Friday, April 12. Clear, warmer.

Today we fly to Xian, a two hour flight to the ancient city where our sole purpose is to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. I think we need a bit of a day off and am happy to have a travel day even though it will be rough it will be a change and different. We arrived here Sunday changing our clocks 14 hours ahead. Although we slept on the plane we hit the ground running the next morning after 4 to 6 hours of fitful sleep. Since then we have walked forever, and I mean forever.

Our guide has tried to show us everything on her schedule and some things are more interesting, to us, than others. Yesterday was kind of the breaking point, I was fine in the morning, yet about five minutes after getting in the car my stomach started to send signals that all was not right in that area of my body. Oh, Oh, and we are off to see the Great Wall. The driver stopped on the freeway to get me a throw up bag in case the worse happened and eventually we stopped at a Freeway Service Area Rest stop. The issue subsided and we proceeded. Hmmmm, must have been the bean-curd dumpling I tried for breakfast! That ends the experiment in venturing into the exotic foods for breakfast thing!

We got back to the hotel around 4:00 last night and I felt better just being there. My next mission was to get some pics of the Wall to Craig. No luck in the room so I reluctantly dragged myself to the downstairs lobby and had success. That made me feel better, so I had a Gin and Tonic while I did my thing. It is very frustrating as the iPad is not as strong as a computer and it can only be hooked up wireless, unfortunately. I got about 6 pics off in less than an hour. That would take two minutes at home.

Back to the room again where Fellette had been relaxing. I did not want to face another Chinese menu so we ordered room service. I ate 3/4 of a club sandwich and just laid on the bed and dozed. HBO had the final episode of The Lord of the Rings, Fellette, who ate her salad with gusto watched it and next thing it was around nine o'clock. I officially went to bed then and slept the night. We got up at six, me to write the blog, Fellette to do her usual thing. Fellette has an amazing constitution, able to take just about anything and sleeps like a rock.

Me doing the blog is good for me in spite of the problems. It inspires me throughout the day as I take pictures bearing in mind that you folks reading this may get some enjoyment out of it. What would really be the point of taking pictures if they are not to be shared. And showing pictures to people at home after the trip just doesn't do it and is not practical.

Our in-room dinner! [No Chinese!]