AFRICA
AMERICA
   Central
     Go Guatemala
  North Am
      Boston
     Last storm of the century in New York
   South Am
     See pictures of Peru, Bolivia and Chile
ASIA
  Go China
AUSTRALIA & PACIFIC
   Survival Downunder
EUROPE

Click here to start a New Message.
To see all the past postings and Information 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 2004

• 27 June 01 - Xian - Central China - bill - bill@trax2.com
  3:30pm -- After 26 days of following the "Silk Road" I've finally come to the end, at the ancient capital of Xian, at the time one of the wealthiest and most sophisticated cities of the world, butting to shame such cities as Rome and Constantinople. From the very beginning at KASHGAR (last major trading post in Asia between Europe), the route has taken me through such towns as KUQA (ruins of a 1500 year old Buddhist civilization), URUMQI (strategic position through the Tianshan Mountains), TURPAN (oasis town 130 ft below sea level with more ruins and tombs), DUNHUANG (major trade route set in a natural junction to the southern and northern routes crossing huge sand hills, lots of ruins, ancient buddhist paintings, grottos/caves), JIAYUGUAN (last frontier fort attached to the Great Wall of Ming China - 14th century), ZHANGYE (one of the most import stopping points because of it's souce of fertile land/water - with the largest reclining Buddha in China), LANZHOU (pit stop for the traders and their camels but now famous for its pick-pockets and for me a near mini bus hijacking - more about that later), now at's it's end XIAN (cross roads between China and Central Asia - home of the the terracotta warriors) and in doing so have crossed some of the most magnificent landscapes I have seen, traveling on slow buses, fast trains and horse -- 04:20:45 06/27/01
  • Chengdu - bill -
    Xian -- not sure if its here that Mao hid out or not, but no one has mention anything about it here, Xian now is a hot, sticky and very polluted place, with the terrocotta warriors a dispointment -- 23:57:53 06/28/01
    
  • ny,ny - anna - anna.lam@bbdo.com
    Isn't Xian the place where Mao Tse Tung hid out in the cave dwellings during the Cultural Revolution?
    -- 09:53:55 06/27/01
• Sun 24 June - Lanzhou - NW China - Bill -
  After 2 buses -- I decide to change to a train (goes a bit faster than a camel and arrived at Lanzhou, since Pakistan I've been stopping at all the towns that make up the ancient Silk Road, starting from Kashgar, all places have been very touristly and cost have been very high, every thing has a feeŁ¬even too see sand, very commerical though not so many tourist this year to date. Tomorrom with luck I will head to Xian (the ancient capital of China) the final stop of the offical "Silk Road" -- 07:57:11 06/24/01
  • china - oscar - oscar@trax2.com
    Re: After 2 buses -- you are almost at the end of your trip.

    John Alicea says hi and good luck on your trip -- 17:19:33 06/25/01

    • Xian - bill -
      Re: After 2 buses -- no, still 1 train to get then I'm thinking of going to Tibet, cause its so close, also say g'day to John, tell him to get off his arse and tell me himself -- 01:55:00 06/27/01
      
• Thur 21 June - bill -
  3 pm -- just pass the marker that says 2777 km to Beijing, on a different bus this time, still on the silk road, and I think still as slow as a camel -- 07:44:42 06/24/01
  
• Wed 20 Jun - somewhere in NW China - bill -
  On the silk road -- this time not by camel but on a bus, just pass 3.30pm and zoomed pass a marker that says 3000 km to Beijing -- 07:40:17 06/24/01
  
• NW China - John - printpac@ozemail.com.au
  Hi there -- G'day Bill. Good to see you having lots of fun. You seem to have found all the best places to see and to stay at. Are you close to the end of your trip? See ya keep in touch. -- 02:48:38 06/22/01
  
• Mon 18 Jun - Dun Huang - NW China - bill -
  Arrived midnight -- Dun Huang R/R Station, I got the train too early or else the train was too fast (I was thinking of arriving around 6 am). The city itself is still 2hrs away by car with no bus or taxi. No choice but to find a driver to take me there. Teamed up with 3 locals to share cost (Y30 ea) and arrive in town well after 2.30am. In the afternoon I'd hire bike for Y1 an hr and I paid Y50 to see sand. Huge sand dunes just 6km out side of town, where one can go "sand surfing", paragliding and camel riding at more cost, I just climb the 2 highest dunes and stay till the stars come out, leaving at 11pm -- 04:42:56 06/19/01
• Turpan - NW CHina - bill -
  TIP -- If you just want to visit the famous Jiaohe Ruins by itself (without paying for a tour/taxi) then catch the mini bus #1 out the front of Traffic (Communications) Hotel on Laucheng Lu to the end (Y0.5). There get a motor tricle that will take you to the main gate. Check that it goes here and you will need to do a bit of bargining (Y1-2). Or just hire a bike, road is all sealed and lined with poplar tress -- 04:59:12 06/18/01
  
• Sat 16 Jun - Turpan - NW China - bill -
  Turpan -- is very much a tourist place, everyone is out to sell you a tour, John's Cafe is short on info, high in sell. Also no one knows for sure the time tables for the trains headed east or if they will even stop, makes it worst as RR station is over an hour away by bus. -- 04:52:10 06/18/01
  
• Thur 14 Jun - Urumqi -NW China - bill -
  16 hours on bus -- arrived in Urumqi at 11am, a city of over 1.2 million and expending at 10,000 extra han chinese every month, lots of construction going on, like the rest of China no Guide book can keep up to date, case in point Hongshan Hotel (a backpackers favourite) has been demolished for the last 2yrs, all the 2001 books has it as still open for business. -- 04:41:36 06/18/01
  
• Turban - NW China - Bill - bill@trax2.com
  For really fast -- internet (Y10 hr) go to 168 Hotel cnr of
  Luzhou Xi Lu and Gaochang Lu, nth of museum -- 06:53:07 06/16/01
  
• USA - jessica - anna@trax2.com
  Greetings -- Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear uncle bill, happy birthday to you. I miss you.
  -- 09:58:42 06/15/01
  • china - bill -
    thankyou for remembering -- Jessica I miss you too-- 06:48:36 06/16/01
    
• Tues 12 Jun - Sailiwu Lake - NW China - bill -
  We hire yurt -- for Y40 beside lake, though we had to walk some way around the lake away from the major road which where charging between Y150-400, so we got a bargain. Lots of rain at the moment so no hiking in the surrounding virgin forests, so will go back to Yining 135 km sth -- 08:11:47 06/12/01
  
• Sat 9 Jun - not on any map - NW China - bill -
  16 plus hours -- later and we are no closer to Yining. We decide to leave bus and spend a nite at "Lalati" (or something sounding like that). The road has been amazing passing through desserts, barron mtns & canyons, virgin pine valleys, over snow covered peaks and a snow covered high plateau, but the going was slow with many pot holes, washouts, muddy, ice, dust etc. But inside was not uneventful with 5/6 local gang members scaming 2 passengers out of their money and jewellery, they even bashed up the guy that lost his money as they were getting "thrown" off the bus. -- 08:05:39 06/12/01
  
• Wed 6 June - Kuqa - NthWest China - bill -
  Following the original "Silk Road" -- Here we visit ancient Buddhist Ruins, Cave Grottoes ang Military Beacon Tower, next we continue following "The Road" to Yining -- 07:52:14 06/12/01
  ( 0)
• Mon 4 Jun - Kashgar - China - bill -
  Good food -- and cheap at last after a month of chapatti & dahi in Pak/india. At Sust one of our party (AmerChinese) was not allowed to leave Pakistan because he did not have the right documents. At Taskkurgan (China border check point crossing) my passport was tahen away for further inspection - guest they necer seen an AusChinese before - they took pictures of my passport before releasing me. Kashgar is the crossroads in the Silk Road between East and West - big dust storm at the moment. So tomorrow we catch train for Kuqa then on to Yining (Nth West China close to Mongolia/Russia -- 08:25:12 06/04/01
  • china - oscar - oscar@trax2.com
    Re: Good food -- send me some digital pictures so I can posted on the
    forum. have fun
    -- 17:32:16 06/06/01
    • china - Yining - bill -
      pics -- haven't been able to find a place to down load any pictures-- 07:24:06 06/10/01
      
• Fri 1 June - paul -
  Arrive in CHINA, after leaving Passu at 7am (hire jeep to Sust arriving at 7:45am) wait till 9am for Pak Customs to open. At Sust Pak guards do not let Tim go on to china, we all pass - so do not know what will happen to him. Bus into China is from PTDC (7 passengers) - route is spectular - at the border at 4700 metres pass the bus is searched by the Chinese border guards because the 2 HK girls give the officer "cheek" arrive Tashkurgan (China offical entry) late afternoon, check into "Traffic Hotel" 4 Bed dorm for Y10 ea. After diner take a look at the famous old fort that no one knows who built, amazing place. -- 08:15:50 06/01/01
  
• Continued from Pakistan

Postings for China 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 2003