Ancient tomb site

15.08.2015

There is the tomb of an ancient nobleman about an hour by rickety bus and even ricketier roads. Judy said she wasn't interested in going, and everyone she knew who went to it, also wasn't impressed. So, I didn't get my hopes up too high for this tomb that everyone hates.

I took the city bus to the bus station and attempted to buy a ticket to Xiongjia Zhong. The ticket man sent me to the back of the bus station instead. When I got there, three buses were waiting. I asked each bus driver if they went to the tomb and they all said no.

There was only a small sign we tried to use for shade on this hot and sticky summer morning, so I walked over to the patch of shadow. As I was doing so, a crazy bus driver nearly killed me. He tore into the parking lot blaring his horn. I had to jump out of the way.

After a while, more buses came and each one told me they didn't go to the tomb. I was a little frustrated, but there was still one woman with a lot of bags waiting for a bus with me. Turns out that her bus was the same bus I needed. Me and bag lady headed out together. The rest of the bus was empty and it jostled us around as we slowly made our way into the countryside.

The bus driverdropped me off at a dead end and told me when to come back (1:30 p.m.), it was 11 a.m. No problem mister. He turned around and went right back where he came from.

I looked around and there wasn't anywhere to wait, let alone any shade. Did I mention it was hot? I had a few hours, so I strolled around the park at a very slow pace. I could tell they had built it thinking that millions of people would visit each year. There were vast gathering areas and sweeping pathways, also a boardwalk on the lake, that still smelt of fresh cut wood.

I eventually reached the main building where there was a Terracotta Warrior-esque showroom. This nobleman apparently needed at least 200 horses to accompany him to the after life. If they were in fact, actual fossils I got the feeling these were as fake as the Xi An warriors. I don't understand why archeologists would leave all thse fossils half buried in the ground. Don't they want to make minute measurements of everything they find? Did they already do that and then put them back in the ground half covered? It all seemed fishy to me again. But still, it was cool to see th extent that someone would go to achieve immortality, when money was no object.

In addition to the horses, there were also supposedly hundreds of sacrificial tombs. So these were his slaves that he brought with him to the after life. None of those bones were on display, interestingly enough. So, why were the horses and chariots so perfectly preserved, when the slaves were not? Again, I ask you, dear reader.

I left feeling confused and disgruntled, exactly how I felt in Xi'an. I walked back to the "bus stop" a little early, and waited around for the bus, sitting on a rock, with tiny wasps circling my thighs and ankles.

The bus was at least 20 minutes late. I was waiting on a completely deserted road with not much water and absolutely no food anywhere. At about 10 minutes after the bus' alleged arrival time, I began to feel a little hopeless. I walked back down the road hoping to find shade. As soon as I found a little tree to hide under, the little red and white bus came trundling down the road towards me. It turned around like last time and picked me up. This time it had A/C. It was heavenly.

When I got to Judy's house, I picked up some fruit and yogurt and concocted a fruit salad. Fantastic.

Judy and I watched the badminton world championships in Jakarta and just generally stayed out of the sun for the rest of the day.

For dinner, her dad made us some fish and boiled peanuts. We walked around the city walls for a few hours after dinner and I took a well earned shower upon our return.

Sweeping pathways