Day 5 - Drive from Luoyang to Xian

Monday, July 30

A travel day.

We had planned to stop at Luanchuan but there were no highways so we decided to skip this stop and drive straight to Xian. This is a 5 hour drive and while we were on the way we decided to stop by and hike up Hua Shan mountain, however, by the time we got there (3 pm) they informed us that we didn't have enought time to make it to the top, so we decided to continue to Xian.

Each time we stopped at a rest stop, Nicole would buy another ice cream. One time she was fast asleep and she instantly woke up when we pulled into the rest stop. Its a good thing that we only stopped 3 times. She likes her ice cream!

We arrived in Xian at 4:30 pm. We decided to use the rest of the day to plan activities for the next couple of days. One of our primary objectives is to see the Terra Cotta warriors.

We checked about obtainng entrance visas to Tibet and the rules have changed significantly since June and it appears that they are trying to limit visas to organized groups. This will require some more investigation.