Bishkek to Osh

We bought plane tickets for Osh, in southern Kyrgyzstan. The tickets were cheap, and it makes a 15 hour minibus ride, 45 mins. in a plane. The other advantage is that the border from Osh to Kashgar is cheaper and easier to get across. The other border requires preparation and lots of money.

We plan to get back to Shanghai around the 13th of August. Hopefully we will have time to see some of central China, although it's going to be hot!

Kyrgyz Hats

These are the traditional hats that Kygyz men wear. The old married men wear these kind...

Kyrgyzstan

I never knew much about those countries in the middle of the world that end with stan, and I still don't know much, but I'm here and it's not what I expected. I'm not really sure what I expected, but it wasn't this. After having lived and traveled only in Asia in the last year, I got used to being a celebrity everywhere I went. It was slightly dejecting coming here, to "Central Asia" and no one really caring to look at you. Actually, now that I used to it, it's going to be weird going back to China.

Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan has a very culturally diverse population. I think only 40% are Kyrgyz. There are lots of Russians, that is why we don't stand out here. It's a little more difficult to tell who is a tourist, but for the most part it is pretty obvious. Their clothing and the lack of facial expression give the Russians away.

The farther south we travel, the more Kyrgyz people there are. They are a nomadic people related to Mongolians I think. This country is mostly mountains, and a very large lake. The second largest alpine lake in the world (Titicaca is number one). So we have been enjoying nature mostly. We have done a four day and a three day back packing trip so far, reaching elevations in the high 3000 meters. So far the weather has been unpredictable. We have had sunshine, wind, rain, lightning, hail, and snow. It's been exciting and frustrating at various times.

More later...

Pics from China

www.picasaweb.google.com/chrswbrwn/SummerFun

Go to this link to see photos thus far from our trip

MMMMMountain Spring Water!

We had to use iodine tablets to purify the water since we didn't have a filter.

Ningxia

Trey and I crossed Huang He (Yellow River) into Ningxia province, to the capital city, Yinchuan. We ate at Disco's, a McDonald's knock-off and jumped on another bus 3 hours south to Zhongwei We followed the Lonely Planet's recommendation to a place that does Camel treks into the Tengger Desert. I think we ended up at a different travel agency than the book recommended because it took us a few hours of charades and dictionarying to figure out what we were in for, but we got it settled and the trip was awesome. We left the next morning to drive to the fringe of the desert. There our camels and guide awaited. I have seen a camel quite a few times, but never really up close. They are quite awkward looking creatures; big bellies and skinny legs. When they sit, they fold their legs underneath themselves. The back legs fold two different directions, it's hard to visualize even when you see it first hand.
So, we loaded our gear and food and headed for the sand! Just the standing-up process is exciting. We were tied in a caravan, three in a row. The process was slow and a bit uncomfortable, luckily I was sufficiently recovered from horse riding in Inner Mongolia.
The weather was pleasant, but it started to get hotter as the day progressed. I have no idea how far we went, but the views were great, and the idea of riding a camel through the desert just made me laugh. We stopped around noon and ate lunch and took a nap. The camels grazed on the sparse desert vegetation. Off in the distance were dark clouds and thunder. Eventually a few drops began to fall and I saw a few lightning bolts. The rain seemed to be all around us, but never more than a sprinkle right on us. We kept heading into the desert after our nap. In the distance we could see wave-like peaks on the sand dunes. The wind sweeping sand over the peaks and showering over the other side. It was a first hand experience into how sand dunes are formed, and it was heading closer to us. Soon we were getting sand in every crevice, but being high up on the backs of the camels, definitely kept us above the brunt of the storm. As we trudged through the "desert storm", the weather started to calm. We soon found a resting place for the evening. The weather started to clear and after a few more light showers, the sky turned mostly blue. We ate dinner and watched a beautiful sunset atop the highest dune we could find. Its amazing how blessed I am to be able to travel around the world and see such wonderful things. The next day we headed back to town. We got to ride the camels by ourselves the whole way back. In general they tend to follow each other, but it was still fun to get to steer them. Sometimes my camel (Gigantor) would run down the dunes which was fun, but bumpy. It is really amazing to see the kind of slopes they can safely travel over in the sand. Camels, although cumbersome in appearance are quite sure-footed.
When we got back to the car, we headed to see "Chang Cheng" (the long wall or Great Wall). The wall in this area is just compacted earth and not very spectacular, except for its historicity. We came back after a swim at the local public pool, to watch the sunset.
Tonight we are heading on a night train to Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province. We are flying on the 16th from Lanzhou to Urumqi in Xinjiang.

Wuhai, Inner Monglia

We took a night train to Wuhai. Once again our experience on the "hard sleeper" was very pleasant. The jont was only about nine hours. We got on the train at 10:00 PM, exhausted our Chinese vocabulary with our neighbors, learned a few new Chinese words, went to bed, woke up about 6:30 AM and arrived in Wuhai at 7.
Now we are at the "Wang Ba" (Internet bar) figuring out where to go next.
It looks like we will try to go to the Badanjilin Desert.
We still plan to meet Erik in Urumqi on the 16th.

Inner Mongolia

I'm in Inner Mongolia now, heading toward the west. Trey and I are going to meet up with Erik in Urumqi around the 15th.
We rode horses and slept in a Mongolian girt (I don't know how to spell it, its kind of like a low T-pee.)

Beijing Continued

After my parents left, Trey and I took a day trip to another section of the Great Wall. We hiked from Jinshanling to Simatai.
The hike is supposed to be about 10km, but it didn't feel that far. The surrounding scenery in this area was very beautiful.
The wall has been restored in some areas and not restored in other areas. There are also less tourists. At the end of the hike we went for a swim in a river that intersects the wall at Simatai. The weather was hot so it was nice to cool off.

Summer Vacation

Summer vacation has begun!
My parents came to visit me in Shanghai a few days before school was out. They had been traveling in China for about a week before they got to Shanghai. We spent a few days seeing the sites in Shanghai, then we headed off to Xi'an where the famous Terracotta Warriors were discovered.
We did not have much time in Xi'an since we wanted to also spend time in Beijing. Basically we did a one day see everything you can see tour. This included a Buddhist Pagoda, a neolithic village and the warriors.
The village was uncovered in the 50's, and although it was small, I enjoyed it. The village was estimated to be 2,000 years old. I liked seeing the pots and their different styles of art, as well as the small bones of the people they had discovered. It's amazing to see how small they were.
The Terracotta Warrior exhibit is interesting. I really did not know what to expect. The massive quantity of soldiers and horses buried in the ground is what was most impressive to me. Most of the soldiers were just bits of broken clay, that have been pieced back together.

From Xi'an we flew to Beijing, the city of gray polluted skies. I thought Shanghai was polluted until I went to Beijing. The first day rained on us, so we went to the Temple of Heaven Park and Tiananmen. It started to clear up that evening.
The next day was better weather. We headed for the Summer Palace. It's basically a big park with a lake and some old Chinese buildings and towers. It was nice because of the lake and trees. We rented a boat and drove around the lake for an hour. Next we went to the Forbidden City. I have seen all of these things before about five years ago last time I was in Beijing, but the Forbidden City was not very impressive this time. I think after you have seen so many Chinese style buildings, it gets monotonous. We enjoyed a Frappuccino at Starbucks (this was within the gates of the "Forbidden" City. China seems to have more Starbucks, McDonald's and KFC's than America sometimes).
The next day we went to the Great Wall. We went to the same part of the Wall I had been to before. It is all restored and made for tourists, but still very impressive.
My parents left on Friday the 6th and so did the luxury.