Who's been to Xinjiang?

Shiver me Timbers · Nov 28th, 2007, 00:59

Anybody?

Thinking of going next year as part of a bigger trip through the region. Just wondering what the highlights are - obviously Kashgar, Turpan and the KKH - and the people, costs and all that stuff.

Anything else? Cheers!

Darmabum · Nov 28th, 2007, 01:52

not going to be able to help you much. You know how the sound, the name of a place sometimes conjures memories up . . . ? . . . Xinjiang is one of those words for me . . .

I was there in the winter of '84/'85 . . . the second year independent, solo travelers could enter China . . . I took the train from Xi'an to Urumqi (four nights as I remember) . . . after flying back from Lhasa to Chengdu . . . passed through the
Turpan Depression in daylight . . . amazing sight . . . you could actually see the depression . . . knew you were beneath sea level . . . one of the most memorable events was being at Jiayuguan - the place where the Great Wall begins (if you were coming from Europe by land, you'd see this watchtower first) . . . light snow on the ground . . . no one else around . . . a very ancient and profound feeling . . . boots crunching through untrodden snow . . . made my way slowly back the Silk Road to Xi'an . . .

Another thought . . . another memory . . . one of the very special memories was of a small town called Dali, in Yunnan Province . . . A small town then . . . right on a lake . . . behind town (which sits at @ 2000 m.) was a mountain called Kong Shan, at @ 4000m . . . climbed it (in snow that up to my waist) . . . the sight from the top, to Dali, then south down the valley of the Mekong was awesome . . .

OK, sorry to take up your time . . . I'll leave room for someone who can acutally answer your questions . . . Thanks for the memories . . .

Shiver me Timbers · Nov 28th, 2007, 02:01

Thanks for that! I'll hopefully be coming the opposite direction (from Xian).

Must have been quite a time to travel in China!

Darmabum · Nov 28th, 2007, 02:48

The Chinese didn't know what to do with me. Supposedly there were only ten cities I could go to . . . Officially. All HUGE, boring cities. Whereever I wanted to go, I ended up going. Difficult travel though, what with it being winter and the language. I studied some Mandarin for a few weeks, enough to make people smile - "The White Devil can speak Mandarin!"

In the town of Dali that I mentioned earlier I found a note posted on my guest house wall, instructions to a temple up in the hills. Trouble was, the message was in French . . . real trouble was, I thought I could read French.

Got up in the hills . . . passing lots of Red Army on the way . . . I was dangling two Nikons from my neck . . . army guys were all smiles . . . started hearing what I thought were fireworks coming from the area where I imagined the temple to be . . . thought, "How lucky! A festival is going on!" . . . Then a mortar shell exploded about thirty meters from me . . . then another . . . then the Army guys started yelling at me, waving at me to gooooo! . . . seemed I'd walked into a military exercise . . . turned back on the temple expedition, started downhill, though not the exact same way I came . . . crested a rise and was looking straight down into the backyard of a military base . . . soldiers . . . tanks . . . etc . . . but just beyond them was the front gate . . . thinking good thoughts I walked right out the front gate . . . oh yeah . . . quite a time!

Safe Travels Conor
Scott

Nov 28th, 2007, 00:59	#1
Shiver me Timbers Dreaming of Palm Trees Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Dublin Posts: 1,387	Who's been to Xinjiang? Anybody? Thinking of going next year as part of a bigger trip through the region. Just wondering what the highlights are - obviously Kashgar, Turpan and the KKH - and the people, costs and all that stuff. Anything else? Cheers! __________________ Europe to India Overland Andaman's Tips Pakistan Tips

Nov 28th, 2007, 01:52	#2
Darmabum Maha Guru Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: in the mountains of Idaho Posts: 788	Sorry Conor, not going to be able to help you much. You know how the sound, the name of a place sometimes conjures memories up . . . ? . . . Xinjiang is one of those words for me . . . I was there in the winter of '84/'85 . . . the second year independent, solo travelers could enter China . . . I took the train from Xi'an to Urumqi (four nights as I remember) . . . after flying back from Lhasa to Chengdu . . . passed through the Turpan Depression in daylight . . . amazing sight . . . you could actually see the depression . . . knew you were beneath sea level . . . one of the most memorable events was being at Jiayuguan - the place where the Great Wall begins (if you were coming from Europe by land, you'd see this watchtower first) . . . light snow on the ground . . . no one else around . . . a very ancient and profound feeling . . . boots crunching through untrodden snow . . . made my way slowly back the Silk Road to Xi'an . . . Another thought . . . another memory . . . one of the very special memories was of a small town called Dali, in Yunnan Province . . . A small town then . . . right on a lake . . . behind town (which sits at @ 2000 m.) was a mountain called Kong Shan, at @ 4000m . . . climbed it (in snow that up to my waist) . . . the sight from the top, to Dali, then south down the valley of the Mekong was awesome . . . OK, sorry to take up your time . . . I'll leave room for someone who can acutally answer your questions . . . Thanks for the memories . . . __________________ Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure - Marianne Williamson

Nov 28th, 2007, 02:48	#4
Darmabum Maha Guru Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: in the mountains of Idaho Posts: 788	Quite a time indeed! The Chinese didn't know what to do with me. Supposedly there were only ten cities I could go to . . . Officially. All HUGE, boring cities. Whereever I wanted to go, I ended up going. Difficult travel though, what with it being winter and the language. I studied some Mandarin for a few weeks, enough to make people smile - "The White Devil can speak Mandarin!" In the town of Dali that I mentioned earlier I found a note posted on my guest house wall, instructions to a temple up in the hills. Trouble was, the message was in French . . . real trouble was, I thought I could read French. Got up in the hills . . . passing lots of Red Army on the way . . . I was dangling two Nikons from my neck . . . army guys were all smiles . . . started hearing what I thought were fireworks coming from the area where I imagined the temple to be . . . thought, "How lucky! A festival is going on!" . . . Then a mortar shell exploded about thirty meters from me . . . then another . . . then the Army guys started yelling at me, waving at me to gooooo! . . . seemed I'd walked into a military exercise . . . turned back on the temple expedition, started downhill, though not the exact same way I came . . . crested a rise and was looking straight down into the backyard of a military base . . . soldiers . . . tanks . . . etc . . . but just beyond them was the front gate . . . thinking good thoughts I walked right out the front gate . . . oh yeah . . . quite a time! Safe Travels Conor Scott

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Nov 28th, 2007, 02:01	#3
Shiver me Timbers Dreaming of Palm Trees Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Dublin Posts: 1,387	Thanks for that! I'll hopefully be coming the opposite direction (from Xian). Must have been quite a time to travel in China!

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