Namaste, this is my final entry of the trip. before the partition, india and pakistan were one country. although sharing a common history, both countries are very different. firstly of course, the official religion is different. among many other things, i found out that the people were of stark different. pakistanis seemed more friendly, hospitable, GENUINELY. the indians i met were abit more pushy, touchy, and never let you have your own space (not a stereotype, but from my experience). however the difference, we stepped (literally) into india and was greeted by the colourful saris, the smell of spices, and a [View Full Entry]

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pakistan was not a country that we planned to visit on this trip. it was merely a path we decided to take en-route to india. all in all, this trip was to take in the spectacular karakoram highway. however, the very postive introduction we had from Naz, our pakistani saviour, we decided to stay abit longer and check out the sights of pakistan. soon enough, we realised that most pakistanis had a heart of gold. no, they are not qaeda-related millitants, or extremist suicide bombers, they are just like you and me - humans. Naz, is a law-trained businessman who resides [View Full Entry]

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we have spent 5 days in tashkurgan, the border town of china before pakistan, trying to get past the chinese immigration. the chinese immigration will not let us EXIT their country because we do not have a onward (pakistan) visa. us being very smart and prepared travellers, have read up information that we can get a visa-on-arrival at sost, pakistan. the chinese have refused us exit as they cannot verify the fact that the pakistani can issue us a visa, and if we are turned back into china it will be an administrative lapse on their part for two reasons. so, [View Full Entry]

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after 3 days without a full-body shower, a test to both my sanity and buttocks, i have finally reached kashgar - the final frontier of china. kashgar, is a city in the autonomous region of xinjiang. this place is nothing like china - the people, way of life, infrastructure. if not for the chinese signs that are put in place by the government, one would think that you are in central asia. historically, kashgar was the home of a minority group called uyghurs. however, they are still under the indirect administration of the chinese government today. the vast desert lands and [View Full Entry]

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hello again. more pictures uploaded. pictures are of typical days in yangshou. relaxing all we can before we GO WEST. jason and lynn has left to do their own trip of southeast asia. chelsea is returning to singapore to prepare for her examinations. joses, joel and i will travel to india overland... here is the proposed plan. guilin - guangzhou 10 hours overnight bus guangzhou - lanzhou 4 hours flight lanzhou - urumqi 18 hours hard sleeper train urumqi - kashgar 24 hours hard seat train will be back after 4 days of travelling. see you in kashgar. [View Full Entry]

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hi there, hows it going? we have spent a week and a half here in yangshou, discovering more places everyday. well, we have been pretty lazy as well, waking up late and deciding what to do for the day. well, you dont actually have to do something everyday. but the hurried environment that we have been living in has conditioned us to be city animals. living by scheduled, structured frameworks. thus, when we embark on a free and easy holiday, the million-dollar question that comes to our mind every day is "what shall we do today?". a typical day in yangshou [View Full Entry]

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arrived at putong airport (guangzhou) at 1015am. not my first time in guangzhou, so at least we know where we're heading (something you would appreciate when you have backpacks on your back). arrived at the bus terminal and realised that the previous bus left at 1130am, and the next bus is at 2030hrs. many many hours to kill .. so we left our packs at the baggage lockers and roamed guangzhou. well, guangzhou is really just another city in china. in fact, from the cities in china i have visited, most of them are replicas of each other. grey, dusty, crowded [View Full Entry]

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a very good morning to all you people seeking to find the meaning of life.. well, thats what i attempt to do time after time again. i do that through travelling, a great way to experience how different people interpret the meaning of life. the past few trips that i've done covered most of southeast asia except burma and east timor, china and several other countries in the indochina region. after breaking personal boundaries (travelling alone, couchsurfing etc) previously, i attempt to continue that feat. the main part of my 2 month journey will cover a route from china to india. [View Full Entry]

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hello everybody! having too much fun to actually sit down at a computer to blog about the events that are happening recently. days are packed with activities, nights are full of fun. so i'm 21 right now, and shanghai had the honour to grace that all-important occasion. so shanghai is what you expect it to be. skyscrapers, busy traffic, nice skyline at night, and all the cliches about a bustling city. everybody says that shanghai is awesome, but it disappoints me abit. maybe because i come from a huge cities, and all these bright lights impress me not. the biggest [View Full Entry]

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greetings to everybody back home! let's do a recap. we started of in bustling guangzhou. bussed westwards towards yangshou, and then guilin. night train to chengdu, and now we're in xi'an. xi'an is beautiful city. you get greeted by the city walls the very moment you step out of the trains. its really refreshing because usually when you step out of train stations you get engulfed in the car honks, the smog in the air, and the crazy mass of people. maybe there were still quite abit of people around, but the landscape of this city is why i visited [View Full Entry]

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