Sunday, 29 December 2024
I decided to walk the whole length of the City Wall today. Browsed Trip.com before breakfast and bought my ticket there. I left after 09:30 and went into a drugstore en route. I should’ve brought more body lotion so I needed to find and buy some. I entered the City Wall from the South Gate and headed east. At first, there were a lot of people and even vendors but the more I walked on, the fewer people there were as some opted to exit the wall along the way. I started at exactly 10:00 and finished just before 15:00. Of course, I spent time reading the plaques, looking out of the wall, taking photos, using the facilities… I was in no hurry. It was a hazy sunshiny day and in the afternoon, there was cloud cover.
I exited at the South Gate and crossed over to SKP, an upscale department store nearby. Then I ventured to a neighbouring mall and finally located a shop that sells cosmetics and toiletries. I located body lotion finally! Only I had problems paying it by card and finally had to use cash. I was in a fine mood when I left. Back to my room and rested. Ventured out after evening prayers for dinner. Had dinner at the previous evening’s eatery before buying some nougat to bring home.
I walked more than 37, 600 steps or 26.7 km today.
Monday, 30 December 2024
I finished packing and went for breakfast. I checked out and left the hotel at 09:15 and took the metro to Xi’an Railway Station. We were only allowed to proceed to the platform at 10:15 for our 10:24 train. I had booked a second class hard sleeper and was assigned a middle berth. I could not sit up in my berth, one could one lay down. I somehow managed to perform prayers there though. I read my book and an hour before reaching Zhengzhou, I had some ramen. We arrived at Zhengzhou at 16:41 (ETA was 17:00) and from there, I took the metro to the airport. The train I took terminated en route and we had to alight and wait for the next train. I arrived at the airport after 18:00 and performed prayers there. Then I waited and waited until I could drop off my bag. I had mushroom noodles for dinner. It seemed to be the only vegetarian option available.
The display board still hadn’t displayed the check-in counters by 21:30 so I decided to find them and found them at the other end of the airport from the food court. There were already passengers queuing up to check in and drop off their bags. I went in immediately after having dropped off my bag to clear passport control and security. I recall only one duty-free shop opened then on my walk to the gate. We boarded eventually and took off. I was waken up for my meal and couldn’t sleep thereafter though I tried hard to.
Tuesday, 31 December 2024
We landed at KLIA T1 at 04:20, alhamdulillah. I waited for the 05:52 KLIA Transit train so that I could perform morning prayers at Putrajaya MRT station.
So that was my solo trip to China. I wouldn’t discount another trip there, despite the language barrier.
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