interesting events occured, which we will relate in our favorite format: the bulleted kind.
* Visited a Taoist temple dating back over a thousand years famous for its statuary. When we heard "famous statuary" we certainly did not envision carved wooden demons impaling wailing wooden mortals with sharp, pokey things amidst wooden flames and vicious helldogs! Definitely a highlight of the trip.
* The old man who drove us via motorized rickshaw to the temple was adorable, friendly, and... completely unfit to drive. While we may give him credit for keeping an eye out for potholes in the road, we may take away that credit for his actually going out of his way to drive over them. Haha. Funnier in hindsight :)
* Our hotel was really great, an old Qing dynasty bank that had been converted into a living quarters for "financiers" such as ourselves. The service was impeccable--Tony, the concierge, not only walked to the train station to buy us a ticket to Xi'an, but also packed us a little lunch to take with us on the train! He took us on a rickshaw to the station, waited with us for the train, and even got on to try to negotiate a "sleeper" (a car with beds as opposed to seats) for us. What a guy!
* On the other hand, Dirk and I experienced "audio hell" at this same hotel, as the same 15 minute CD of Chinese elevator music played on a nonstop loop throughout our three days there. We felt really sorry for the staff, having to listen to the same music day in and day out, but we caught some of them actually rocking out to it. Wonders never cease..
* While Jenny called the elevator music "audio hell", we certainly had to revise the term once we got onto the train. Think Dante's Inferno, with different layers for the worst sinners. Something we did in our past lives must have been really, really bad, because we were subjected to not only one of the songs from the elevator music CD, but also the insane cackling of the "Evil Witch Conductor Lady" who constantly yelled at me (Jenny) in Mandarin and made everyone on the train totally miserable with her insane yelling and screeching. Definitely seventh layer, if not higher.
* Wait, it just got higher. Kenny G. was playing at the station as we got off the train.
Well, we are set to relax after our 13 hour train ride in our hotel.. We've written a bunch of postcards and will be sending them out tomorrow, but they probably won't reach you until after we get back. Zai Jien!
* Visited a Taoist temple dating back over a thousand years famous for its statuary. When we heard "famous statuary" we certainly did not envision carved wooden demons impaling wailing wooden mortals with sharp, pokey things amidst wooden flames and vicious helldogs! Definitely a highlight of the trip.
* The old man who drove us via motorized rickshaw to the temple was adorable, friendly, and... completely unfit to drive. While we may give him credit for keeping an eye out for potholes in the road, we may take away that credit for his actually going out of his way to drive over them. Haha. Funnier in hindsight :)
* Our hotel was really great, an old Qing dynasty bank that had been converted into a living quarters for "financiers" such as ourselves. The service was impeccable--Tony, the concierge, not only walked to the train station to buy us a ticket to Xi'an, but also packed us a little lunch to take with us on the train! He took us on a rickshaw to the station, waited with us for the train, and even got on to try to negotiate a "sleeper" (a car with beds as opposed to seats) for us. What a guy!
* On the other hand, Dirk and I experienced "audio hell" at this same hotel, as the same 15 minute CD of Chinese elevator music played on a nonstop loop throughout our three days there. We felt really sorry for the staff, having to listen to the same music day in and day out, but we caught some of them actually rocking out to it. Wonders never cease..
* While Jenny called the elevator music "audio hell", we certainly had to revise the term once we got onto the train. Think Dante's Inferno, with different layers for the worst sinners. Something we did in our past lives must have been really, really bad, because we were subjected to not only one of the songs from the elevator music CD, but also the insane cackling of the "Evil Witch Conductor Lady" who constantly yelled at me (Jenny) in Mandarin and made everyone on the train totally miserable with her insane yelling and screeching. Definitely seventh layer, if not higher.
* Wait, it just got higher. Kenny G. was playing at the station as we got off the train.
Well, we are set to relax after our 13 hour train ride in our hotel.. We've written a bunch of postcards and will be sending them out tomorrow, but they probably won't reach you until after we get back. Zai Jien!