Datong Part III: The rest of the trip

August 4, 2012:

Yes, it's still Saturday!  I think you might agree that we had a whirlwind adventure today seeing the Hanging Monastery and all those carvings at Yungang Grottoes.  We've also had some time to chill out and take naps.

Now, let's head out in search of dinner!!!!  We spotted a road that was blocked off from traffic (meaning it's a walking only street) not that far away from the hotel.  Surely there MUST be a restaurant there.  Right????

Mark called this…An Outdoor Wal-mart. Selling all kinds of useful and useless junk and clothing.

Selling wigs or what???

Those look like interesting buildings over there but no restaurants. 🙁 We're hungry!!!!

Something-on-a-stick

Fried bread with sugar…we tried some. Good but not our favorite.  Still not dinner.

Melons on a stick.  Still not dinner.

Ooooooooo!!! Candied fruit on a stick. (Still not dinner)

Candied grapes. mmmmmmm!!!!!!

Can  you see us????

Well, we walked up and down the street and we didn't see a single restaurant.  Okay, I take that back….we saw a ….pizza restaurant.  Pizza!!!??? Seriously?????  Oh–and a KFC.  Just not going to do it…

So now we're heading back to the hotel in hopes of eating at restaurant in the hotel.  Now we're REALLY hungry.

Nearly at the entrance to our hotel, The Garden Hotel. The road in front of the hotel was completely torn up. I assume it'll be finished ….some day. Odd thing- why is it called The Garden Hotel??? I didn't see any gardens at all near or far from the hotel.

There was a Brazilian BBQ all-you-can-eat buffet on the first floor of the hotel but the cost for it was freaky high considering it cost nearly as much to eat there as it did to stay the night there.  Usually, the food isn't supposed to cost as much as the hotel! Ummmm….no thanks. We found a Chinese restaurant on the second floor of the hotel. 

Lots of great Chinese dishes! Mark said that he saw both donkey and dog listed on the menu. Oh…I'm SO GLAD the girls didn't see that!!!!

It was great food and our entire bill came out half the price for one adult to eat at that Brazilian BBQ buffet!!!  

I'm stuffed!!!! And I think we're all ready for bed….it's been a very

l-o-n-g day.  Nighty night and don't let the Chinese bed bugs bite! 😉

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Interesting sleeping arrangement!

Heading down to the breakfast buffet:  

The best cappuccino ever served in a hotel in China!!!!

Tummy is full…too full.  I think it might be time to go for a walk!!! We do have a destination of sorts in mind.  Remember the Xi'an city wall we briefly checked out a few weeks back?  Well, apparently they are in the process of building a city wall similar to that one here in Datong.  It's not quite finished but you can walk on top and even rent bikes to toodle around on up there.

road construction….naturally Mark is interested in the land moving machines!

Random interesting looking building close to the hotel.

Hey! A music shop with students practicing their instruments in front. You guys are doing a great job! Keep up the good work!

Hmmm….not exactly the cleanest or prettiest city we've ever been to. Blech! What is that nasty smell?????

That's a lot of bread!!! I wonder how he'll keep it from falling off his motorcycle?

Check out the table of paper/fake money for sale!!!

30 RMB per adult; 15 RMB for kids

I think that might be the WRONG end of the cannon….. oh, but what do I know????

Check out the "Delicate Flower" hanging off the wall!!!! (not to worry….it's a larger than life sculpture)

Getting a closer look at that Fat Lady (or the Delicate Flower as I called her). There's nothing to see from this angle–no face.

Looks like she's hanging on for dear life!

Mark and Ava

Here's my cheerful riding buddy. She can really make our cycle move!!!!

And apparently THIS is where the wall ENDS.  No warning signs…no nothing.  I just ends.  Long way down if you miss the fact that it stops!!! (you can see the construction is on-going).

Is the tower leaning to the left? Or leaning to the right? Or is it straight? We each thought it was leaning one way or another.

Time to return the bikes and get our bike deposit back.  I think we only paid 30 RMB to rent the bikes but we had to put down around 200RMB for a deposit on them.  

It was definitely relaxing to pedal around on top of the wall.  There really aren't many tourists up here.  Not yet anyway.  Wonder what it will look like in three years time.  The wall might be finished and the hordes of Chinese tourists might over run the place.  

However, for that matter….there was an unpleasant side to our visit on the wall.  We saw apartment building after apartment building that appear to be on the brink of shambles.  Most of the windows in these buildings were removed and on the whole they were empty- except for the odd one two signs of life in a few windows.  It just seemed…sad.  There was trash strewn every where around these nearly abandoned apartment buildings.  My guess is that they're being torn down to make way for the upgrades associated with the building of the city wall.  

Let's head down off the wall and find some lunch.  Sound good?  We'll have to head to the airport pretty soon.  One of the ladies at the front desk at the hotel told us where we might find lots of restaurants.  Funny thing- remember how we couldn't find a restaurant last night??  Well, we were THIS close to a bunch of restaurants but just didn't know it!  Anyway….I'm in the mood for hot pot.  What are you in the mood for???

MMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!! Mmmmmmmmmm!!!!Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

We LOVE hot pot! We had very little trouble ordering with our little bit of Chinese…it's pretty cool to be able to go to a restaurant and order our dishes in Chinese!

My tummy is as full as it possibly can get!  I'm stuffed to the gills!  I think it's time to head back to the hotel and take a break before getting back in the taxi to head to the airport. 

Garden Hotel lobby

*sigh*

It's time to head to the airport.  The taxi is waiting for us.

The Adventures of Big Bear. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it??? Hmmmm…..gives me an idea! You'll just have to wait and see.

Waiting, waiting and waiting some more in the airport….they're not letting us check in yet.  Why not????

Check out the ladies squatting. That is a common sight here- squatting. It's so easy for them to do it….if I try it I nearly get stuck and can't move!!

Lovely little… I mean *tiny* airport. Surrounded by mountains and blue skies.

Ava and Mark watching "Fawlty Towers" on his iPad.

Of course our plane is late!  Of course our flight is delayed!!!  We ARE in China.  Naturally our flight is late.  Oh well.  I'll be happy if we get home safe and sound!!!

I think that's our little plane off in the distance.

My happy seat mate:

Annika & Big Bear are great company!!!

Yahoooooo!!!!

We're off- flying back to Tianjin.  What a short and sweet weekend trip!  

Thanks for joining us and stay tuned for our next adventure….who knows where we'll head to next!!!????