Week Three - When does 2 = 4?

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when four buses are trying to pass each other on a 2-lane highway. yikes, drivers on he highways are crazy! = apparently using your horn incesantly gives you the right to any lane on the road, sidewalk, pedestrian mall...which, as i am sure we previously mentioned, makes for some hairy street-crossing. Our pedestrian highlight (lowlight?) was trying to (twice) cross a 7-lane HYWAY in Xi'an, at night. It seems the only way to get to the attraction in the middle of the traffic circle was to run for your life and hope to god that you would somehow make it across 7 lanes of fast moving vehicles! (Luckly are now 2.5 weeks into our China adventure and have some experience with crossing the street)

Last time we checked in, we were in the northwest, in Xinjiang province. After a completely unfulfilling day in the desert (3 hours each direction of drivign for 50 minutes in small sand dunes), in which Karen stayed in the hotel feeling sick, the three of us flew back to Urumqi and then took a bus to Turpan, the second lowest point on earth, 157 m below sea level. Turpan, another Uigher town, proved to be quite enjoyable, with blue skies, nice temperature, not horrible air, and enough to do to keep us busy. The first day we rented what proved to be awful but functional bikes, biked to some sites (an ancient temple, and some ancient villages), ate fruit and bread under grapevines (Turpan is a grape-growiong oasis in the middle of the desert), went to a winery (the wine that we purchased was later NOT allowed in our checked luggage and was donated to the Urumqi airport information desk - grrr), and rode up an down the hills....nice day! The following day we explored a few more sites with two dudes from Australia, who are traveling OVERLAND from Malaysia to Europe (aiming to get there in Dec.)...interprid travelers. Then, we rushed back to Urumuqi where we split up with Simon (he returned to Beijing) and we flew across the counry to Xi'an - nice to be back in a big, modern city....the terracotta warriors were underwhelming.

After a rushed visit of Xi'an, we flew to gUILIN in the south, and are currently in Yangshuo, a pictareque though touristy village of 300 thousand in Karst country - magnificanet jutting peaks throughout the town make for magnificent background to all the tourist schmaltz. Highlights from Yangshuo include: biking along a beautiful river then boarding a private bamboo raft (along with our bikes) to carry us home, hiking up the Karsts, and exploring massive massive caves (and swimming in their ponds and mud baths!). Unfortunately, our time in Yangshuo has come to an end too quickly and we are now off to Hong Kong. Will only spend one night there before Ariel is on his way home and Karen is off to Thailand!

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