http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/JAM09/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from JAM09 en-us Fri, 25 Dec 2009 02:58:07 +0000 Fri, 25 Dec 2009 02:58:07 +0000 We loved Lhasa and were sorry to leave but we started this final leg of the journey from Lhasa to Kathmandu with our minds firmly set on the Big ldquoErdquo which undoubtedly was the highlight of this bit of the journey but we were delighted by the other unexpected highlights we came across along the way. For a start the road between Lhasa and Kathmandu is known as the ldquoFriendship Hig http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/Thamel/blog-430151.html We crossed the border into Western China on 22nd July over the Toruquart Pass at 3752m quite a road. It was a dayrsquos driving over nothing more than a gravel track this is the main route into China from Kyrgyzstan The border crossing is quite a palaver and has several phases it took us from about midday until 8pm to complete all the phases of it and know that we were finally in Chin http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/Lhasa/blog-426474.html These are the photos I wasn't able to downloade from the last bit of the trip. We've been in China for the last ten days now great but I'll do an updated blog next week when we'll be in a WIFI hotel in Lasa. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Kyrgyzstan/blog-424547.html Sorry no photos the internet here in Bishkek is very slow and I couldn't use the laptop. It's a shame we had some beautiesWhat a difference a border crossing can make. After leaving Tashkent we spent a day driving through the beautiful and fertile Fergana Valley quite a contrast to some of the desert type countryside we have seen and then on to the Kyrgyzstan border. From Minarets to mountai http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Kyrgyzstan/Bishkek/blog-419688.html We left Ashgabat behind having met up with some new passengers three Australians two American and two Dutch and headed off into the desert having first visited one of the largest markets in Central Asia where you can buy anything from carpets to camels We didnrsquot buy either. We visited both areas the carpets were gorgeous and the camels were very smelly and noisy but then I would too http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Uzbekistan/Tashkent/blog-415042.html Having left Esfahan behind visiting mosques wonderful bridges straddling a river with no water and having eaten some traditional Iranian food apart from the ever present kebabs we headed south to Shiraz of grape fame isnrsquot it odd that they are a nation of teetotallers. Although we were spending two nights there we only had one full day to explore and half of that was spent at the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Ashgabat/blog-410464.html This is just a quick in between blog because I know some of you have been in touch with Helen about the news coming out of Tehran at the moment. this is just really to say that we're sitting in a beautiful air conditioned hotel in the middle of Tehran and we have not seen any of the riots. Everybody we have met is very friendly and happy to have us here. We have been to visit a very ornate http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/North/Tehran/blog-409024.html On the morning we left Cappadocia we were up bright and early at 5.30 am for camp breakfast at 5.45 and we were met by the most beautiful sight. Hundreds of hot air balloons going straight overhead. Cappadocia is one of the top five places in the world to do a sunrise balloon flight. It was a real WOW moment and we just thought ldquoHow lucky are werdquoWe had a long drive ahead that da http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/West/Esfahan/blog-406527.html After our few days acclimatisation in Istanbul which we loved we set out on our first big drive of about 485km to our first ldquobush camprdquo. Our tour leaders consist of Lucy late 20s Steve late 20s who share the driving and Kristina our truck which is also in her late 20s Steve and Lucy are great fun and our travelling companions are all really nice too all in 40rsquos50s. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Cappadocia/Goreme/blog-404299.html Hi evryonePacking done Getting excited This is our blog please feel free to browse and make comments but only nice ones James Margaret http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Dorset/blog-402003.html Packing....done http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Dorset/blog-401992.html