Saturday, July 21, 2007

Reflections on the road

This is post is long long overdue. It has been at least a month, perhaps even longer, since my last entry. Here are my excuses: 1) going to an internet cafe in China can be an incredibly frustating endeavour; 2) The longer one travels, the harder it is to adequately convey an event in a single post - there really is too much to write; 3) it is easy to brag on one's travels - a blog is an outlet for it. Thus I have been inexplicably hesistant to write about my travels, perhaps because I already spend at least a part of my day writing in my diary. It is a pain having to re-word all my thoughts on a blog post, catered for another audience; and, 4) well, I am slack. In saying all that though, here is an update for those are interested in my activities.

Here is a summary of the last month and half since I wrote in Beijing

Beijing
Highlights: First port of call after returning from 5 weeks in Mongolia; got an infected eye and two eye scarpings which resulted me staying there for two weeks.

Xian
H: Stayed for two days. Saw the Terra Cotta Warriors and got the hell out of there.

Guanxi Province:
Places: Longsheng, Gulin, Yangshou
H: Had an amazing week hanging amongst the limestone cliffs in Guanxi Province. Went on a number of bamboo boat rafts, did a hike, watched a sunrise, and hung out with random Chinese travellers

Yunnan Province:
Places: Kumming, Lijiang, Tiger Leaping Gorge, Zhongdian
H: Perhaps the most majestic and stunning province in China. The Tiger Leaping Gorge trek was absolutely amazing, as was Lijiang, despite how touristy it was. Met up with Turks and his school mates, then spilt up again.

Sichuan-Tibet Highway (Yunnan/Sichuan)
H: Single-handlely the most frightening yet beautiful road I have ever travelled on. Drove through some amazing little Kham Tibetan villages, hung out with Tibetan Nomads, did a horse trek and generally soaked up the Tibetan culture as much as I could. Met up with the boys again in this area.

Sichuan: Chengdu and Mt Emei.
H: Spent a week in Chengdu, hanging out and wasting time. Went to the Panda Research Station- not bad; again, though, I felt like such a tourist. Found a Tex Mex restaurant, which, for better or worse, ended up dining at least three or four times. Conquered the famous Emei Shan- a tough climb, up steps that were on a 90 degree gradient the whole way.

And now:

I am in Lanzhou, Gansu Province, north of Sichuan. Heading to Qinghai Province tommorrow to see if I can get my Tibet permit on the cheap. I am resting all my hopes on one forward I received from a travelling buddy, which stated that you can pick up a cheap permit in Qinghai's capital. Probably not the best move, resting all my hopes and plans on one forward, but have to give it a go and see what happens.

That is all. A month and a half of activities summarised into one post. Obviously there are a lot more I could have written about, but ah well. The USB Port on this computer is not functioning thus a lack of photos to accompany this post. Get some up soon.

Much love,

Ed.

1 comment:

AK47 said...

all this sounds like scenes from monkey magic show, look forward for the photos