Blogs from XiNing, China, Asia

I woke up gasping for breath in the middle of the night, as the train went through a pass at about 5,500 meters high. Why couldn’t I have gone to a beach I chanted to myself a few times before I slipped off my rails of consciousness. Not much happened today… as most of it was spent on the train. We got out at the main train station in the afternoon, met our guide and headed for the hotel. Attempted to walk around, but the lack of oxygen was really getting to me and to my head. So I did what was most appropriate, and slept. However, there were two things that caught my attention in between arriving and heading for bed, all the while fighting for the most basic of human privileges… breathing. Firstly, witnessing ... read more

The plan was, take a 5-hour car ride to a lake, walk around for a bit, then another 5 hours back. There’s not too much to report on, besides being in a car for 10 hours. After the first few snow capped mountains and herds of sheep, it started getting repetitive. Human interaction included, someone trying to charge me 2 RMB because I urinated ‘next’ to the bathroom, which was essentially a large concrete box. And also when we arrived at the lake, swarms of young people and children tried to get the tourists to ride a horse or a yak. I did manage to get on a yak. It was nice, but not a whole lot I can remember or want to remember, as I had a cold, and when your nose, ears, and sinus ... read more

家庭和朋友 (Family & Friends), Buddhist Buddies: Winding through the streets of Xining, we weaved in and out of traffic. Our morning run seemed to be a novelty among the locals as stares and an occasional thumbs up came from passing cabbies, which reminded me of the marathon. Along its route, the village kids had either lined the streets, with hands outstretched, awaiting a high five or had taken it upon themselves to race along side the contestants before returning to their friends. However, today we headed away from the city streets and into the surrounding hills for some fresh air. We meandered; skirting fences lined with razor wire, until we had happened upon someplace that I am sure was off limits to us. Following the contour of the hills, we searched for the best view of ... read more

What an evening. After accidently dozing in the afternoon we woke up and it was already dark. We decided to head to the Muslim Quarter some time earlier but we were going to go late afternoon. How glad i am we didn't and left it until after dark. The palce felt so much more alive. The streets were crammed with market stalls selling food or clothes or artefacts, handcrafted from wood or stone. The air was filled with the smell of burning coals and cooking meat. There was the noise of chatter and music and laughter! Laughter, what was this. The only chinese persone we have seen laugh since being here was our guide Dragon, and then it was shallow! Our eyes were assaulted with brightly coloured lights and and brighly coloured stalls mingled with the ... read more

I've been in Xining for 2 weeks trying to figure out my itinerary for Tibet. It appears at this point in time that although the Chinese say Tibet is open, in fact, the only way to visit any part of what used to be Tibet, is to have a group tour, but everyone in the group must be from the same country, having the same passport. This means, hooking up at a hostel with other travelers to create a tour is nearly impossible. A group used to be 2 and now is 4. Besides that you can only go to Lhasa, or if you can go anywhere else it is only WITH A GUIDE AND DRIVER. In other words, there is no roaming, no busing, no trains available to foreigners in most of the Tibetan areas. ... read more

Xining Oh, so I arrived in Xining Aug 10th, stayed at the Lete Hostel, highly recommended, much better than any hotel, with internet access, a tour co on site, clean and updated, washing, etc. I moved to Xing Yuan Hotel with my "orphanage" buddies on the third night. We were supposed to only be here for a couple days, but the main donor cannot cash her travelers checks, only $3000 a day, so we have been a bit stuck for cash to purchase all the stuff for the kids. We have purchased a lot of items, including coal, huge amount of food, mattresses, desks, computers, shoes and clothes, which all have been trucked the 20 hours to Warithang Orphanage. As far as I know all our boxes of winter clothing has reached the orphanage, but until ... read more