Day Six: Tuesday

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In light of the fact that we couldn’t see the sunrise from the top of the mountain, a few of us (and by that I mean everyone but Rob :) ) decided to get up early and hike the mountain. Josh and Jared, the go-getters and athletes of the group, got up before the sun. Rod and I heard the alarm and chose to ignore it for an hour, but we were still up well before 7…not bad, considering we were on holidays. The weather was perfect for a hike, and before heading up the mountain itself, we wandered through a temple complex, and up another path (only to discover about 20 minutes up the path that we would be charged the same exorbitant amount to set foot on the mountain at this location, too….we opted for another route).
We bought some breakfast at a bakery, returned to shower (who knew that a hotel – the best in the town – would completely run out of hot water?) and then set out for Xi’an to catch our train back to Beijing. Once in Xi’an, we had some difficulty finding the train station, but once we got our bearings, we decided the most important thing was lunch. We stopped in a small, local, and to be honest,quite shabby looking place for lunch. We ended up having one of the best meals of our trip…three beers, a coke, tea all around, and five delicious dinners, all for less than $10. You can’t complain about that!
We made it to the station with plenty of time (for which we were all thankful) and the next 13 hours we spent playing cards, reading, and trying to sleep.