painted by numbers

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an overdue post yet again. somehow ive lost the impetus to blog; not as psyched for it as with my previous sojourn. its really an acquired skill; an art of sorts, to live by the day and to function without an agenda. as pegs would say, 'to dysfunction into function'. its almost 2 wks in yangshuo now; and the karst dreamscape is really august and picturesque all at once. the unabating imperious mountains that stretch the horizon and go on beyond are truly a sight to behold. its an unassuming little town abt an hr off guilin.

2 days ago. it was wicked! we decided to find the other river that bounds yangshuo after our Li river conquest. this time it was the Yulong river. ok 7km on the bike later, we ended up at a most unpretentious, almost inconspicuous village that didnt even exist on our map. wanted to swim but we met a cordial old dude who more or less volte-faced our plans for the day. with the swimming plans iscuppered, i was pretty gutted. who was to know smth even more smashing happened. ok first. we got invited into his house. this old man happened to be born in 1949-read: year rep china gained independence. this fella is nutssss. its staggering (& unsettling) how potent and insidious propaganda works! this guy is some 50+ yrs now; and he is an example par excellence of social engineering (by the jargon and discourse of Mao's reformist era). he was going on end about how chairman Mao was really the bomb. he was reciting to us Mao's instructions from those little red books they all were issued. he was vitriolic on Deng for the whole capitalism brouhaha. he was chastizing the Japanese and was proud- to not have owned a Japanese product all his life. LASTLY. we climbed a mountain. haha all 382m of it. isnt bt timah hill back home some 100+ bordering on 200m?? ok we did this all in slippers. with no pathed trail. just BASHING thru the bloody vegetation. was a bloodbath while the mozzies feasted on us. haha ok i'd let the graphics do the talking. ive said enough. wait!! last bit. I GOT A REAL LITTLE RED BOOK FROM HIM.

we'd be leaving yangshuo back up to guangzhou in a bit. 29th's our flight to urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang province. i tell you. im so so so stoked to be there. its a categorically diff world and vista. just think their neighbours are russians, turmenkistans, pakistanis, and a panolply of other european looking lads. theres the bbq seller below my guest house each night from xinjiang and im get freaked out each time i see him. angmoh-esque. speaking chinese. and muslim in faith. what a stellar concoction. ok pictures time. yup so 29th to urumqi, go to kashgar (kite runner site!). which is more or less the start of the pakistan/indian leg.

hope everyones still good at home! be good and be safe!!

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Photos

juxtaposition
a cacophony of infrastrastructure, the mountains that litter yangshuo, and a rotund looking beer belly weighing heavy on andy's hips. thats what alot of local beer does to you.

poetry in motion
we happened to take a walk at the park nearby and caught these old folks in a game of badminton.
i see also itchy.

the long and winding road
seriously this beatles number kept looping in my head in our 1.5 hr bike ride to find the elusive yulong river. all we saw in that laborious process were padi fields after padi fields. and karst mountains of cos. cycle until shagg la. me andy jason.

smile like you mean it
traversed by this village while cycling. saw these kids haha dont be bedevilled by their charming smile. they were trying to loot our stuff!

little red books
they swear by this mantra (sutra?) i tell you.

gone but not forgotten
the village where the old man we met resides. they used to have these slogans painted copiously and plastered all over the town walls. now faded. this first line reads smth along the lines of equality among all peasants. thats why the farmers adore mao so much.

Comments

[your most honest fren]

worship mao
fatso u look over the moon in the photo with the kids. for the love of team T (component TKL), pls get back a little red book. haha take care!

[barcelonista]

You're in Heaven and I'm on Earth
ahha drats. i'm like slogging my ass off here running around our cbd area from meetings to meetings. then my boss tells me he's so stressed so he booked a flight to maldives and will be there to relax and run away from the world for 5 days. but i'm still stuck here! euro is my only saviour! 8th June!!! anyways, the place looks really awesome. if you find a 20+ angmoh-esque, muslim in faith and chinese speaking man, pls pass him my number. ahhahahaha.

[Joses]

dark side of the moon
hahaha i didnt even have to get to xinjiang province to do the scouting for you. i took a domestic flight to this god-forsaken place called lanzhou and i see heaps of them arnd. and they make good beef noodles. haha. so thats a further plus eh? can even cook! i'd leave them ur no. i'd even send them ur pic via errr..facebook? when i finally get it, that is. haha lipo ur dad confirm has a stash himself la. u ask him recite a few leh when i get back i'd sing along with him. happy prepping for denmark!!

[shao]

eh dey how's it going sial the match yday kena cancelled!!! on the way to your house then ur bro called haha.....wah damn fast sial june already man end of the mth zao liao!!! enjoy yourself over there la and enjoy the euros ciaooooooo..............