This hotel took the traditional breakfast and added a buffet twist….with curry? I had no problem with the curry breakfast because I had gotten used to it in India, some of the others weren't so sure. But yeah, Chinese traditional breakfast with curry. Weird start to the day.

The truck left the hotel at 9am and headed to the Yungang Grottoes. Another UNESCO World Heritage site. I reckon China decided to propose every single statue or building to UNESCO for World Heritage status and figured they'd get a few yes’ out of them. Anyway, I digress, the grottoes are a collection of 21 caves containing over 50,000 statues of Buddha. The site itself is very developed. Almost a Disney style production of grand statues, walk ways, water fountains and old style buildings and shops that you have walk through to get to the caves. The caves and statues vary massively in size, but are all of Buddha, big and little Buddhas as far as the eye can see. A few are tens of feet tall, others are a few inches. I felt like the site was a little too overdeveloped and removed some of the religious significance from the caves and statues. But, as I mentioned before after visiting Kolkata, I struggle to understand why someone would spend so much of their life building these statues. On the way out the pathway lead through  a multi cuisine food court and more souvenir shops. 

Once back at the hotel we headed back to the little old lady for beers and street food. Her wrinkled face smiled as we approached and she plucked two beers from her styrofoam cool box under the table, encouraging us to sit and grinning at the nearby sellers that we had made a beeline for her. 

We finally managed to find a decent supermarket on the way back to the hotel and I purchased the tastiest pineapple beer! Turns out it was beer in the way that ginger beer is beer, while being the price of regular beer. Slightly disappointing. 

Dinner that evening was hot pot. Similar to the lamb the night before, the experience is part of the process. A seasoned water bath surrounding a heated chimney in which you cook your food yourself. I found the meal really bland, but maybe that's because we aren't practised at it. 

A short walk back to the hotel and an early night.