An Apology and an Adventure

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First off, I feel I owe all of you an apology. I have tried, all these years, to provide the most wild and enticing letters the traveling community has to offer. However, my last one, I believe, was thin on the ground. Here, I'd like to offer an explaination, if not an excuse.

The "ear-ache"　I mentioned in my last email turned out to be none other than a viral infection in the depths of my right inner ear. It was only after the fluid drained from my Eustachian tube did the pain subside. It was arguably one of the most painful experiences of my life, and on I was overcoming when I last wrote.

These things are a risk of traveling, and only my second time really getting sick, since that awful bought of esophogitis I overcame in Vietname, those many long years ago.

But boy oh boy, folks, have things picked up since then! After recovering from the ache (from which I still have some ringing) (and writing that too boring letter) my friends and I cavorted about Xi'an and all it's wild splendor.

Xi'an is the city everyone expects to find when planning a trip to China. It's ancient city walls are still in full force, big and broad enough to host hords of tourists as they ride around them on bicycles. Inside the walls, the buildings still have their upturned eaves, and even the tourists night markets sport very un-pretty touches, like external air conditioners; proving they are still lived in by real, breathing people. Outside the city walls, the buildings are giant, and it seems as though the walls are defending the inner city from the montrosities without.

After a mean set of suction cups (traditional medicine meant to suck out poisons) the three of us amigos got on a 12 hour train for Beijing. Here in this heavy touring season, train tickets are hard to come by, and we settled for seats, even though the train was over night. This was fine, until we found that (first) all the unseated passengers linger in the seating car, and (second) a landslide and a fire redicrected our train, and balooned the trip up to a solid 28 hours plus.

However, we did arrive in Beijing, our spirits in tact, and only missed a day.

Now, we've a few more days here. My friends are all cavorting about the sites, while I meet friends from a time long past. But more on that, when we meet again.

For this and more, please see www.kyrgycarl.com

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