Author: Megan
-
Concrete Buildings Never Looked So Good
My route through Kyrgyzstan and into Uzbekistan looked good on paper but in reality it didn’t really work out the way I wanted. My plan was not to backtrack, but without a Kazak visa I could not take the direct bus from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to Tahkent, Uzbekistan. I knew this, of course, and somewhere in…
-
Uzbekistan: Day One
This morning I got up at 4:30am to drive to Manas International Airport in Bishkek for my 7am flight to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Because of the crazy borders and a mountain range going by land would have been difficult. I could either buy a Kazak visa to take the bus from Bishkek to Tashkent or travel…
-
Gobi in the Meantime
I know you’re waiting to hear about my “hiking” in Kyrgyzstan but while I’m working on that click here for the much-requested write up about my trip to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. As always, you can also click on the “Mongolia” category in the sidebar to get to those entries.
-
Biding Time in Bishkek
My embassy outing yesterday did not go well. When I arrived my interpreter, Nargiza, talked to the guards who didn’t know if the consulate was coming to work or not. After some phone calls it was determined that he was at a conference and wouldn’t be in. We helped two other travelers, a Japanese guy…
-
I Am Alive
I’ve spoiled you. When I was in China and updating every few days I feared that you would get used to it! After a week sleeping in yurts on Song Kul Lake and hiking around Karakol I’ve come back to an inbox full of worried notes from friends, family and strangers. You guys had my…
-
Is There a Doctor in the House?
My headache persisted for more than a week, although I gradually regained movement of my neck. I didn’t want to go to the doctor down in Osh and figured my best bet was to see someone in the capital, Bishkek. Sema put me on a night minibus to Bishkek and we said our goodbyes, but…
-
Crashing Into Central Asia
I woke up the next morning inside the cab of a Chinese truck. It was a bright morning and I lifted my head to see that I was surrounded by snowy peaks. I felt tired and my neck was sore—I could barely move it—but my only thought was “this must be Sary Tash. I should…
-
Getting Out
Kashgar is an interesting place, but like most interesting places in China I have stayed far too long. I have been in town for five days (at least two days too long) and am ready to move on to Central Asia. The Monday bus to Osh, Kyrgyzstan was sold out and I have gotten no…
-
Almost Out of China
Today is my third day in Kashgar and it’s gotten pretty hot. The old town is amazing with winding streets with mud houses and interesting residents. An old man invited me into his house for tea and I sat there for an hour with his wife and mother drinking tea and showing them my family…
-
Kyrgyz Consulate Revealed!
—————————————————————————- EDIT July, 2009 If you’re looking for the embassy make sure to read the comments on this post for other reader’s tips. Here’s a first-hand account from June 29, 2009 from Wendy: The prices I was quoted were 455RMB for processing in five business days (meaning if you hand it in on Monday then…
-
Urumqi in Eight Days
Most people pass through Urumqi (pronounced wOO-loo-moo-chee), the capital of Xinjiang, as quickly as possible. I suspect this is because most guide books describe it as an awful place with nothing to see. Although it isn’t teeming with tourist sites, besides it’s excellent museum, the town is an interesting mix of Chinese and Uigur personalities…
-
Last Day in Urumqi
I wrote a wonderfully long post about The Gobi (finally!) but somehow forgot to put it on my thumb drive to upload today. In any case I can give you backdated entried about Naadam here and Lanzhou here. You’ll find some more photos from Urumqi in the gallery and a few more food and design…
-
More NW China Photos
Can you believe I’m updating again? I’m sure you’re starting to get sick of me. But you’ll all be complaining again once I’m in Central Asia on a mountain somewhere staying in a ger with no electricity. I’ve updated the gallery. Now, NW China is up to Urumqi! The Urumqi, Food and Design galleries will…
-
One Much-Needed Massage
Yesterday I woke up in my clean hotel room, ate some cereal and prepared to go to the Kyrgyz Consulate. I had looked up vague directions on Lonely Planet’s Thorntree message board and went down to the front desk. I asked where the street was, they didn’t know. I asked where the big hotel nearby…
-
Getting Settled in Urumqi
I spent two nights in Turpan, one day three of us hired a taxi from 7am until 7pm to take us around all of the sites. The highest my thermometer read was 104 and my French taxi partner was very disapointed. He thought it would be a lot hotter. My eyes began to water and…
-
Second Lowest Point on Earth
Last night I took a 10:30pm night sleeper train from Dunhuang (actually a station 2 hours from Dunhuang) to Turpan (actually a station 1 hour from Turpan) and arrived in town this morning around 9am. I’ve been traveling with a girl from Taiwan and a guy from Paris for the past few days. There’s only…
-
Inner Mongolian Galleries
I’ve added two new galleries of photos: Erlianhot and Hohhot here. In an attempt to be less confusing I named this gallery “NW China” to keep it seperate from “China” which was the gallery from my trip to China in 2004. If you haven’t looked at that I suggest spending some time as it covers…
-
Stopover in Lanzhou
Lanzhou is one of those towns that everyone ends up passing through on their to and from the West of China. During Phase 1 I arrived in Lanzhou one morning on a night train from Xi’an. I walked out of the station and into a cab to the bus station on my way to Xiahe,…
-
The Long Journey from Hohhot to Jiayuguan
After a brief stop in Jiayuguan I’ve made it to Dunhaung! It’s been a long journey to get from Mongolia to the Xinjiang Province incluing 3 trains and 2 buses. After two good nights of sleep (on a bed!) I’m feeling a bit better. Dunhuang is also a very laid back place which has also…
-
Lanzhou, Third Time’s a Charm
I wrote a very long and insightful post about my ride from Hohhot to Yinchuan to Lanzhou but then the computer jerks here shut down my computer. They work on a pre-payment system but I have no idea what messages popping up on my screen in Chinese are so I lost it all. I did…