What ELSE to See in China
What to see in China? Beijing, Shanghai, the Great Wall…But when you’re done with those, what else should you see in China? Here are five ideas. We spent seven weeks in China in 2011. We traveled up the South-Eastern seaboard and right across the country from Beijing to Far West China. It was an incredible Read the Rest…
Hostel Review: 7 Sages Xian
We stayed for four days at the 7 Sages Xian youth hostel, one of the prettiest and most welcoming hostels we stayed at during our year of travel. Xian Youth Hostel: Review I picked up a flyer for 7 Sages Hostel in Xian at the Rock and Wood Hostel in Shanghai – also a YHA Read the Rest…
Crossing Irkeshtam Pass from China to Kyrgyzstan
As we left Kashgar for Osh in Kyrgyzstan I expected a long but fairly uneventful travel day. The reality didn’t deviate too much from my expectations but even with that the experience couldn’t have been further from mundane. It started when the Chinese taxi driver dropped us at the China-side border post. The broad two-story Read the Rest…
Women of Kashgar
One of the things which I found endlessly fascinating in Kashgar, China was the variety of womens’ dress. In the photo above, you can see plenty of Uzbek ikat-patterned sik in blue and purple. Every woman is either wearing a long skirt or has leggings on to cover her legs. Yet even as you notice Read the Rest…
The Road to Pakistan: Upal to Tashkorgan
In the Upal market a man driving sheep passed by. We followed him out of the market proper towards the livestock area. There were three or four guys in white coats sitting by the entrance. Odd, I thought. The lady taking entrance fees waved us through since it was pretty obvious that we weren’t buying Read the Rest…
The Road to Pakistan: Kashgar to Upal
There were police checkpoints all the way out of Kashgar. Our taxi was stopped and re-directed off the main (paved) road on to an unpaved side road. The driver was not happy. We were just back on the main road when we came to a Y fork. A Chinese driver was waved through but our Read the Rest…
Markets in Kashgar
One of our reasons for going to Kashgar was to visit the famous Sunday Market. To get there we wandered through the Old Town and happened into the local fruit-and-vegetable market.
An Afternoon Walk in Kashgar
Kashgar, China. We’d reached the city I’d wondered about for months – reading and learning about its’ history as a trading post between East and West, Chinese, Pakistani, and Central Asian traders for hundreds of years. I wanted to get out, walk around and see for myself. Murph decided to come along too but our Read the Rest…
Western China Yardangs and Handynasty Great Wall
This is a Yardang. A what? I hear you ask? A Yardang is a desert rock formation carved from thousands of years of sand and wind erosion. They look freaky. This one is about three stories tall. I’m so glad I could share that with you, now you won’t have to take a hot, dusty Read the Rest…
Two Weeks In Western China
This is the map I used to describe our intended China itinerary in my brief “Phase III: China” post in early April. What I didn’t mention at the time was how nervous I was about visiting Western China. Pick a concern (food, language, hygiene, transport, possible ethnic violence) and I’m sure I wound myself up Read the Rest…
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