Hua De Business Hotel Xining

The excuse of a month long blackout no longer being available, an entry on here is a good way to spend more time sitting in an oh-so-comfy armchair, typing away. <br><br>Total miles to date: 3028.6<br>Total time: 248 hours 54 minutes<br>Altitude climbing: Again, lots. However, there have been three very high passes: 3685m, 3767m and 3792.75m. That is what you get for going into the foothills of the Tibetan plateau...<br><br>As autumn finally set in upon leaving ...

... wallet in vain in his bags, he comes back towards the bus stop. Thinking he won't find it I go talk to the controllers with our permit stating the 4 names and the 3 tickets with consecutive berth numbers to explain our case. After 30min (Nishi is back without his wallet) I talk by phone to a train official who speaks decent English. She explains that without ticket he cannot take the train and that the 3 of us better hurry as the train is set to leave in 3 min. As our train ...

... olleen turhaa, koska Shenzhen Airlinesin lento oli myöhässä 1,5 tuntia.<br><br>Lento Xianista Xiningiin pilasi suunnitelmani matkustaa junalla Pjongjangista Lhasaan, mutta näin toimien saimme yhden lisäpäivän käytettäväksi Xianiin. Xiningistä aloitamme 20 päivän Tiibetin kiertomatkan. Tapasin siellä myös ensi kertaa kaksi tulevaa matkakumppaniamme, jotka olimme löytäneet Lonely Planetin Thorn Tree -foorumilta.<br>

We didn't have too much time to spend in Xining as we arrived around 1 am due to the late flight, had a meeting with our travel agency at 9 am and our train departed at 11.30. So we didn't actually see anything in Xining, though it didn't actually matter as we were already looking forward to taking the train to Lhasa. In fact, I ...

... s Mom from Kunchok's advisor, Anne. It brought tears to our eyes,<br><br>Jessica has learned to get around in the cab. She knows how to tell the cab driver in Chinese where we need to go. As for me, my Chinese has certainly improved in the past two weeks.<br>Jessica will be going home soon while I will be heading to Kunming, and then to Singapore and Taipei before heading home. <br><br>Hope you all having a good summer and hope to see you soon.<br><br>

... expensive<br>tea that I purchased last time that I was in China. I also got to try a<br>new variation of Bai Jiu (the infamous distilled sorghum liquor here)<br>which is unique to this region - distilled Barley liquor. It was<br>considerably more pleasant than bai jiu, for those of you who've ever<br>had the pleasure (*ha).<br><br> <br>I also had the privilege of attending a large banquet last night,<br>hosted by our main Chinese mentor. It was a ...

... sleeping bag (damn another thing to carry...). I had also worn holes in my walking boots (already!) and because they were no longer waterproof I had to replace those while I could. I'd need both these things if I wanted to do any trekking in Nepal so the investment was important. To complete my shopping trip I picked up the cheapest phone I could get to replace the one I left in Moscow - contact me if you want the number.

... be when we saw a truck going down the mountain with the back full of monks just riding down mountain having a really good time. Sadly I did not get a picture of the monks as they went riding by. I loved how bright the temple was and how it was being taken care of. I wish I knew more about Tibetan Buddhism and their Buddhist stories. But like normal for me I found a lot of inner ...

Had dinner at Mother Qin's Old Hotpot again, and we promptly regretted it when we stumbled upon an awesome night market. I am now inclined to believe that every city has a night food market of sorts. Loved it at Suan Lum in Bangkok, missed it in Patong Phuket, and missed it again here in Xining. That said, Rob &amp; Shauna tell me that there's a fantastic street market in Beijing, right by Leo's Hostel, where we're ...

... chat during dinner about travelling and many other things...cool.. the day after i was woken up by the guide who took me in the hotel and organized my plane ticket who was taking a sewdish guy to settle in my room... and we started talking. the guide offered us to go and visit the 15th dalai lama a 8years old boy chosen to be the next dalai lama, who is living in a hidden place in ...