Huayi Hotel Baiyin

... the Tibet side are better than the
Nepalese side). The goal: Everest Base Camp with a whopping
elevation of 16,995 feet! We reach the Rongphu Monastery – the
highest monastery in the world. Being stubborn marathoners and bit
masochistic in punishing our bodies, Mike and I choose to hike the
8km distance from the monastery to the base camp. Afterall, it's not
like we're climbing Everest or something crazy like that! There is a
nice little dirt road that ...

We travelled back from Xiahe in the morning to catch an overnight train from Lanzhou to Dunhuang. We had a long afternoon to explore before our train so we had time to check out the White Cloud Temple and some water wheels across from the temple. White Cloud Temple is a Taoist Temple and meant to have some serious fortune tellers.

We traveled to Huining county, in Gansu province and continued our interviews with local villagers. It was a great location to collect data, as it was highly arid, as compared to the villages we'd been in the previous weeks. There are numerous farmers who rely solely on rainwater collection for their water (for both domestic and agricultural uses!).

... shift from Southeast Asia, and it is growing on me far faster than anywhere in this part of the world to date. Now, halfway done the trip with Chuck and Erika, I find myself panicking to make the most of my time, not to fetter what I now realize to be precious earth-time, something we forget at home - 'my father's years'. Lanzhou is not a nice town. It is the drab and boring Edmonton of China. This is why I like it here. Chesterson says that our ...

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... I ended up stopping and spending much of the afternoon in little villages being chased by local village children. When I got to school and was asked where I rode and how far. I was told that if I continued I would reach the Yellow River and a town called 'Noodles'. Sorry I really have no idea and can't remember the name of the town but will ...

... and headed in a southern direction. Several of the huge new roads just.....ended. That's the way it is in the new sections of most Chinese cities. They build these huge multi lane roads and they just stop. Some continue but only as a two lane small road but most simply STOP! Here they stop at the bottom of a bare hill. You kind of stand there and say, 'Yep, I'm sure the tourists ...

... I didn't need food or anything I just love the feel and the vibe of Asian market places. The noise, the colour the smells, it's all so exciting. As it was such a beautiful day I thought hey, why not the do outskirts photo ride I have been planning.

So I jumped on the tredly and headed out of town.

It's pretty ...

... gave a huge AFL Footy player snort onto the ground. After whiping her nose with her hand she gave her man another kiss. Man I nearly threw up! How disgusting it was! It's really is unbelievable sometimes the differences between cultures. I ask the reader this; 1: What would you do if your partner threw her drink container in the garden in a public place? 2: What would you do if your partner cleared her nose by ...

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