East Asia 2011: Around Xian: trip to the Terracotta Army

After a generous breakfast at my hotel, nothing like a gentle walk to
South Gate and then walking by the Old City Walls, enjoying walking in
the park between the wall and the canal, and away from traffic
pollution and noise. Interesting to see all the gym equipment that is
installed in the park, not just some bars to do pull-ups, but massage
equipment, static bicycles of various types, running machines...
All this relaxing atmosphere came to an end when, just a few metres
from the next bridge to the street, the path was blocked by some
works, and I could only walk back again the whole length of the park
and again the same distance, this time by the traffic-packed-road to
the train station where the buses to the Terracotta Army
Archaeological site stop.
Imagine a surface like half Tiananmen Sq. nearly as long but half as
wide, in front of the station. In that surface there a taxi stand with
literally hundreds of taxis, and a square with literally a thousand
people arriving, leaving, selling drinks or food, or trying to meet
someone who is arriving by train or bus or who is simply lost, or
carrying a huge sack of some rice, cereal, whatever... Actually, in
the middle of that crowd, there's a fence so that security people can
check the tickets of people intending to travel by train before they
are allowed to even get closer to the station building.
Finally I arrive to some part of this chaos where plenty of buses,
minibuses, urban buses and long distance coaches are arriving, waiting
or departing. My guidebook says I should look for a green coach or for
urban bus number 306.
A somewhat angry mob surrounds the door of a green minibus not far
from me. It says on the bus that it goes to the "Terracotta Army and
Horses", so that must be it. The bus is full already, and not taking
any more customers, and that's why the mob is angry. The bus finally
leaves and the mob kind of relaxes a bit. Meanwhile I check for the
306 bus as alternative, but the queue is about 300m long. 306 buses
arrive, load and laave as fast as it takes to load and unload, but I
guess it will be better to wait for the next green coach.
Two white and purple minibuses arrive to next parking place. It also
says "Terracotta Army and Horses", in very small letters, but no one
from the mob (in which I'm now included) try to board those. After a
while, two more green minibuses arrive, and like a cell reproducing,
the mob splits in two and proceeds to attack each bus. Slowly, the
people trying to alight from the bus manage to filter though the mob
trying to get in. Once all passengers have alighted it's brawl time.
No quarter, no gentlemanly courtesies, everyone wants to board the
bus, and there are no friends in that. Long years of going to the
second-hand book market in Barcelona pay off. I'm in the bus!! And I
even have a seat!! (yes, the very last one, at the very end, to the
left, by the window).
The bus rapidly takes off as soon as noone else fits, surely to avoid
any retaliation from angry mobsters left behind. Now it's time to make
sure I'm in the right bus, but I seem to be the only westerner in the
bus. No one seems to speak anything but Chinese. I show my guidebook
to the guy sitting by my side, and point at the name in Chinese of my
destination. He replies in Chinese (obviously) and pointing to the
parking lot, which I guess it means I should have taken another bus,
but he doesn't seem worried in the least, which in turn I assume means
that this bus, may be not being optimal, will also get me there. When
I show the same to the woman charging for the ride, she just charges
me the same fare as to everyone, so it must be the right bus.
I wait, I look at the landscape (grey, smoggy, industrial... there are
some mountains in the distance, but you can't really see them as they
are deep in the haze), I try to learn to count to ten in Chinese, and
also to count with my fingers Chinese style, with the help of my
neighbor. I also eat some cheese biscuits.
At some point, most of the people leave the bus. It's time to ask
again, this time to the driver. He gestures me to wait and sit in
front. We are not there yet. Some time later, he signals me to leave
the bus, and points emphatically towards the other side of the road. I
leave the bus, I cross the road.
The first large building, behind a coach parking lot, seems to be a
restaurant for organised tours. I keep looking for the Archaeological
site. I arrive to an a promenade full of fast food restaurants,
souvenir shops and other businesses typical of tourist destinations. I
must be getting closer. As many people walk downhill I head for that
direction... but after a while I discover that is the direction of the
parking lot. So, uphill it is... I finally arrive to the top of the
hill and that starts to look like the entrance to either a Sci-Fi
military complex or to a Chinese archaeological touristic attraction.
Of course I need a ticket. But tickets are sold... guess where... yes,
at the bottom of the hill, by the parking lot.
20 minutes later I'm back with my ticket but little patience left. I
pass two ticket check barriers and security controls (it must be the
Sci-Fi military complex, after all), and after crossing some park I'm
in.
I start with the exhibition hall to learn about the discovery, the
different finds, what was in each pit, and the plans for the museum
expansion. Then I head to the buildings that contain the excavation
sites themselves (yes, those that look like Sci-Fi space station
military bunkers).
First one contains the larger excavation pit. It's literally the size
of an hangar. A large one. Many hundreds of real size clay soldiers
stand to attention in their pits, while others are still being dug and
reconstructed. There's no way to describe the size of it all, probably
not even the pictures can transmit that feeling. Anyway, there are two
more pits, one that is being attributed to be some sort of
headquarters with the high ranking officers, and another one with more
soldiers.
All of this is very impressive, but the crowds of Chinese tours are
also overwhelming, and once I've satisfied myself that I've seen,
photographed and explored all there was to see, it's time to retreat
and start going back to Xi'an. This time I manage to get a bus almost
as soon as I get to the parking lot by the road, and the way back is
rather relaxing.
Once in Xi'an, I do a small detour on the way from the station to the
hotel to visit the Taoist Temple of the 8 Immortals, from there,
passing by an antiques market, and back to the old town and to rest a
few minutes in my hotel before going for dinner to the oldest
traditional Chinese restaurant in Xi'an.

East Asia 2011: On the way to Xian & first evening.

Leaving the nice hotel where the conference was held,- and starting
the adventure. First, on a taxi but trapped in a traffic jam to the
airport. Arriving to the airport and passing security check
uneventfully, but later there having some delay in the plane (about
~1h). Chatting with old couple from Britain (who happen to have a
small house in the Atlantic coast of Andalucia),-and on the plane to
an Indian lady who was traveling China with several friends and
relatives.
Arrival to Xi'an, getting luggage and taking bus to the center. In
there, avoiding bus hostess trying to get a commission on my hotel
reservation and finding a small, well hidden, but affordable hotel (a
bit run-down, but fine overall), and most importantly, right in the
center of town. Once checked in, time to start with the highlights of
the city.
First stop is the bell tower, trapped in the middle of a busy
roundabout (fortunately there's a maze of subway tunnels to get to one
side of the street to the other).
Second stop, obviously, is the drum tower, with it's drum and
furniture exhibitions. In the past, life would run to the rhythm of of
a bell during the day and of the drum during the night, which would
mark the passing of time.
From there, straight to the Muslim Quarter, to see the crowds, colors,
activity, and of course have something to eat. Highly recommended are
the kebabs prepared by this guy and his wife at No. 33 XXXXX Street
(the one to the left) (not to be confused with the big shop just
besides, with plenty of types of kebab but no customers). Another
suggestion is the noodle place at around the 105 of the same street. A
large bowl of lamb and noodles with some vegetables and just a bit of
very rich soup at the bottom of the bowl. Tried some sweets as well...
peanut 'polvoron' and some rice sweet looking like a giant 'flam' or
'creme caramel' and served in slices on a kebab stick.
With that, it was time to go to bed and rest for the trip to the
Terracotta Army the next day.
-

East Asia 2011: Photo Great Wall

East Asia 2011: Second day in Beijing

After a long healling sleep and a generous breakfast, it was time for
the sightseeing of the day. The plan for today was to start visiting
the Olympics complex and then come back early to the hotel for the
conference registration.
The Olympics complex can be easily reached by the underground, which
like the ones in Thailand, Singapore or Malaysia, is ultramodern, with
clear indications and unbelievably clean compared to their
counterparts in Europe.
As everything in China, size is important, and when you build a new
area of the city to host some world event like the Olympic Games, the
imortant of size becomes capital. The main avenue of the complex runs
for several km, and it aligns perfectly with the axis formed by the
Forbidden City and Tiananmen Sq.
After the Olimpics complex, and on the way back to the city center,
there was also a stop for lunch in a Asian style fast food place
(noodle soup and gyoza) by the Puppet Theatre and later on a relaxed
coffee in come cafe lost in a neighbourhood of typical 'hutong'
buildings.
On the same street, closer to the city center, the influence of the
customers of one of the main youth hostels could be clearly seen, as
the traditional houses and few shops sudenly transformed in design
clothing, articraft and souvenir shops and internet cafes and pubs
(Nanfuoguxian). Passing by that hostel, we decided to already book a
trip to the Great Wall for the day after the conference finished.
After that, it was time to get back to the hotel, try to sort out some
travel logistics for after the conference and get a light fruit supper
before going to bed. Funny thing about those logistics was that it
seems that in China there's not such a concept as a Travel Agency (of
course, why should they need it?), but it took me some trying and
asking in various places and to several people to realise. The only
way to sort out some travel tickets seems to be either to get them
yourself (by visiting the railway statin, airport, etc. or of course
using the internet), or if you are lodging in a hotel, get someone of
the hotel to do it for you.

East Asia 2011: Photo Beijing day 2

Beijing subway. Olympic area. Hutong. Coffee break.

East Asia 2011: Photo Beijing day 1

Forbidden City; Tian'man Sq; Park of Temple of Heaven; lunch.

East Asia 2011: Arrival to Beijing and first day

***NOTE: For those whom I had given a different mobile number where to
SMS me if needed, please note that it does not work in China,
therefore, if you need to contact me, please use email.***

After a long flight with Aeroflot, finally one arrives to Beijing.
First welcome ceremony in China is, of course, the immigration
control. The first greeting of the guy there, surely wanting to make a
joke to break the ice, was that I didn't look like the picture in my
passport, and asking if it was really me.
Apart from that, not much of a problem with immigration, and more on
the contrary, I was surprised by the interest of the Chinese
authorities to improve the quality of the service. As you are almost
done with the immigration procedure, you are asked to 'vote' on the
quality of the attention you have received on a special keypad (of
course I voted 'very good service', because I would not like to be
responsible for the guy at immigration receiving an electric shock or
something like that if I voted the opposite).
Once I had recovered my luggage, I was fortunate to meet again the
girl who was sitting beside me on the plane and her friend, and they
offered to share their taxi to the city with me. During the trip,
various subjects were covered, ranging from urban development, passing
by weather, and work interests, and even metallurgical aspects of 9/11
and the usefulness of carbon nanotubes to build an space elevator.
Once in my hotel, and being that my room was not ready yet (too
early), I left my luggage in a friend's room and we took off to start
discovering a few of the secrets of the capital. Our wanderings took
us by the outer wall of the Forbidden City,then Tian'anmen Sq. and
then to the high street beyond. It was surprising to see a newly built
commercial street built in traditional style, but lodging
international brands like Starbucks or Zara... it reminded me of it
being some sort of Disney World neighborhood (Qianmen St.). On the
other hand, just by taking any of the side streets, in a few minutes
you would find yourself in a very traditional street, with old shops
and small eateries.
From there we walked all the way to the Temple of Heaven park and
temple complex. On he way, we had the chance to explore a local
market. Beijing is a city with many parks, huge and small, always very
well kept. some surprising things for me were the way to water the
plants and even the trees (by spraying them with water, instead if
soaking the ground where they stand), and that in some quiet spots of
the park, speakers where installed, concealed as old lamps, providing
relaxing music to match the greenery and relaxing atmosphere.
After all that walking (just let me remind you that by that time I had
not really slept in over 40h) we finally went back to the commercial
area we had found before to get some real traditional food. Let's just
say that ordering unknown dishes in a foreign country of which you
don't understand the language it's always risky, but that let's say we
managed to have a 66% rate of success. ;-)
From there, it was just another gentle stroll to the hotel, with
various stops on the way to get some supplies, and meeting a few more
people participating in the conference. Finally, it was time to have a
long shower, and get to bed.

East Asia 2011: Stop-over at Sheremtyvo Airport

First stop on the way: Moskow. The plane that has brought us here was
something out of other ages. Nowhere where the small luxuries of Asian
or Middle Eastern airlines. Well, may be the people in the First class
did have some complimentary paper slippers, earplugs and a better
menu, but still,you already get that and better on Economy Class in
Singapore Airlines, or Gulf Air.
Not even we had a good choice of entertainment options, not even the
old style "one film fits all" of old times and coach trips. The plane
didn't have any entertainment, no film,no game console, not even a
music channel where to fit your headphones. Actually, the only luxury
was a bit more space than i a Ryanair flight. And a meal of course,
but don't get me started on the food...
I'll talk about the terminal later,now i have to leave to the boarding call.
PS: The next leg of the trip was not so disastreous: the plane qas a
21st century model, with proper entertainment center, but the food was
stilll appaling.

East Asia 2011: Fully packed and ready to go!!

 

Everything is ready. My luggage is packed and the travel plan is set. There're only farewell whishes to exchange with friends and family and it will be time for the next big Asian adventure.

Galicia'10 -- Cies: Lemmings & Paradise

Galicia'10 -- Guided Visits to Santiago

There are plenty of options to visit Santiago on guided tours, but my choice for a very complete set, including historical and artistical highlights, legends, views and curisities, would consist on combining the following three tours:

If you want to have a day of solid sightseeing you should get the audioguide from the Tourist Information Office, which lets you visit the city at your pace and will provide you with the basic facts of the city.

If you can, book already for the Night Guided Tour as well, which lets you complement the previous one with visits to the Hospital de los Reyes Catolicos, some of the oldest pubs in Santiago, meet the ghost of a pilgrim and experience the real magic of the queimada.

Also, as you arrive to the plaza del Obradoiro during your audioguided tour, you can also book the tour to the roof of the Cathedral for some time in the early afternoon. This tour will let you have excellent views to the city and to visit some parts of the Cathedral and the Palace of Xelmirez that you cannot visit otherwise.

Enjoy!!

Galicia'10: Vigo Survival Tips

Travel guides and previous visitors can suply you with ideas about what sights you would enjoy visiting, but at least for me, it is equally important to know where to enjoy a the local gastronomy and of course, where to rest and gather energy for the next stage of the journey. As I did for Santiago, here you have my suggestions for Vigo.

This time let me suggest where to book your accommodation: Hotel Aguila, in Rua Victoria (just at one of the ends of Plaza Compostela). Excellent quality, better price, and spot on the center of Vigo. Not even 5min away from the harbour and old quarter. (there's also a very handy 24h supermarket around the corner).

About some place for tapas and home made meals, do not hesitate to go to the Bar Chavolas, in Rua dos Cesteiros. Or if you feel like having some Jamon, Chorizo, lomo, cheese... then try the Jamoneria Jaqueyvi, in Plaza Princesa.

If what you want is to relax in the early afternoon before resuming the sightseeing, try the coffee shakes (or just coffee) at Cafe Gretttel, in Praza Constitucion, while sitting under the archs observing people pass by.

Finally, and for a real sit down dinner or the best Mariscada (Seafood feast) in town, and at the best price, forget about the touristy restaurants close to the seafront, they would rip you off full time. Your best choice is, without a hint of a doubt, the Rias Baixas, in Rua Republica Argentina.

Enjoy your stay!!

Galicia'10 So much to do in Santiago

After waking up to the always invigorating sound of a concert with the Cathedral's carillon, followed by the harmonious sound of 'gaitas' (windpipes) we look ahead another day full of activities in Santiago.

First, breakfast visiting the main market (Mercado de Abastos), then a visit to the roof of the Cathedral, and after lunch heading to the Center for Contemporary Art and finally a guided tour to the old quarters at night.

Galicia'10 visiting Santiago

After a lively night, with entertainment provided by the bells of the Cathedral (signalling not only the hours but the quarter hours as well), and the "loud fighting cats ensemble", among others, today was the day to explte all the sights of the city of Santiago.

Armed with the audioguide from the tourist information office, we learned all the secrets of the Cathedral and its construction, the old quarters, some monasteries and convents converted into museums and the distinct walks of life and society in the park of la Alameda. Of course it could not have been possible without the nutritious (and the generous portions of) galician meals (just as example... these are two half portions of cheese and meats!!).

Galicia'10 Arrival in Santiago

After a relaxed and uneventful journey, arrival to Santiago de Compostela, destination of pilgrims and travellers alike.

Getting information at the tourist information office, tasting some various types of Tarta d Santiago and other sweets and Orujos, and sitting outside a bar to plan the stay and the visits.

Once everything is under a tight schedule ;-) a quick pop into the Tourist information office and a bit of wandering in the area North of the Cathedral.

Dinner in a nice garden restaurant. Later, there was supposed to be a jazz concert at the Xardins de Fonseca, but unfortunately the info from the concert was wrong and it had already finished. A bit more of wandering, sampling different street concerts, and finally a nice glass of Ribeiro to sum up the first day of the journey.

Galicia'10: Santiago Survival Tips

Travel guides and previous visitors can suply you with ideas about what sights you would enjoy visiting, but at least for me, it is equally important to know where to enjoy a the local gastronomy and of course, where to rest and gather energy for the next stage of the journey. These are my suggestions for Santiago:

An interesting stop as you start your day of exploration of Santiago de Compostela is the Mercado de Abastos, the main marketplace, just outside the old quarter, and also a place where you can stock yourself of food (may be some fruit for a snack), and stop for a coffee and churros. If you want to enjoy some ultrafresh seafood, without being ripped off at some high-up restaurant, you can also consider the possibility of buying some shellfish in the market, and in the same  market cafe they will cook it for you for a small fee.

Once you've spent all the morning sightseeing, there's nowhere better to stop to gather the energy for the afternoon than at a small family run restaurant where to enjoy typical home make local cuisite. My suggestion is the Entre Ruas, in a tiny square at the end of the narrowest alley in Santiago. Try the traditional Galician boiled coffee as well!!

May be after lunch you feel like resting on the grass while discussing what to do in the afternoon. Many people would probably go to the Alameda, but let me suggest a different, quieter park: San Domingos de Bonaval, close to the Museo do Pobo Galego.

Finally, after a whole day of culture and views, you might feel like chilling out while having some tapas and sampling the local wines or some cold beer in a cool tasca, then my choice would be the A Despensa Da Troia (Rua da Troia), but beware, if you order some cheese or cold meats board, half boards are already for the very hungry!!.

On the other hand, if you'd prefer a classic dinner in a luxurious garden, then head for the Casa Felisa, in Porta da Pena, 5.

Finally, just in case you didn't book any accomodation, you can try the Hospedia La Tita, in Rua Nova, 46. May be not the classiest place to stay, but 5min from the Cathedral (just a warning: you will hear the bells all night long), and rather affordable.

Galicia'10 -- Packing

Sopar Vietnamita

Sopar Vietnamita (el 4rt), al Thaithai

It's nice to be back home...

After a week of scientific conference and a stopover in the UK for the weekend, it's great to be finally back home, specially when the trip has included, in about a week: 4 plane rides, 15 train, 2 coach, 4 bus, 2 taxi, and 4 tube, in three different countries!!

No, I didn't ride any elephant this time... but not for lack of oportunity...

International Conference: METAL2010 (Czech Republic)