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Reflections on a Wandering Life.....
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Luoyang
Charley wanted me to stop in Xi'an on my way back to Beijing. I have been to Xi'an, but James wanted to go there at the same time, so the three of us decided to meet there, since it was on my way back. In fact, it's easier to get a ticket out of Lanzhou to Xi'an than all the way to Beijing. Problem. Once I got to Xi'an, I could not get a ticket to Beijing. I could have gotten a standing ticket on the same train James was going back on, but I was not in the mood for standing all night. So I asked Charley a question I have asked times before when I have been in the same situation: "Where can I get a ticket to easily?"
Charley told me that it would be easy to get a ticket to Zhengzhou. Well, that sounded like a good possibility, because Zhengzhou is a major rail hub. If you can't get a decent ticket from Zhengzhou to Beijing, it would have to be the end of the world or something. But I didn't really have any other interest in going to Zhengzhou, so I decided to go in that direction, but get off the train at the ancient city of Luoyang.
I was tired when I got here, so I decided to get a private room at the youth hostel. One hundred thirty RMB. More expensive than a dorm bed, but not a bad price for a private room with my own shower. And the TV has Channel News Asia, a 24 hour English language news channel from Singapore. The past couple days, I could sleep whenever I wanted to. I needed that. This is actually one of the nicest youth hostels I have stayed in in this country.
Yesterday morning I went to an old museum of ancient tombs. Strange..this place is not listed in the Lonely Planet, and I had never heard of it before I came here. The staff at the youth hostel told me about it. The ticket is free and there were very few people there, but the place really is quite amazing. Perhaps it's not so amazing for people who are familiar with Luoyang, because Luoyang is a very ancient city. But for me, it was really a step back in time. Way back in time. At one of the tombs I was looking into, I put my hand on the door, and it started to move. Two thousand year old door from the Han Dynasty, and it still turns on its stone hinge. Weird. Last night I went to the Longman caves. It's something you really should see if you come to Luoyang. There are hundreds and thousands of statues spread out over the side of the mountain.
You really need to take a several trips to Luoyang. There's too much to see in just a couple days. Not to worry. I'll be back sometime.
Charley told me that it would be easy to get a ticket to Zhengzhou. Well, that sounded like a good possibility, because Zhengzhou is a major rail hub. If you can't get a decent ticket from Zhengzhou to Beijing, it would have to be the end of the world or something. But I didn't really have any other interest in going to Zhengzhou, so I decided to go in that direction, but get off the train at the ancient city of Luoyang.
I was tired when I got here, so I decided to get a private room at the youth hostel. One hundred thirty RMB. More expensive than a dorm bed, but not a bad price for a private room with my own shower. And the TV has Channel News Asia, a 24 hour English language news channel from Singapore. The past couple days, I could sleep whenever I wanted to. I needed that. This is actually one of the nicest youth hostels I have stayed in in this country.
Yesterday morning I went to an old museum of ancient tombs. Strange..this place is not listed in the Lonely Planet, and I had never heard of it before I came here. The staff at the youth hostel told me about it. The ticket is free and there were very few people there, but the place really is quite amazing. Perhaps it's not so amazing for people who are familiar with Luoyang, because Luoyang is a very ancient city. But for me, it was really a step back in time. Way back in time. At one of the tombs I was looking into, I put my hand on the door, and it started to move. Two thousand year old door from the Han Dynasty, and it still turns on its stone hinge. Weird. Last night I went to the Longman caves. It's something you really should see if you come to Luoyang. There are hundreds and thousands of statues spread out over the side of the mountain.
You really need to take a several trips to Luoyang. There's too much to see in just a couple days. Not to worry. I'll be back sometime.