Traveller's Tales: July 2005

Had a leisurely morning sipping coffee at Starbucks by Houhai Lake, then caught the afternoon flight back to Hong Kong. Always very nice to have the use of an airport lounge.

Flew back to Beijing and met up for dinner with my friend Peifeng, who was in town on business from HK.

Set off early for Tian Chi Lake with a Chinese tour group. No leg room on the bus, jammed in like sardines! We got to the cable car and I had to pay again for a ticket that I'd already paid for the night before (got it refunded later when I got back). Visibility was not that great, which sort of neutralized the whole point in making the trip. People everywhere milling around, taking pictures. On the way back, our bus stopped twice at places to get us to buy stuff. Overall, a complete waste of time and money.

When I got back to the hotel and was waiting for the elevator, my Brazilian friend Renata, who had visited me in HK just prior to my trip, came bouncing up and gave me a big hug. Last I'd heard, she was in Xian, headed for Beijing, and she thought I was already back in HK. Needless to say, we were both stunned at bumping into each other!

Left pretty early for the airport, had my bottle of wine confiscated at security, otherwise an uneventful hour and 15 minute flight to Urumqi. Went straight to the Brazilian restaurant for the lunch buffet. Hung out in the afternoon. Then went for another buffet at a cafe around the corner, featuring Curacao cuisine, of all things. The owner, Annette, is from there.

Left in good time, some spectacular scenery along the Karakoram Highway. The lake itself was a bit of a disappointment, which started with being accosted by some thugs demanding RMB50 for an admission ticket. Put up a bit of a protest but smelled a potential for violence, so coughed it up, though not without staging a derisive protest. On the way back, came across a bunch of people standing on the road. Then saw that their bus had plunged over the side into a ravine and was lying upside down. Couldn't believe I didn't see any injured. A soldier commandeered my taxi and rode with us down the road a ways, till we got to a checkpoint, where he got off.

Further down, we were again flagged down by someone whose jeep had broken down, so we again had company till the next town about half an hour down the road.

Finally gave up waiting around for companions to go to Karakul Lake with, just went out on the street, grabbed a taxi driver and negotiated a solo day trip, agreed on RMB400 for one person, 500 for two if I could get someone to join me. Most people want to stay overnight rather than drive all that way and back in one day.

Spent the day relaxing.

Went to the famous Sunday Market. Again, disappointing, didn't stay long. Came back and took it easy, reading and drinking beer.

Ended up going into the desert with Theresa, a lady with a son my age. Theresa has lived in Vanuatu (previously the New Hebrides) since the 1950s and is an interesting woman. Apparently lived in HK in the late 50s for 6 months and worked on a study researching the economic implications of having a cross harbour tunnel.

Anyway, Theresa and I (and our driver) set off for the desert and were surprised to find that the 'oasis' carried on for miles and miles. Took almost two hours to get to the edge of the desert. It was quite a touristy sort of thing, a lot of others had the same idea in mind. Rode a camel for a little while. Visited a livestock market, called on a family in a traditional poverty stricken home, ate watermelon. Kind of a disappointing trip overall, though I did get some good photos.

After going for days hardly ever seeing another westerner, I am suddenly surrounded by them again. Kashgar is clearly a major watering hole on the backpacker trail. This morning I went for some breakfast at the Caravan Cafe next to my hotel. A real western hangout, owned and run by westerners. Lots of tour info there. Then headed off into the 'Old Town' - wow, this is really the Middle East. Something straight out of 1001 Nights. Got a lot of good shots.

Arranged my return to Urumqi/Beijing/HK. Found a good discounted airfare which made it not much more expensive than taking the train. That will save me a lot of time - can spend twice as long here. The train journey here from Urumqi was spectacular, but I don't think I need to retrace it.

Am starting to think that I may just need to go ahead and fork out the cash for a solo trip to Karakul Lake. Would prefer to team up with a couple of people and split the cost. Anyway, will leave it till Monday. My flight back to Urumqi's on Wednesday.

Have noticed that, tourists excepted, no one wears shorts here, not even men. Evidence of the Muslim conservatism from neighbouring Pakistan.

24 hours after setting off, we arrived in Kashgar. Very different from what I've seen of the rest of China so far! Much more like being in a Middle Eastern bazaaar. I've noticed that the quality of currency in circulation has deteriorated as I've moved westward from Beijing to Urumqi to Kashgar - increasingly old, dirty, tattered and torn! After Beijing and Urumqi, it's interesting that I no longer find my Mandarin phrasebook to be indispensable; in fact, it's not even particularly useful anymore. It's just as easy to find someone who speaks English as it is Mandarin, if not even easier.

Had lunch at the Brazilian restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel and met the owner/manager, Joao Xavier, who is from Rio. Until six months ago, he worked at Latino in Shanghai, where I'd had a great buffet lunch a couple of months ago. Then headed for the train station and boarded N946 for Kashgar. I often find train stations anxiety-producing...people rushing around helter skelter, pushing and shoving, guards barking unintelligible orders, speakers in the cavernous halls blasting unintelligible announcements. Anyhow, got on the train to find my compartment full of other people, half of whom were sitting on my bunk. All the space under the bunk had been taken up by their bags, so there was no space for mine! Well, I managed to get myself a spot on my bunk next to the window, and clean out some space underneath for my bag. One guy was a retired professor on his way to visit his daughter and her family in Kashgar. Although he couldn't speak any English, he was very friendly, and later in the evening we were sharing beer, wine and peanuts along with three other men.

The scenery was spectacular - barren, desolate. Mountains of various hues rose from the desert floor. I was impressed how the desert gave way to abundant vegetation in some places, due either to irrigation or a nearby river.

Up at 5:00 a.m. for 12 hour bus ride back to Urumqi.

Overall, I'm glad I made the trip. Highlight was the scenery. Two girls made the trip enjoyable - 17 year old Hoo Ee Dun from Shanghai, who was very sweet and spoke good English, and 18 year old Sher Wun Chi from Urumqi, who was just really sweet to me (and really cute!). She is a trainee tour guide.

Highways were impressive - coming out of Urumqi was like heading for Banff from Calgary. In the mountains, it was like the park near Kicking Horse Pass, on the US side.

Main negative remarks:

1. Toilets!
2. A lot of people, esp. men, are very aggressive or rude, very inconsiderate. You can be waiting at a counter and someone will just barge in front of you. That's true anywhere in China, but on an extended trip like this, I'm getting ready to manifest a la Green Hulk. Bus drivers will bark at you to get back on the bus, building attendants will shout at you not to go somewhere. I'm starting to feel pretty provoked. I hope I don't get pushed over a certain line.

Took a bus up the mountain - some very nice views. Identical to Kananaskis - funny the similarity in name! Tons of Chinese tourists everywhere. Afternoon bus back to Buerqin.

Had diarrhea early in the morning from the street food! Bus carried on to Kanas Lake. Stayed in very basic accommodation. 'Toilets' are absolutely disgusting. There's only one for a 'shitload' of people, and there's shit all around the hole. You can't use it without soiling your shoes. I decided to go easy on eating because I couldn't imagine using the facilities. Very unpleasant in that respect, affected my enjoyment of the trip considerably. There's no excuse for this - it's not a question of poverty or education, as far as I'm concerned. It's just choosing to be pathetic and ignorant. I'm disgusted. Anyway, visited the lake in the afternoon, went for a two hour boatride, then to a kind of tea ceremony in a traditional tribal dwelling. The old guy played a lute type thing. In the evening went to and song and dance around a fire. Freezing!

Early start - bus to Buerqin, 12 hour ride - first leg of trip to Kanas. Seemed that nobody spoke English. Quite a miserable ride, scenery nondescript. Had to share a room in Buerqin with a guy on the bus. Went out and ate with him in a street market late at night.

Organized a four day trip to Kanas Lake in the far north of Xinjiang, and bought a train ticket to Kashgar. In the afternoon went to Silk Road Museum. Had a good chat with one of the young museum curators.

Conference ended at midday. Went to airport immediately afterwards and caught my flight to Urumqi.

Day 2 of conference. Quite long and tiring.

Tech conference started at Peking U. Met Jun, a lovely grad student at Nanjing U. Comes from northern Guangdong and speaks Cantonese!

Toured around an artist village (previous industrial area) with Elena. Met up with Angela and daughter for a drink. Moved into the Qilu Hotel near Houhai Lake.

Flew to Beijing with Ceci. Elena met me at the Holiday Inn Lido and brought me to her place.

Traveller's Tales

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Friday, July 29, 2005

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Monday, July 25, 2005

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Monday, July 18, 2005

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Friday, July 15, 2005

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Monday, July 11, 2005

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Friday, July 08, 2005

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