Day 3 - Luoyang (Ancient Tombs)

Saturday, July 28

We ate breakfast in the hotel and it was more 'traditional' ( at least for me).  I had 'halogen eggs' ( hard-boiled eggs cooked in tea), fried zucchini , deep-fried chicken sticks, Italian noodles, yogurt that you drink with a straw, spring rolls, fried dumplings, scrambled eggs,  pork-filled buns and bread with butter and jam.  

We left Kaifeng for the Shaolin Temple, however we made a short side-trip and decided to go directly to Laoyang. There were more corn fields along the highways, however, we started to see more wooded valleys along the way.

We arrived in Luoyang in the afternoon and checked into a Jinjiang Inn, which is a good quality popular hotel chain in China. We went to the Luoyang Museum of Ancient Tombs where we saw numerous tombs and their artifacts from the tombs of several emporers.

For supper we had sweet and sour pork, baked chicken, rice and breaded beef strips.

The highways between cities are very new, in very good condition and there is not much traffic. The cities, on the other hand, are a completely different story. There are wide bike lanes on the roads, the road lanes are clearly marked and there are traffic lights at all major intersections, HOWEVER, these are only treated as 'suggestions'. Cars drive in any lane and even in the lanes going in the opposite direction. Bikes drive everywhere and they will regularly pull out in front of cars. Pedestrians will cross roads anywhere and at any time. So basically you have everyone breaking the rules and it looks like a symphony of unpredictability. Everyone is constantly cutting in front of other people and they each act as if they are they most important person on the road. It is no surprise that all cars have several dents and scratches. Driving in the cities is not for the faint of heart.

I found it quite interesting that although there are numerous new, state-of-the-art hydro transmission lines all through the country, the wiring in the 'non-tourist' areas of the city are not very well maintained.

There are several sights to be seen in this area, so we will be staying here a few days.