Gongxiaoshe Hotel Urumqi

... going on to Kashgar. The most fascinating part was the exhibit on the numerous different ethnic minorities in Xinjiang province, complete with models of yurts, home interiors and examples of traditional dress and musical instruments. The government must have also agreed that this was essential viewing because an armed squadron of about 40 PLA troops was taking in the exhibit as we visited! Witnessing this after our visit to Kashgar ...

My last day in Xinjiang was spent mooching about Changji with LX and Ma Jun. It was exactly the kind of day of doing nothing much in particular that I needed in order to wind down from too many days of seeing and doing way too much! First we went off for a big lunch at another Hui restaurant. Then as we dawdled towards a video arcade, Ma Jun saved me from having to buy a new back pack by getting the old one repaired (the one where the zipper busted just as I ...

Finally it was time to go back to Changji. We stopped at a couple of shops (including a farm for deer antlers, boo hiss) on the way back, but arrived a lot earlier than I expected. The tour to Kanas was fun, I'm glad I went on it. Not only was the scenery spectacular, but I was forced to speak in Chinese for the whole time and I learnt how to split melon and pumpkin seeds fairly quickly, thanks to the auntie sitting across the aisle from Lirong and I who kept showering us in the damn ...

... to go via Urumqi again and then catch a local bus back. I was busy chatting to LX about plans to go to Kanas lake the next day, so I didn't notice the police officer who got on the bus to check ID until he was right next to me, at which point I gave him a perplexed glance for interrupting me. I must look intimidating when I am annoyed because he ran off the bus without asking for my passport, while I looked at his retreating figure feeling slightly sheepish. Mum told me last time she saw ...

... her to help me send a message to my Mum telling her I was fine, could not call out and to tell her the hotel number. JV was one of the few people in China who knew for sure where I was, which was why I called her. I didn't want to go getting even more people worried about me being here in Xinjiang. She readily agreed, but unfortunately while I could talk to JV and JV could talk to my mum, Mum and I still couldn't manage to talk to ...

... that I had been imagining since that guy talked to me on the plane, it was lovely and uneventful, at any rate. Once we got to LX's hometown, the scene changed. Unlike reports of Urumqi being a ghost town, Changji was remarkably alive and, well, normal. Lots of people out in the square. People at night markets, KTV signs flashing. That was when the weight finally left my shoulders. Normalcy. It is what violent creeps, with their hateful hearts, destroy with the fear they cause ...

We had looked forward to an indulgent flight with China Southern Airlines back to Urumqi, China from Islamabad.

After nearly two weeks in Pakistan we would have access to alcohol at long last and we were really looking forward to a few days of rest in our favourite Hoi Tak Hotel before we departed for the long trip home to Australia via Shanghai.

Well, we DID have one beer on the flight but sadly we were still harbouring the dreaded Bukhara Belly that had ...

... lorsque 5 hommes debarquent, nous devisagent et s assoient avec nous. Je regarde de plus pret et il y en avais un menotee! C etait la police et ils escortaient a 5, un jeune garcon. arrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggg. Ils nous ont demande si on pouvait dormir sur les banquettes en hauteure car le jeune prisonnier dormirait en bas. Re ARGggggggg Bon il etait menotte et il avait pas l air mechant mais je ne crois pas que j aurais pu bien dormir sachant qu il y avait ...

... a busy road when I felt something touch my bag. Turned around to see the inept pickpocket start to walk the other way. At that point, I swore to get out of this hellhole ASAP. Even though I was to go to Tian Chi (Heavenly Lake) the next day to do some horseriding in the mountains with Kazakh herders, I wasn't going to stay in Urumqi another night to wait for the bus to Tian Chi. This pathetic city can kiss my ass goodbye!

... all, most surprising). And then a tearful goodbye as he escorted us to the bus back to Urumqi. All in all, not too bad service for 100RMB. Incidently, the buses doing this route are the flashest in China by far. No idea why. We didn't get up to much with our time in Urumqi - certainly nothing remotely touristy (not that Urumqi is well-endowed in that department - its main claim to fame is that it is the furtherest city, on earth, from the sea ...