9:30am, Taxkorgan I took the early bus out of Taxkorgan. My stomach was real bad but i didn't wanna let that stop me. Ryan was no where in sight so i guess he must have left earlier. The good news is that my bus was not full but the bad news was that the guy seated next to me could not stop bothering me about my mp3 player, my camera, my glasses and my hat. All of which he tried on, switched on and used. And with my bad stomach, i was in a bad mood. 11:30am, Karakarom Highway STOP! BUS [View Full Entry]

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10:00am, In my yurt (a yurt is a big tent) I woke up with a fever. I went to the W.C twice this morning and i had to go again as soon as i woke up. I felt really bad. Despite this, i went horseriding again for an hour. Julie and Bethany have gone back to Kashgar. After horsey-time, i went back to my yurt and lay there for an hour. I couldn't sleep, my stomach had cramps. I had some bread for breakfast, packed my bags and went to the road to hitch-hike to either kashgar, or taxkorgan. Either way, [View Full Entry]

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First off, just let me say how much everyone's comments mean to me. It keeps me excited to explore more of China. It gets really hard most of the time but the rewards are infitely satisfying. My diorrhea is getting worse but me being the blind and courageous me, got up early and booked a 7 hour bus ride into a lake near the border of Tajikistan and Kashmere which is the eastern most point of China. 8:00am, Qini Bagh Hotel Last night, i met Ryan again. He was this american dude that i shared my dorm a week ago in [View Full Entry]

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The train ride took 24 hours from Urumqi to Kashgar. On the way, i met a chinese family that shared the same room as me. They were extremely curious of me and extremely friendly. We ate together and laughed together. Wheni reached Kashgar, i was awed at the difference between this city, compared to the rest of china's big cities. 5:00pm, Kashgar Train Station As soon as i arrived, i noticed that the majority race here was not chinese. It was Uighur. But i also noticed some Kazakhz, Uzbeks and Pakistani. This whole town is filled with ethnic minorities, hui muslims [View Full Entry]

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7:00am Buer'Jin We left really early in the morning. The bus ride was going to be long!! On the way, we stopped at some interesting rock formations of which the chinese call 'Ghost Town'. After a long drive back, i got back at urumqi at about 11:00pm and went to 5 hotels. It was all too expensice. I could not find a dorm that was empty. I finally found a place that cost 58 Yuan per night and decide to sleep there. Not much to report. I will be heading further west into kashgar tomorrow at 4:00pm. The train will take [View Full Entry]

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8:00am, Kanasi After breakfast, I went walking alone around the lake again and around the grasslands. It was amazing to see how these people live a nomadic life. There were horses, goats, cows, sheeps and even camels! After a long and tiring walk, i headed back to the cabin.. 12:00pm, The Cabin We were getting ready to leave. I packed my bags and got on the bus back to Buer'Jin. In the bus, they got everyone to sing a song. I sang 'warisan wanita terakhir', the belgium couple sang some russian song and the they taught us how to sing 'wo [View Full Entry]

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7:00am, Departure from Buer'Jin We got on our tour bus and headed towards Kanasi Forest Reserve. On the way there, the view was magnificent. Kanasi is 3000miles above sea level so the trip there was filled with grasslands and mountains. Its located in the most northern tip of China and near the border of Russia and Kazakhstan. It took us 6 hours to get here. On the way there, the tour bus was playing Michael Learns To Rock, Titanic, Emily's 'Big Big World' and some Xinjiang music back to back. We passed more grasslands, a beautiful green river and many many [View Full Entry]

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7:00am, Travel Agency While waiting for my bus, in front of the travel agency, i met a couple from Belgium. Tim and Ann. God was i glad they were around. Imagine having to sit through 4 days with a bunch of chinese tourists!! The bus left at about 8:30am and i was seated next to a chinese girl. It took about 10 hours to get to the Buer'Jin. 9:00am, In the bus. Our tour guide got everyone to come in front and introduce themselves. So, when it was my turn, i said 'Wo xingming Ismail. Wo shi Ma-lai-see-yah-ren.' Everyone clapped. It [View Full Entry]

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10:00am Urumqi Train Station (Wulumuqi Huoche Jahn) I arrived at urumqi train station and headed straight towards the travel agency. According to the lonely planet, its much cheaper to take an agency to Kanas Reserve Park rather than going yourself since there are no buses to the park and a cab would cost about 250 one way. So, i went to 5 different travel agency and paid 400 yuan to one of em. Its dirt cheap. Accomodation and travel expenses paid for. The only problem with chinese tour agencies is, they tend to get really excited with 'the group' so they [View Full Entry]

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10:00am, Deserts of Dunhuang The bus left at 10:00am and after what happened last night, i wanted to get the hell out of Dunhuang. After three hours in the bus, i got to a place called louyuan which is the center for rail to Urumqi. 1:30pm, LouYuan Dammit. My train leaves at 7:00pm. I missed the last train by 10 minutes. No matter. I went to a nearby muslim restaurant and had some delicious beef noodles. I hanged out with two other muslims till 7:00pm. It was nice talking to them with drawings and scribbles on paper. 7:00pm, LouYuan Train Station [View Full Entry]

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