12:30am, Dunhuang Feitian Binguan I arrived here very late, so i took a bath and went straight to bed 8:00am, Feitian Binguan (My dorm) The toilet here sucks, the bathroom sucks but the bedrooms okay.. I left to see the famous Magao caves at 9:00am. The caves were magnificent. 9:30am, Magao Caves Although this place was very touristry, i was awed at the 34meter tall buddha statue carved within the caves itself. It was magnificent. To think that these people would come here to pay tributes to buddha during the silk road days made me wonder what kind of lives they [View Full Entry]

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Before i say anything i want to warn everyone that this will be a boring blog! 5:00am, Tara Guesthouse I got up and felt really well. No headache, and i didn't feel like puking. After buying some bread with yak butter, i wanted to hear the sutra chants of the monks before i depart from Xiahe to Xining at 6:30pm. I went back to Labulang, leaned against the wall at the main prayer building and heard their chants. It was eerie yet peaceful. 6:30am, The bus station Great. No bus to Xining today. Looks like i won't be staying with those [View Full Entry]

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9:00am, Tara guesthouse, Xiahe I was so excited today. At 10, i have got a tour with one of the monks through the monastery and after that, a horse ride through the grasslands of Sanke. I heard Ganjia Grasslands was better but i can't afford going there alone. So i'd settle for second best. 10:00am, The Labrang (or Labulang) Monastery Ehhh, the monks of all monks! My guide is the youngest of three sons. His two borthers is also learning (since learning never stops in buddhism) in one of the colleges at the monastery. Labulang monastery has altogether 6 colleges. Lower [View Full Entry]

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7:00am, Linxia I was awakened by my two friends and they made sure i got on the right bus this time. They saw me off and its another five hours bus ride into the mountains. My bus broke down halfway and it took them an hour to fix it so make it SIX hours. But the view on the way up was amazing. We went up this road that is in a valley and a river runs through that valley. So in between us we were flanked by tall green mountains. I was actually excited when my bus broke down. I [View Full Entry]

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China has a way of testing you. She gave me challenges so great that i felt like giving up, but the rewards were far more lucrative than i could imagine. My experience in China has been this: Beauty in the midst of uglyness, diamond in a rough and, hateful blended with loveliness. A simple example would be my Hua Shan climb. At midnight climbing up a 2100 meter high mountain with heavy rain was no easy feat! But the rain cleared the haze away and the view was stunning to say the least. So thats how she tests me, with incredible [View Full Entry]

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9:00am, Still at Xi'an I've got to get outta here. But according to all the travellers i've met, its impossible to get a comfy ticket out of Xi'an. I wanted to try anyway. I just realized i spent 5 days here and thats too long. So, after a hefty long breakfast i made my way to the train station. 11:00am, Xi'an Train Station Great. Their english is poor but my mandarin is atrocious. It took me 30 minutes to figure out to say "i need a to get on the next train to lanzhou, ill take whatever seat or bed i [View Full Entry]

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11:00am, Youth Hostel. Yesterday, i was the local performer. I went down to the bar and performed for thirty minutes. I was an instant celebrity amongst the mat sallehs. As i walk down the hall with my towel over my shoulders, everyone i passed said "hello" to me. I think it is time for me to leave though. I am getting too comfortable here in Xi'an. I tried to book for a ticket from the hostel reception to Lanzhou but the trains are all booked due to the summer holidays. My feet was still sore from the hike and i decided [View Full Entry]

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11:00am, Shuyuan Youth Hostel, Xi'an I did not plan on doing too much walking today. I knew i had to hike a Hua Shan mountain later tonight so i basically hung out at the hostel wathich some dvd's, and buying flashlight, batteries and some snicker bars. I did my laundry, went to the supermarket behind the hostel, walked to the nearest camera store to burn my pictures into a cd, and went to get some food at the muslim quarters. I got back at about 3pm, got ready and left the hostel at 4:00pm, Shuyuan Youth Hostel, Xi'an I am glad [View Full Entry]

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8:00am, Shuyuan International Youth Hostel Wow, this is going to be a great day. Although i was warned by the other people from the hostel not to expect too much from the terracotta warriors, i was overly optimistic. History had always been one of my interest and the terracotta warriors date back 240 BC. So it was like a piece straight out of history. I quickly took my bath and waited for the tour bus outside my hostel. There were 8 other people with me. All mat salleh. Americans, canadians, french. new zealanders and australians. We left the hostel at 9:30 [View Full Entry]

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7:00am, Xi'an Train Station Wahhhhhh... So many people around me!!!! As soon as i got off the train, people were walking so fast that i thought we were in a marathon! As i was walking up the ramp toward the final ticket checking counter, I saw a teenage girl, barely 15, lugging a HUGE suitcase up the ramp. She was having a lot of problems with it and after seeing everyone pass her without so much as a THOUGHT to help, i offered my help instead. Together, we carried her suitcase up the ramp. In the midst of all the chaos [View Full Entry]

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