Sep 20, 2005 - Hami

We have made it to Hami. It is a modern town on the confluence of two rivers. Our hotel is smart and we have been put in the annexe - which seems to be the presidential suite - no hot water yet though. We are currently borrowing the computer of someone in the phone shop and will post a longer update when we find an internet shop.

Sep 19, 2005 - Turfan

Turfan was rather a disappointment at first. The guide book said that it was below sea level which was an exciting idea. It isn't. The Turfan depression is to the south and is the second lowest place on earth. we were not to be discouraged and set off in the car and put things right in about 10 miles when we stopped with the altimeter on our GPS navigation box reading -100 metres. We were in a small village and enjoyed watching life go by while drinking a coffee and eating bread. The car is always a good introduction and as usual started...

Sep 17, 2005 - Korla - not so bad after all

We did not rush to Korla since our guide book said that it was a dump with unfriendly people. Therefore we stopped at Kuqa (pronounced koocha) at midday and wandered around the old Uighur (moslem) quarter before parking up by a heap of melons on the road and having tea and dumplings in a restaurant - lamb and mint, rather good. It is safe to leave the car in these towns. After the initial interest and stream of sticky fingerprints on everything, we are then left alone and it seems perfectly normal to have an Aston Martin parked in your...

Sep 16, 2005 - Aksu

We have arrived in Aksu. I do not think that you will find it on your atlas, but it is 400km East of Kashgar along a good tarmac road - yippee! Back up to 16 miles to the gallon. Charlotte's navigation into town was superb - despite all the road signs being in Chinese characters. It is easy once you get the hang of it. Aksu's first character is a kind of BoJ and the second a dancing man. We disagreed over the third one: C reckons it was 2 people dancing, but I insist that it was someone with ski-poles. Anyway, the road to Aksu was clearly...

Sep 14, 2005 - Kashgar

There was frost on the car in the morning. Our guide had all our Chinese driving licenses, car documents and number plates ready for us - great. Perhaps the best scenery yet! We started with mountains and pastoral scenes and then went through mountains of different colours, pink, black, red and grey and stripes of the above. There were, of course, snow clad peaks behind. We saw lakes and marshes and then a 70 kilometre gorge followed by a plain into Kashgar. We saw camels, cows, horses, donkeys and yaks as well as mud houses, stone houses,...

Sep 13, 2005 - Safely in China

Today we crossed the Khunjerab pass. The weather was perfect - a beautiful blue sky and medium temperatures. The climb was gradual - only a few wide hairpins - enabling us and the car to acclimatise. The car did not appreciate the altitude but, with a small adjustment, managed very well. The scenery was all it should be. The mountains are very steep in Pakistan. They are over 7000m in some cases. We could see Rakaposhi as we drove out of Gulmit and they just kept coming. The valleys to the side were often the most attractive views with...

Sep 1, 2005 - Cruzamos el Taklamantan!

En China uno tiene que aprender a relativizar los conceptos de espacio o tiempo. En China uno se da cuenta que dos puntos cercanos en el mapa no significan nada. En China nada significa que entre Hotan y Urumqi nos han tocado 20 horas en autobus (y porque cogimos el express, la otra opcion eran 25 horas) el trayecto mas largo que yo haya hecho nunca hasta el momento. Pues vaya record, no? Lo que salva que este trayecto pase de ser una tortura a algo realmente apetecible es el hecho de que la carretera que une las dos ciudades pasa por el...

Aug 27, 2005 - Turpán

Llegué a la estación de Turpán a las 2 de la tarde de ayer y sin pensarlo mucho me puse en la cola para de una vez comprar el boleto a Dunhuang para el día siguiente (hoy), digo sin pensarlo porque no sabía cómo iba a comunicarme (aunque sabía que al final de la guía con que viajo hay unas frases en chino para estos casos). Como casi siempre, tuve mucha suerte, una muchacha se acercó y me preguntó en inglés (si el persa y el mongol eran la lengua franca de la ruta en tiempos de Marco, el inglés es la del mundo ahora) si necesitaba ayuda,...

Aug 24, 2005 - Kashgar

Llegamos a Kashgar ayer al mediodía, sin ningún problema (aparte de que los chinos te determinan la temperatura al entrar con un sistema especial, sin tocarte). Hay que indicar que estamos en la provincia de Xinjiang, es el departamento musulmán, similar al Tíbet que es la otra provincia en donde subsiste una población muy religiosa, en este caso budista; la similitud está en que, aparte de lo religioso, éstas son provincias gigantescas (las 2 son fácilmente el 30% del territorio) que han deseado desde la revolución china ser...

Jun 5, 2005 - Descoberta de hoje: a China descobriu o mundo

Turpan, China Mak estah lendo um livro muito interessante: "1421, o ano que a China descobriu o mundo", de Gavin Menzies. O livro prega uma teoria muito interessante e bastante factivel, que pode mudar a historia conhecida por nos. Gavin estrutura evidencias para argumentar que os chineses estiveram na America antes de Colombo, na Australia antes de Cook e fizeram a primeira circonavagacao antes de Magalhaes. Segundo Gavin, em 1421 a maior frota naval visa ateh entao partiu da China, cumprindo ordens do imperador Zhu-Di de navegar "ateh o...

Jun 4, 2005 - Gaochang Ruins, Bezeklik Caves and a welcome return in Turpan

Depart: Toukxuan, Xinjiang Province, China Arrive: Turpan, Xinjiang Province, China Overnight: Turpan Hotel - We arrived at the Gaochang ruins not far from Turpan in the morning. I'm not a fan of ruins but some of the buildings were reasonably well preserved which made it more interesting. Joyce and I took a donkey cart around the ruins to save time and climbed up high to get a good ariel view. As we went back to the truck, we, and everyone else, were followed by a load of children trying to sell us souvenirs. They were all dressed up...

Jun 4, 2005 - Controle de informacoes - censura

Turpan, China Completando a informacao sobre o rigido controle do governo com relacao a informacoes sensiveis: Ao entrarmos na fronteira chinesa, a primeira coisa que o oficial fez foi inspecionar nossa biblioteca interna do caminhao. Passou os olhos em livro por livro. Prevenidos com o fato, haviamos escondido os guias da China junto aos mantimentos. Isto porque muito provavelmente teriamos os livros confiscados ou rasgados - a China nao admite a independencia de Taiwan, e qualquer mencao ao Tibet eh de extrema sensibildade. Outro fato...