China is an incredible country
with delicious food, crazy drivers, amazing markets, ancient history and
interesting toilets!
Kashgar and Karakul
Our first stop is Kashgar, seat
of the Uighur population in the big Xin Jiang province. It is a politically
tumultuous area, always an interesting place for crew and our China guide to
work together, as well as getting used to two time zones – Local Time and
Beijing Time. It is also where the crew
gets their Chinese drivers license and Calypso get a new registration number,
which because of the region starts with P00 497 – a source of great amusement
to our group!
In the spirit of Odyssey Overland’s
motto of Exploration and Adventure we take the group to a new destination –
Karakul Lake. Driving along the
Karakoram Highway, an important Silk Road trade route used for centuries by
caravans, it is now populated with trucks from Tajikistan and a massive new hydroelectric
power station, currently under construction. Bouncing along the road through
this construction site we eventually get to our destination, where we play with
baby yaks and stay in Yurts.
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| First glimpse of China |
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| Dry landscape compared with Kyrgyzstan |
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| Lunch on the Karakoram Highway |
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| Big cliffs surround us |
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| The locals lead a simple life at this high altitude |
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| One of the high altitude lakes we pass on the way |
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| The reflections are amazing |
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| Lake Karakul |
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| Baby yaks |
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| Dinner yurt |
Taklamakam Desert
It is the second largest sandy desert in the
world. We cross this desert to get to Turpan, which has the second lowest point
below sea level and is the hottest place in China. Its grape-vine-lined
pavements provide some relief from the heat. We visited the Jaihoe Ruins, one
of the world’s largest, oldest and best-preserved ancient cities.
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| The desert seems to go on forever |
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| Jordan keeping the peace |
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| Steve causing havoc |
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| Big city blocks jump out of the sand |
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| Our only glimpse of a panda |
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| China is full of funny translations |
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| Watermelons at the market |
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| Jaiohe ruins |
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| Lunch |
Dunhuang
The group went to watch the
Dunhuang Goddess theatre show where they were dazzled by acrobatic skills that
brought to life the paintings that were discovered inside the Mogao Caves.
These caves house magnificent examples of Buddhist art in over 400 caves. There
are also two huge Buddha statues.
The Dunhuang night market is a
great place to sample many different styles of Chinese food, grab a ‘proper’
coffee and shop for souvenirs.
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| Mark and Bruce having fun |
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| Hot pot on the way to Dunhuang |
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| On the road to Dunhuang |
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| Mark outside the theatre |
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| Jason getting in touch with his inner girl |
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| Poor girls |
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| Dunhuang market |
Golmud
This was our last stop in China
proper. After Golmud we would jump on the Tibet Highway and climb over mountain
passes more than 5000m high. But first we needed to pick up our Tibetan permits
and another guide. What an adventure awaits us!
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| First flavours of Tibet |
Some interesting Vehicles of China:
Some interesting foods in China:
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