Some people are scared of the dark, others of spiders. Now take Qin Shi Huang (the first emperor of the unified China in 221 bc). The great man was terrified of the vanquished spirits awaiting him in the afterlife, terrified to such a degree that his panic lead to the construction of one of the most insane spectacles in the world. To protect him from the nasties, he instructed a complete life size army to be built next to his tomb to look over him in death. Along with his tomb, it took 700,000 workers 38 years to complete. Certainly put’s the moaning about the millennium dome into context. Some fast facts for you : the 3 pits that have been found include 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses. All life size. All different. Crazy stuff indeed.
Since we left Beijing we have been on the look out to once again run Martha’s fuel tank past a mechanic as it had fallen a touch. Clearly we would do it ourselves but not having the heavy duty tools, as opposed to our ability is the only limiting factor……
Rolling out of our overnight City, Tongshuan, Sun Ji made some calls and we drove into a yard and parked up amongst the other trucks.
Today’s blog comes from the main man himself, Sun Ji. He is our guide in China and has done a magnificent job thus far of hand holding us through this wonderful yet crazy country. Things we have learnt about Sun Ji so far Read more →
Niall Etchingham: I first met Garth back in 1992 at our local watering hole the Crown and Anchor in Wimborne. Our friendship developed initially due to our drinking habits. As time progressed our group became larger and we would have a regular gathering on a Thurs. night, you almost needed a good excuse not to be there. As we were all heading towards senior citizenship we needed a title and so the Wimborne Wobblers were formed.
I must apologise, I was so tired and disheveled when we finally got to Altay I forgot to tell you about a most extraordinary meeting; we had stopped for a meal break in the middle of nowhere when an ambulance pulled up beside us and you’ll never guess what her name is – she’s called Martha! She is quite old and has been taken out of service in the UK and been donated to a Mongolian hospital, her crew were taking her there to deliver her. What are the chances?
High Point : The Great Wall of China. Not only did it impress, it made 5 boys with normally far too much chat become almost speechless. The mere magnitude and scale of this colossal beast blows the mind. Some quick stats for you : Built over 2000 years ago. 8862.8km long (well that’s how long China say it is). It wiggles a lot and goes over bumps. Read more →
After a frustrating 36 hours Jim Stevens and myself finally rocked into Beijing feeling pretty shabby, but were determined to push through. This was Beijing and we were finally on the road with FTFE! This had been caused by a four hour flight delay and when we finally got away a “benign technical issue” forced the plane to turn around and circle the north sea for an hour dumping fuel before landing. Thankfully a few G&Ts and cold tomato soup had taken the edge off. Organised chaos ensued as accommodation was sought for 300+ and we finally got into a room at 4am to be up at 9am to learn our fate. We finally got away proper at 5pm!
