Fu Li Hua Hotel Urumqi

... a cold a blustery autumn day. We were glad we had gloves and scarves! There were a few families out walking, and more appeared as the sun came out.

There was some confusion about our hotel. The one we were supposed to stay at had been pulled down a year ago! It was half way through a complete re-build.

But we were 'upgraded' to a 5* hotel, which was fine - nothing special; a typical 'business' hotel - could have been ...

... A route of over 4000 kilometres.

The Chinese are brilliant at building roads through incredibly difficult terrain - as we saw when we travelled on the Karakorum Highway from China to Pakistan in 2007.

For this entry I will let the photos tell the story!

... in their tiny shop crammed with all types of animals to use as treatments. On our way back to the hotel we were stopped by a trainee doctor from the local hospital. He was keen to chat to us and Lio was keen for some local drink so he took us to a night market for some food and drink, although we were advised to head home as streets were not safe after dark.

... Next on the list was drinking slushies and beer in the park, then KTV. We figured an hour of KTV would probably do the trick, but ended up yowling away for about 3 instead. Finally, after noodles and beer we parted company. I was extremely happy to have met Ma Jun and sad to see him go. The next day, LX and his uncle took me to the airport. I was already out of sorts in the morning. I had had a fantastic time in Xinjiang. I had met so many lovely people ...

... Chinese people show their affection through food. She was pretty keen on me and wouldn't take no for an answer. After I got back, LX and his friend Ma Jun (who is Hui) took me to a Hui market area selling traditional foods. The food was good but we got harassed continuously by two wasps that were pretty keen on sharing our meal with us. Plus I got stared at a lot again. After being mistaken for being Kazak or Russian (?!) for the past few days, I was not particularly phased, but I ...

... trip. LX pretty much bullied the travel agent, Lirong, into going on the tour to take care of me. I am not really sure how he managed to do this, but she gave in. She'd never been to Kanas before and business was lousy (riots and all that) which meant her boss was willing to let her go for free. Besides, LX had pestered her to the point where she was worried if anything happened to me up there, he'd be out for her blood. After scaring the living daylights out of Lirong, we went out for dinner.

... Jinan, I had been short on sleep every night, almost died of exhaustion after hiking Huashan and had felt quite off in Jiayuguan from the difference in food and water. I was a bit worried. I went back to the hotel room to rest. Boiled some tap water and drank it, which turned out to be a mistake. Tap water is supposed to be safe in China if it is boiled, but the stuff in Xinjiang is quite hard. I learnt this the next day from a ...

... which was no larger that my little dorm room. The owner spread his arms wide as we approached and called out to us. We couldn't understand what he was saying since he spoke Uigur, but he had such a welcoming manner that we had to go in. We ate real Uigar food-nan bread, which is a flat spiced bread, lamb kabobs, and lamb dumplings (this would be the beginning ...

... the way he had the fortune to visit a Mao commemorative button museum...for which I shall always be jealous). We arrived in Wulumuqi with a two-fold mission: buy lots of food for the impending fifty-four hour train ride and take photos in the Uyghur section. We took photos of roasted goats sporting red bows about their necks and carts of ...

... unsurprisingly, no foreigner she knew had actually been to the dentist here (we did meet a few who were busy trying to survive until they got back home however). So the three of us, slightly tense, headed around to it during T's lunch hour. M was just about passing out she was so nervous. Tiffany had spent the morning learning the Chinese words for "anesthetic" and "painkillers" and "extraction". Chris was busy working out just how fast we can get ...