Jun 3, 2005 - Tempestade de areia no deserto

Deserto de Taklamakan, China Deserto de Taklamakan. Taklamakan quer dizer "o lugar onde quem entra nao sai", ou qualquer coisa similar. Eh o maior deserto na China, e segundo o nosso guia chines, o 2o maior do mundo. Sua fama eh o de ser o mais mortal. Na antiguidade, Taklamakan eh responsabilizado por ter engolido centenas de caravanas, algumas delas com mais de 100 camelos. * * * Estou escrevendo este paragrafo enquanto presencio um dos fenomenos mais estranhos pelos quais passei: uma tempestade de areia. Alias, eh a 2a em 2 dias. A...

Jun 3, 2005 - Kashgar

Kashgar was once a fabled Silk Road city, and in part it most definitely lives up to its billing. Things are changing fast all over China, though, and that extends even to this outpost. To reach Kashgar, you used to have to travel by bus: a 36 hour journey if you were lucky. Then they installed an airport and, only a few years ago, a railway line. The rail line snakes through the mountains outside Urumqi, crossing a 3000m pass, before heading down to the dusty plains that approach Kashgar, with snowy mountain ranges never far away on both...

May 28, 2005 - Karakol Lake and Muztagh Ata Mountain

Depart: Karakol Lake, Xinjiang Province, China Arrive: Kashgar, Xinjiang Province, China Overnight: Seman Hotel (Cheap Wing!) - We were woken at 5am by some frisky donkey braying - indeed some of us had not slept at all due to the high altitude. However, a beautiful sunny morning and a tasty breakfast cheered us up. We could see the magnificent Muztagh Ata mountain at 7,500m for the first time and the lake offered beautiful views with some great reflections making for good photos. We walked around the lake for a while before heading back to...

May 28, 2005 - Notas perdidas para honrar o titulo de "piores relatos"

Kashgar, China Suspeito que o padrao de beleza para as mulheres chinesas seja pele alva, pes pequenos e seios grandes. Todos os trabalhadores bracais usam luvas, mascara e chapeus para nao se queimarem. Ao contrario da Europa, pele bronzeada aqui significa ser da classe proletaria. Antigamente as mulheres enfaixavam seus pes, que chegavam inclusive a se deformar, para mante-los pequenos. Hoje, devem ter descoberto que tem muito mais homens do que mulheres na China, e no maximo compram um sutianzinho com enchimento. * * * Estavamos...

May 26, 2005 - Noticias da China

Kashgar, China A china eh fantastica. Nenhuma outra palavra pode descreve-la. * * * A comecar pelo fuso horario. O pais inteiro, apesar de sua extensao longitudinal, tem um unico fuso horario, compativel com o de Beijing. A impressao eh que Kashgar esta mergulhada em um eterno horario de verao. Mesmo assim, cada localidade tem seu horario "pirata". Em Urumqui, por exemplo, o fuso eh de -1h15min em relacao a Beijing. Dah para entender?!? * * * Outra coisa que chama a atencao eh a propaganda comunista. Toda a midia eh controlada pelo governo....

May 25, 2005 - Over the Torugart Pass into China

Depart: Near Torugart Pass, Kyrgyzstan/China Border Arrive: Kashgar, Xinjiang Province, China Overnight: Seman Hotel - After my early departure the previous evening, I unsurpringly, woke up pretty early at around 5:30am. Not wanting to wake my new tent partner, Andy, up. I climbed aboard the truck and promptly fell asleep. I was awoken by some commotion outside the truck. I turned around and saw a white Audi parked outside and a few of our group milling around. For a second, I thought that we had got into trouble with the local army guards,...

May 25, 2005 - O lendario Toutgard Pass

Kashgar, China O camping da noite anterior foi no check-point ainda no Quirguistao, a 3.180m de altitude e a 60km da fronteira. Um frio duca, mesmo com 2 sacos de dormir e roupas termicas. Para se ter uma ideia, de manha precisei raspar o gelo da tela do PDA, que estava dentro da barraca, para ver que horas eram. Nao tive a oportunidade de mencionar antes, mas uma das companheiras que deveriam se juntar a nos em Bishkek perdeu o voo de Delhi e nao conseguiu nos encontrar. Pois bem; ela pegou um taxi e foi ateh onde pode - i.e., no...

May 22, 2005 - Urumqi (again)

Back in Urumqi, then, for the cup final. It's not on live, but is shown "as live" two hours late (midnight local time, or 10pm Xinjiang time if you prefer). Hardly worth staying up for in the end, and the brie sandwiches were overrated too. Back to Chinese food, I think, although they mostly eat shish kebabs round here and very nice they are too. Part two of the decadent weekend involved Star Wars Episode III. First I had to move hotel, though. It's all part of the service here in China not to tell you when you check in that the hotel is...

May 20, 2005 - Yining

So how was that 22 hour bus journey, then? Well, it was 26 hours, for a start, and those extra four hours make a lot of difference when they're the last four. Aside from that, it was predictably good and bad. The good thing was that it was a sleeper bus. These are contraptions that have almost flat, narrow beds lined up on two levels in three rows, with two very narrow aisles between them. This was an early model, which meant more space per passenger (though all things are relative) but a knackered engine and an almost retired gearbox. This...

May 18, 2005 - Kuche

Don't ever go to Kuche (a.k.a. Kuqa). There's nothing to see or do, and it's largely inhabited by cretins with nothing better to do than stare and snigger at any foreigner who sets foot in their pointless little town. I got here by a double-decker sleeper train (not seen one of those before). It's a new posh train with only four people per compartment and they charge for it accordingly. If only the aircon and running water worked. I feel sorry for the staff: they have to carry all the stuff they usually sell from trolleys, because of all...

May 14, 2005 - Urumqi

Urumqi is the big city in these parts: provincial capital and a conurbation of 1.2 million people in the middle of nowhere. They wouldn't be here but for oil and minerals, oh and Chinese expansionism. This is East Turkestan to a good proportion of the locals (though the Chinese do their best to reduce the ratio by encouraging the Han Chinese to migrate here). As in Turpan, and much of central Asia, there is a broad mixture of facial features here. Kebab barbecues smoke up the streets; Uighur music drowns out Chinese; Arabic script replaces...

May 8, 2005 - Turpan

It's cool when I get off the train. It is 5am, though. At the hotel reception desk, a sign says "Today's temperature 38'C". It's still two months before the height of summer. I'm actually pleased when the room they show me to is underground: it's a good few degrees cooler than outside. It's a dormitory in name, but I'm the only occupant. Where is everyone? The trainline has no interest in tracking the Silk Road. Turpan train station is therefore thoughtfully located 58km north of town, although that does make it 72km more convenient than...