Kazakhstan is the worlds 9th largest country.
Has 15,000km of borders. Has rich oil reserves. Country pretty run down though. Speak Russian. Has no resemblance to movie Borat. Became independant from Soviet Union in 1991. People believe they are a democracy like USA Denmark Australia. They have had only one president since independence. Unfortunately any opposition leader coming up to an election keeps being found dead! The president normally gets 98% of the vote. His daughter is the countries richest media owner. Has her own political party but merged with daddy and they now hold ALL the seats in parliament. A new constitution gave president unlimited time in presidency. So democracy????? Forgot to mention he is one of the worlds richest men too. People a mix of White Caucasian Russians and some Eurasian looking people. In sydney Olympics Kazakhstan won gold medal in boxing. Food good here. You can find everything in the supermarkets. You won't get run over by cars here, pedestrians well looked after (unless a Chinese person happens to be driving) you get told at crossings how long you have to cross over by flashing count down. Nearly no one speaks english. And that's about it....... Oh yes vodka is the local drink of choice and supermarket stocks it in aisle fulls.
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30/4/2014 0 Comments Hello Kazakhstan!!Hello Kazakhstan!!
After our epic trip to Almaty we finally arrived fairly late at night and had to collect our visas that were waiting for us in a file as arranged through our agent prior to our departure. This involved us finding an introduction agent in Kazakhstan, emailing him a shit load of documents, booking flights in and out of the country, booking accommodation for specific dates, specifying where and when we would be picking up the visa, transferring 100euros each to a bank in the British Virgin Islands, our bank stalling on that being very suspicious, us giving the ok, then 14 days later we received an email with our letter of invitation from the ministry (LOI) and a reference number to show at the airport on arrival. You can imagine we weren't too sure if it would all work but...... We were dealt with very efficiently and the clerk thought it hilarious when she saw my visa photo in black head scarf etc immigration went smoothly with us making sure we were registered on arrival with two stamps on the arrival card. Could be costly if not. Next we had to change money to Tenge and we can't speak Russian. The buses had stopped running for the day we realised and we had all kinds of taxi drivers accosting us. We finally agreed on a price and were on our merry way, but I had a moment when I wondered what we were doing, roaring along in a car obviously not a taxi with a guy and his mate( who put up his hood) with a windscreen cracked and what looked like a bullet hole. Russian Eurovision Song Contest music blaring, Russian voices and I wondered if they realised that if they robbed us they would be pretty well off. Car stopped outside a concrete block, no recognisable signage and no one around. Turned out it was our hotel Russian style and the guys were ok. Funny what a dark rainy night and Russian voices does to your imagination!! Hotel staff a bit gruff, and hotel ok, not much choice really in mid range!! I was a bit paranoid initially about bag security, chaining everything together to chair legs etc but I've lightened up after a few days here. Rain dampened our first couple of days but we still managed to get around. Ended up at a wedding in the city's Russian orthodox cathedral which was quite something with the priests in costumes. After wards the bride and groom popped on their rain jackets picked up their shopping bags and trundled off !! Been hanging out at wifi cafés catching up with home, boys & news, & keeping warm and dry. We leave for Uzbekistan tomorrow. Same same procedure with LOI and visas and bucket loads of money. Should be more our scene not too wild with soviet style cities and grey blocked architecture. But at least we know what it's like. The foods great though so filling up on pizza pasta and beers ready for the dodgy food to come! 28/4/2014 2 Comments Reflections on China.Reflections on China.
After over 3 weeks in China we finally come to the end of our stay...... For now. It's been hard but we will be back. There are so many varied and wonderful regions still to visit, waiting for us in the future. It's not an easy place to visit and won't be every bodies cup of tea but is a land of do many contradictions. Language of course is a major stumbling block but we got by and finally learnt how to use our translator (which was sometimes wrong). Mobile phone use is off the Richter scale by every Chinese but turned out to be a god send for us, as the young people would just plot in our destination into their phone gps and direct us on our merry way. Mr Samsung,Nokia and Apple must have been ecstatic when they were allowed to sell in China. A sellers market of 1.4 billion people, yippee. And Australia a piddling 22million, who cares! Even our camel herder whipped out his phone at the top of the sand dune!! Contrary to popular belief the Chinese as a whole don't eat rice!!! Yes I know you don't believe me but it's only in the east like Beijing. The rest of the country eat noodles of every shape and form and various breads, from semi solid to rock hard. To be continued......,.. So a slow start to the day due to our bodies working on local time (but our flights later in the day still on Beijing time 2 hours earlier) we pottered about and packed up, breakfasted on the roof of our hotel above the town square next to the mosque where all the towns action occurs. Camels and donkeys abound for the tourists to have photos taken with the ancient mosque as a back drop. Our hotel was on the rooftop of a building ( yes 3 flights of stairs to be negotiated as usual) and looked really dodgy and grubby, Svend reckoned it resembled stair cases used in shoot out scenes in movies in the middles east and bomb zones!! But it turned into a real gem with the owner lady full of info and spoke fab english, plus it was in a great central position. The grubbiness we soon realised was due to the sand storms blowing through every few days. We took a local bus to the Grand Sunday life stock market which was a huge version of the village one from yesterday. More sheep, goats, mules, donkeys, cows and camels than you have ever seen before and more hat wearing men. We even saw a few Caucasians which was a novelty. We went out with a lovely young 21 girl named Melissa from USA that we have been hanging out with over the last week at various destinations. She's been living in china for a few months nannying but quit and is traveling. She has been having slightly different experiences to me travelling as a girl on her own, but then again she is young and single and I'm slightly older and married. After lunch we took the bus to the airport with plenty of time to navigate the 13km. About 5km along the bus suddenly chucked a u turn pulled up on the side of the road and stopped!! Svend uttered oh shit and jumped off with several others. He came back a few Minutes later saying there was a road block of two hours so we had to walk! He had with him a local man Mustafa (what else) who claimed he was Russian from Moscow and going to the airport too ( no luggage though) on our walk to the road block (army machine guns etc) we found out that it was due to some important minister travelling through.. On we walked until Mustafa hailed a donkey cart laden with leather hides upon which we climbed and trotted on until the could take us no further. On we walked then a taxi driving on the wrong side of the road took us approx 400m until we encountered another road block. More walking then Mustafa hijacked a 10 year old boy on his motorbike who agreed to take me on the back to the airport. So we speeded off until hooting of horns alerted me that Mustafa and Svend were in a swanky Lexus 4 wheel drive, I thought they would pass me by but flagged us down and popped me on the back seat. The two kids in the front thought this was a hoot. The driver eventually got us to the airport in time to catch our plane and wouldn't take any money. Mustafa also waved goodbye and didn't want anything either. Just a good deed, pass it on! At the airport we were subjected to the highest security check we have ever undertaken, every single item was taken out of our day packs and put through the scanner in the small baskets, all our small electronic items, chargers, shoes, paper work maps etc etc, patted down and sent on our way. It wasn't just us everyone had the same treatment. So good news apparently we were flying even though the dust storm looked the same to us with about 300m visibility. Life goes on and airports need to be cleared. But we weren't high in the sky before we couldn't see anything on the ground. We had to transfer and were surprised to be met off the plane by ground staff with a placard and our names, and hurry hurry called at us. We had stickers slapped on our chests and an escort through to collect our baggage, hurry hurry, through customs (again) immigration and onto our Kazakhstan bound flight. So our first of our 6 'Stans' to visit here we come!!!!!
Only in china.
Another day in Kashgar. Another dust storm to endure. Visibility slightly better but air still brown and heavy with dust. Checked out the local bazaar which is enormous and we were accosted by the local merchants to buy whatever our eyes accidentally lay on. I ended up with a scarf for future emergency scarf days!! Svends worried I won't 'blend' in with the locals as it's bright orange and yellow, but I never would anyway. Mind you do far I've felt pretty invisible to everyone, except the kids who watch me in awe or burst into tears!! At the bazaar we bought our fill of snacks of nuts and dried fruits that are in abundance and decided they would make a good breakfast with yogurt and fresh melon and bananas. We then jumped on a minibus to a village outside town to a small livestock market which was brilliant. Full of men and their Muslim hats and their sheep and goats they were either selling or buying. I soon realised that not only were we the only Caucasians there and I was the only blonde, but I was also the only female wandering amongst 100's of sheep & men. Non of whom took any notice of me. I'm probably ok as I'm with my husband so have had no hassles yet. The market was fascinating & we watched many deals take place ending with a hand shake and exchange of money, and the buyer wandering off with a sheep or cow in tow or being loaded onto their motorbike ute. At the market we also bought some fresh veggies and decided to cook ourselves dinner which I was quite excited about. A simple boiled potatoes and a ratatouille was on the menu, yes still vegetarian as the meat on offer innards and all had been hanging in the dust storm for a few days and didn't really appeal!!! A stroll through town found us at the river bank where we spotted a couple of barbers with a chair and Svend opted for a tune up of his beard. The man put on a new blade in the knife like old fashioned razor. Watching on I spied a few drops of blood appearing every now and then & did mention it to Svend who naturally thought I was joking!! He even trimmed his ears which gave ME a few anxious moments. But a good job was done all for 60cents and a tip. Not to be out done I thought I had better tune up but opted for the slightly safer method of hair removal cream at the market. I had a choice of the expensive tube from Pakistan or the cheaper stuff from china. Same, same I was told so I bought the Chinese stuff. And I have to report that it worked fine, no nasty chemical reactions!! Or disfiguring burns!! We also bought some moisturiser to help with out totally dried out sand paper skin. But as we attempted to buy it we were always presented with whitening lotion!! Wonder if they think that's how we get the skin we have?? Hard to believe tomorrow is out last day in China before we fly to Almaty in Kazakhstan. However there is a chance we may be stuck here, as Kashgar is in the middle of a dust /sand storm & no transport is coming or leaving here at the moment. No trains or planes at all, so we will just turn up at the airport & hope for the best. It may be a bit problematic as we HAVE to pick up our Kazakh visas at Almaty airport on 27th April, but lets see what happens, it maybe blue skies tomorrow just like the day we arrived, instead of the foggy brown sky we have been experiencing the last couple of days. It is thick brown air & you can not see more than 100m in front of you at the worst point, & everything is covered in dusty sand & filthy. Anyway we are about to leave & can't believe we have been to so many fabulous places & experienced so much in this short time. The last two days we were on a road trip to the China / Pakistani border along the Karakoram Highway which was an amazing experience over passes of nearly 4000m. We hired a driver & car along with a 27 yr Chinese & a 31 yr Hong Kong guy & they were great company. We drove in perfect blue sky weather & saw mountain peaks of up to nearly 8,000m high, staying in a Yurt (a traditional Nomadic round tent) at Krygul Lake at the base of one of the mountain ranges. Perfect photo weather. The Yurt was fun & we slept on carpets & colourful bedding, which kept us warm against the freezing temperatures outside, as well as the chimneyed wood burner inside that was used to make our tea & cook our dinner on. The Chinese guy Mr Hong fell in love with our hostess (who was from the Kryg minority chinese people) & she said she liked him too, he rang his mother & she said it was OK, then he asked her to marry him, unfortunately next morning she had changed her mind & said she would miss her mother if she married him. We we quite amazed at this instant romance, however we have learnt there are 32 million single men in China, & 20% more men than women here so if you find a girl you have to catch her quickly. So now Mr Hong is still single & more than a little disappointed. Next morning we were up just before sunrise & we drove the last 220km to the border post, again with towering peaks & snow covered mountains. We got as close to the border of Pakistan as we were allowed to & then were stopped by the Chinese army. They did however let me through the check point alone to use the toilets so I went further than anyone else! After taking photos of the scenery & then quickly changing our sd cards in our cameras in case we were checked, we turned around & headed back to Kashgar, little did we know we were heading in straight into the sand storm that had been following us. On top of this the road through the mountains is under construction, Chinese way, i.e. it looks like an 8 lane highway is being literally blasted through the mountains, along with tunnels being drilled wherever needed. This means the landscape looks like the moon, not a blade of grass anywhere or a tree, just rubble & grey dust, & the people are just working in it constantly. We think it must be one of the most inhospitable landscapes anywhere. It seems to us that the Chinese grand plan is just to build & develop as much & as quickly as possible, they decide & they do it, then later on they will clean up what needs to be done environmentally. It is beyond epic what they are doing & you can't imagine it unless you have been here.
24/4/2014 2 Comments Kashgar the real deal!After a 23 hour train journey covering 1000km we finally arrived in Kashgar. The train trip trundled through the Takalakman desert through changing landscapes of flat desert, 30 degrees to a snow storm, mountains then a dust storm & it was fabulous & we had a great sleeper with friendly people & the time went way too quickly. Before we knew it we had boarded the local bus & we were hit by the feeling of being somewhere we didn't quite plan to be. I realised I was the only foreigner & only blonde in the whole of the city. I was also hit by the fact that the people seemed more middle eastern & muslim than I had actually expected. Every female wore scarves or complete facial coverings which was very unnerving. However no one really took too much notice of me & I was able to wander around perfectly ok. we were even invited to wander around the mosque which didn't seem to have another female in it at all. anyway we are definitely in another world now, still called China but it sure doesn't feel like it.
When we arrived at our hotel which is 50m from the Mosque we were told that they had organised a driver to take us on to the Pakistani border tomorrow, on a 2 day trip through the Karakoram Highway, staying overnight in a Yurt by the lake. They had also organised for us to have 2 others to travel with us a Hong Kong man & also one Chinese so that should be an interesting trip. We have already met the Hong Kong guy & he has very different outlook to the Chinese people. Anyway we spent the afternoon wandering around the bazaars & found our way to the Tea Shop that was used in the film The Kite Runner.. It was quite something to see from the 2nd floor balcony all the men coming out of the mosque & heading towards the Tea shop, then being served tea in elaborate teapots, (akin to the Aussies heading to the pub!!!!) at night we found ourselves in the NIght market where all wondrous things were being boiled or chargrilled in the name of food!! I had the sticky rice cooked in banana leaves with honey, however we passed on the sheep heads, trotters & god knows what being boiled up in vast vats. There also seems to be an enormous amount of blubber being boiled up for something, oh well, guess i will never need to know what it is. My vegetarian campaign continues on! 22/4/2014 2 Comments Times & hazards revisited.Just to touch again on a couple of things I have already mentioned. The time is always officially Beijing time but the local people work to a totally different time to facilitate the daylight, which makes sense. However if you are catching a train you have to be aware that they run on Beijing time. To avoid missing our trains we have kept our watches to Beijing time!!!!!
The hidden danger here is the silent motorbikes!!! The battery powered ones that sneak up behind you without you knowing & pass so close to you, you can feel the hairs on your arms move. Of course that’s on top of the noisy dangers of normal motorbikes, cars or buses when walking around. Not to mention the bus trips from hell where the drivers insist on driving on the wrong side of the motorway until another car or truck or bus comes along, then you get the horn screaming out & miraculously you pass each other with cm’s to spare 22/4/2014 0 Comments TurpanWe are now even further west in China at a place called Turpan. It is actually the 2nd lowest place (After Death Valley in USA) in the world at 154m below sea level, a town the is predominantly Uighur people, an ethnic Muslim minority, that look very different to the normal Han Chines & have their own language & customs. As I’ve said before its hard to work out how this all works in Communist China. Anyway the bazaars & night markets are fun, with various breads & kebabs to eat, or the odd half a goat on display cooked in cumin!!! Whilst eating our meal Svend sent me off to find a beer, & when I returned he had a thought that it probably wasn’t the correct thing to do, send a woman off to find alcohol in this Muslim state! No one seemed to mind & we were pretty popular sitting in the middle of the market & everyone was very friendly. I had a good day food wise with lots of fresh breads, tomatoes & fruit, plus the vegetable kebabs & deep fried breads at night. Svend however didn’t fare so well with his cold noodle dish that he is convinced were innards tubes masquerading as nobly noodles, I can’t confirm or dispute this as I was happily munching on my bread. One annoying thing is that the stallholders always try to sneak the burnt stuff onto you, so you have to be pretty vigilant in this matter. For the first time we had a really hot day, & we realized in the height of summer it would be unbearable as it is officially the hottest place in China. It must have been the heat but Svend spent all day thinking our hotel was at one location & couldn’t get his bearings at all in relation to markets & bus stations, after I realized this & mentioned that we were in fact in another part of town his confusion dispersed. He actually also thought it was a totally different Hotel with a very similar name, so an easy mistake to make but it must have been very bewildering, & I was oblivious to this most of the day. We visited a couple of the towns highlights but soon got weary with the heat & had to have another beer with the locals on the street corner. Actually beer is the cheapest thing to drink here, under a $ for a very large bottle at 11% strength. We leave here tomorrow & take the last of our 7 lengthy train journeys, finishing in Kashgar, which is our last stop in China. This one will be 27 hours & we have our sleeper. I’m quite looking forward to doing nothing but sleeping & sitting for a change. Its also hard to believe that in a few days time we will be at nearly 5000m above sea level considering that we are now at 154 below. If all goes well we will be heading towards the Pakistani border on the Karakorum Highway which should be one of the most spectacular passes in the world, but more about that later.
We're now in the Oasis town of Dunhuang at the edge of the Gobi Desert. Had an awesome couple of days here, starting with a visit to the Mogao caves which were built in 366 AD & used through out the silk route times, housing various Budhas including a 37m high one. (China now has the 3 biggest Buddha's in the world since the Taliban bombed the no 2 & no 3 ones in 2001 ??) I'll check this year. The guide didn't find it too amusing when Svend suggested that China actually bombed them to take out the opposition & gain the tittle to 1,2 & 3 tallest Buddha's. anyway these caves are amazing & were lost to modern world until 1909 when various western explorers pillaged about 40,000 ancient manuscripts & relics that are now in various museums around the world, leaving only 8,000 in China. these caves were also covered by the sands of the Gobi desert & a massive restoration programme has been in place since the 1950's. I'm doing my best with the facts as everything here is mostly in chinese & we have to interpret a lot ourselves even when we have a semi english guide.
After the caves we were planning on a easy afternoon but our plans changed when we were offered a sunset camel trek which we took from 5pm until 10pm. as there are virtually no other foreigners in town Svend & i were the only ones on the trek with a local camel herder & two of his camels. we walked miles throughout the Gobi desert until we reached the inner dunes where we disembarked our transport & proceeded to climb the dunes, which was very strenuous & took ages, & we were perched at the highest point until sunset.at 8.32pm (all of China has the same time from Beijing 7,000km away to the very western point which makes of some interesting sunrises & sunsets. ) anyway the sunset was pretty shite as clouds rolled in after we'd waited for over an hour & darkness rapidly came upon us, as did 2 degrees temperatures. we proceeded to descend the dune in about 3 minutes straight down & nearly thigh deep in sand, and rode home on our camels in near darkness through the grave yards of ancient descendants. we might have worried more about this if we weren't thinking more about our bruised bottoms!! anyway it was a brilliant experience,( and we will always have a little bit of the Gobi desert with us………in our shoes & clothing) but good luck to those who go on the 4 day camel trek! 19/4/2014 0 Comments FoodWell the 3km of extra tummy weight that I was carrying has miraculously disappeared in the last two weeks & my body is now slim & svelte, with toned thighs & calves, my hair is at it's optimum after a cut just before we left, so a super model in the making. However this will rapidly change, as all my grooming equipment is at home & I dearly miss my electric tooth brush & epilator (for the men its a hair remover & nothing more sinister!!!) Not sure how I'm going to deal with the imminent regrowths everywhere, another 80 days will cause havoc!
The food isn't really improving for me, I haven't eaten any meat since I left & I'm really struggling to find things to eat, Ive realised that amongst other things its actually the smell of MSG that really bothers me, its in absolutely everything & doesn't do any enhancing for me. On the bright side the dried fruits & nuts are delicious & we have found some western selling food places along the way but this WILL change I know, so for now we do our best. Breads are good, yogurts & fresh fruit when we can get it. Svend is faring better than me, he needs his food so just goes for it, not always enjoying it but eats it whereas i just don't eat. This last town sells specialised donkey!! which doesn't really appeal somehow! So what happened to Easter?? there is absolutely zero reference to easter here, not really surprising but definitely unusual for a westerner!!
Seems like various religions such as Buddhism & Muslim is tolerated here as there are various quarters in town that have those majorities..Not sure how it all works in with the communism / capitalism workings of China of the modern day but interesting all the same. The chinese rail system is amazing, 110,000km of rail line, & most built fairly recently. They always run to the minute on time & smart cards are the go in the cities, where they give 60% discount on each trip, on buses & metro. The over night sleepers always have clean donnas & pillows provided & we all get a personal wake up call 1/2hour before our station. HOWEVER; on a recent modern bus journey of 6 hours on super highways across the country, we stopped at various places for a toilet stop (yes I'm back to the toilets) & we were taken back to our trip 30 years ago. Yes the same toilets existed, by this i mean, stalls on a platform 30cm high with a 30cm open drain running through them all & our squatting bodies are separated by a 60cm wall AND NO DOORS & a queue standing in front of you waiting their turn . Fortunately we had grown used to them 30 years ago & i was surprised at how un shocked i was this time around! No stage fright for me now! So they can have the most modern trains, buses & stations like airports but still dark ages toilets! 17/4/2014 0 Comments Moving west!Yet another overnight train journey & two more booked when we arrived, (one will be 23 hours)we arrived in Jiayuguan
we quickly went out site seeing to the official beginning of the Great Wall. we still haven't seen many travellers since we left the Terracotta Army, I think we are ahead of most people, as we are told May gets very busy, our luck! i must say backpacking these days is a lot more up market than 30 years ago, all rooms have ensuites & towels & linen provided, & the travel is much less primitive, (so far at least), tourism has taken note & provides the people with what is needed, including free wifi in most rooms & cafes etc., & all people young & old carry laptops or ipads, its crazy. I think my Face book access has at last been stopped as I can't access it or messenger.which is really annoying, any how I will have to revert to 30 year ago habits & not have it at all! Sorry if my spelling isn't as good as I am normally, the spell check takes over especially on my phone & I don't often have time to read back what I've said!! 16/4/2014 0 Comments April 16 th, 2014HELEN AND SVEND’S 2014 SILK ROAD ADVENTURE
Sites seen. Shanghai Pudong, The Bund, East Nanjing Road pedestrian mall, French Concession, Xintiandi, Tianzifang, Old Town, People’s Square and the nearby Yuyuan Gardens, Beijing Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Great Wall of China,Old town Hutongs, Drum & Bell Tower, Temple of Heaven, Olympic Stadium. Pingyao Wandering through the stunning Old Town, view from the top of City Tower, Xian Terracotta Warriors, Muslim Quarter and Muslim Day/Night Market, City Walls Xiahe Labrang Monastery including the 3km kora pilgrim path around the monastery complex, hang out with Tibetan monks & local tibetans. Grasslands drive visiting another monastery town & caves. Jiayuguan Jiayuguan Fort, Overhanging Great Wall where the wall begins. Dunhuang Mogao Caves, singing sand dunes of Gobi desert, sunset camel trek. We've just had an amazing few days as we head west through china. after leaving Pingyao & Xian we arrived in Xiahe the Tibetan enclave, as I've said before there were very few non asians in town which added to its aura. we spent our time just wandering the streets & hanging out with the local Tibetans, (they hate the chinese & are not allowed a passport, unfortunately a lot of them really smelt which kind of tempered my sympathy for their plight) We wandered past the endless prayer wheels & toured the amazing monastery that wasn't one of the over 6,000 that were destroyed by the Chinese in the uprisings over the years, apparently the Monastery boss has 'good connections in Beijing', he really must have as it was pretty much untouched & authentic, & we had the pleasure to witness over 1000 monks pile into it for prayer time, so surreal! We hired a driver who took us out of town to another Monastery, then to some caves that we ended up in, in pitch blackness, banging into walls & low lying roofs as we clambered upwards, we made a hasty retreat backwards very quickly. We ate in restaurants with only the Tibetans, trying their yak meat hotspots & pies etc, i must say the yak butter & oils were a bit overwhelming after awhile! this experience was awesome & the reason why we travel!
15/4/2014 0 Comments Eternal lifeI've just realised that the secret to eternal life is having to squat 4 to 5 times a day. Getting rid of escalators and having to walk up and down steps all day long. and eating Chinese food Will never block you up. Can you imagine our parents squatting up and down all day long. Sorry mum but I doubt most would ever get up again. Somehow they all manage here. Thank god we did yoga and Pilates before we left.
15/4/2014 0 Comments XiaheAfter a 12 hour train and a four hour bus journey finally arrived in Xiahe which is a Tibetan town in the middle It is nearly 3000 m above sea level and 50% Tibetan. we seemed to be the only western people in town when we first arrived, but saw a few others in the evening. We are seeing fewer and fewer travellers as we head west. We had our first meal of yak meat last night in a Tibetan restaurant full of Tibetans in traditional We also saw our first blue sky the pollution has so far covered up the blue skies. Oh well,off to breakfast with yak yoghurt cheese and milk. Not as bad as it sounds!!
14/4/2014 0 Comments Another overnight train journey!!April 13 Xian.
Just about to board our 3rd overnight 12hr + train journey. Makes me feel like interail all over again Chinese style. Albeit in sleepers that are triple bunks 6 per compartment, but you get pillows and doonas, and a wake up call 1/2 he before you pull into your station. However our first train journey was 5 hr on the shanghai to Beijing bullet train covering 1300km quie an experience seeing China's building boom of 30+ storey apartments in their 1000's go whiz zing past. Yes thousands of these blocks built on spec for the masses to move into in the near future, and this is ALL over china, beyond belief!! You queue to get into the station and show the passport. The station is like an airport. Then queue again to have your bags scanned. No easy process with the millions who travel in china but it works somehow. 10/4/2014 2 Comments PingyaoMore observations.
There is never any toilet paper, you must always provide your own, you soon get the hang of that if you are caught out a few times!! Nearly always squat toilets, you must learn to readjust your balance if you have a bag on your back, (there isn’t anywhere to put It) Your thigh muscles get really strong especially having to get up! Seems that if you don’t eat the local food, then you have to eat MacDonald’s or KFC,, they are literally everywhere. I’m having a lovely time with fruit, at least there are no sinews, beaks, feet etc. in bananas. A correction observation:- the SHANGHAI Chinese are quite sophisticated, the rest are not. If they don’t feel like serving you they will fob you off & tell you to go elsewhere!! Or ignore you till you do go! Everyone is on their cellphone. Face book blocked by the government but you can try to get around it with a VPN. The drivers of cars & motorbike assume the right of way & will go into you if you aren’t careful, they don’t avoid you at all. Observations.
Very few people speak English. They don’t really need to be westernized or speak English; with 1.4billion people there is enough people in themselves. So much building being done, mostly high-rise, on a scale not describable. China is certainly as sophisticated as the rest of the world. The cities are very, very clean. Metros work fabulously. All bags are scanned at every metro station. A little more expensive than I expected but will get cheaper as we head west. Food not great yet! We walk a lot & there are a lot, I mean a lot of steps to every metro, no good if you are old or handicapped or just tired. Beijing really has a lot of pollution, a tourist attraction in its own right, a brown covering that my iPhone calls fog in the weather app!!!!! 8/4/2014 1 Comment Back at BeijingAfter only 1 hour in Beijing, around the Huotong area & Bell Tower unfortunately Svend was knocked down by an errant motorbike on a pedestrian crossing on OUR go light. I heard the bang when I was down the street & was mortified to see Svend on the ground, then up quick & yelling & swearing. He had damage to his arm & leg, tore his trousers & we later found out it broke the video camera. We will have to be more careful on the roads as they don’t seem to care if they go straight into you. Plus you can quickly get wiped out as the traffic is going the wrong way.
8/4/2014 0 Comments Shanghai - ChinaBought an all day metro ticket for $3 & we were set. First stop East Nanching shopping street with a few million people, then The Bund with its 1930’s architecture, a quick coffee at Starbucks then the ‘Tunnel experience’ a glass capsule takes you underneath the river through a tunnel to Pudongs new financial area with all the flash buildings. A quick (ha-ha) 1½ hour wait in the queue, where we realized the Chinese are not adverse to jumping the queue if you leave even a 30cm gap, stopped that lark pretty quick. Also found out the Chinese kids in the queue liked to push & poke foreigners, was good to see the dad telling him off when he realized. A good time spent at the top of the 263 m tower marveling at the city of 22 million & the high rise buildings they live in. & having a bit of fun on the glass floors which felt really weird looking down. (Good I’d had the previous skydiving experience to stomach that).
Next stop was the Yu’Yuang gardens were the rest of Shanghai had also decided to hang out, millions of people everywhere, I’m learning to walk with a 10cm shuffle, seems to be the best way to get anywhere. Then a trip to the French concession area where we walked & walked but couldn’t seem to find where we wanted to go. Feet hurting by this time also hungry & ate at a lovely looking restaurant where delights on offer were Caterpillar fungus, crispy duck neck, pigs tongue, frog, hairy gourd????, oh well we had a decent fried rice & I realized my chopstick skills are great at picking out all the ‘suspect’ items. Also realised that nearly no one speaks english, so that will take a bit of getting used to. the ones that did were students who had a little routine going, please take our photo, then engaging you in conversation, then inviting you to a tea house where you got ripped off & they got a commission, happened toys numerous times, but they seem harmless, & we did get a lot of information out of them before decking their sweet invitation. Also NO FaceBook, banned in china , they block it on the internet so that will curtail my contact, but if need be you can reach us on this blog! |
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August 2014
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