Orient Dynasty Hotel Xinjiang Urumqi

Yesterday, we visited the Xinjiang Museum where we saw the amazing and intriguing mummies - some more than 4000 years old - which have been found in the area. I found an article in the Independent from 2006 about it, which you can read if you are interested!<br><br>http://www.independe nt.co.uk/news/world/asia/a-meeting-of-c ivilisations-the-mystery-of-chinas-celt ic-mummies-413638.html<br><br>We took a stroll through the Red Hill Park ...

After breakfast, we left for Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Autonomous Region. It was a most exciting drive; through the Gobi Desert, in very windy, stormy conditions; on a fantastic highway [312] which stretches all the way from Shanghai to the border with Russia in the ...

... 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 ...

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 ...

LX and I went on a tour to Tianchi (Heavenly Lake). Neither of us is really the kind of person who goes on tours, but given the situation (if only all the road blocks) it seemed like the quickest and most convenient way of going to the places I was keen to see. Actually, we had to catch a minibus to Urumqi first, which was good in a way because it meant I got to see what the city was like. Then we headed for the mountains. I was still feeling dizzy, so when the bus stopped at a Chinese ...

... contrasting landscapes of fertile plains and terraced paddy fields fed by massive river systems, unimaginably vast deserts and soaring arid mountains. These contrasts never fail to surprise us.<br><br>Our flight to Urumqi in the Xinjiang Province in the far north west of China was fascinating. The flight rapidly departed the densely populated city of Shanghai and soon we were over rich terraced rice paddy fields - a far departure from the modern city skyline ...

... Ich bin gespannt, wie das Wetter in Almaty ist, laut Wettervorhersage etwas kuehler als Urumqi, hier war es gestern ueber 30 Grad, heute aber regnerisch und nur knapp ueber 10 Grad... Um 23:58 geht mein Zug gen Almaty los, ueber 30h, also werde ich Mittwoch ankommen, irgendwann morgen die Grenze nach Kasachstan passieren. Gruss Ralf

... Valley. With one big exception - some 3000 years ago, the Chinese developed a way to bring snow melt from some nearby mountains through man-made underground channels and canals (to minimize evaporation) into the valley just using gravity. This irrigation system is still functioning, so that an area of intense heat and no rain has flourishing agriculture, particularly grapes. Finally to our last stop in China - Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uighur ...

... tent which can sleep upto about 15, but we had it to ourselves, so we lit the stove and once the smoke cleared (should have paid more attention in scouts) we had a nice cosy bed for the night. Back in Urumqi, the best thing we found was the Wuyi night market. Every night the place is packed with food stalls selling endless amounts of kebabs, flat bread, roast lamb, vegie wraps... much better than the celery infused noodles we'd been getting in Tan Chi...!

... get a very fast and wild #7 minibus back to the hotel for Y3 total. Stand on the side of the road outside the hotel for a long time waiting for a break in the traffic, before walking along to a safer place and finding a dark, but safer underpass right to our hotel. DP has a sleeping tablet to try and get some sleep, but we are disturbed jut before going to bed by a phone call enquiring if we need a massage. Tempted to leave the phone ...