Hong Kong. One of those cities where just hearing the name immediately sparks feelings of wonder and curiousity. One of those places that we hear about when we are kids and are fascinated and (speaking for myself) want to see such a place for ourselves. Day 1 The day begins by touching down in Shenzhen International Airport at 1am. The airport is a bit out of town and the subways and buses had shut down for the night. Plenty of taxi drivers hawking rides and expensive hotels. I would have none of that. I found a comfy bench in the terminal and slept on and off for about 5 hours. The first subway started at 630am that morning and I had to be at the embassy in Hong Kong (hopefully) by opening hour, 9am. The subway ... read more

Day 1 Like any great trip, day 1 is always a day of preparation. This was to be a hiking only trip, so it made it slightly easier to prepare for. This time my inventory included: gas stove, pot and pan, tent, sleeping bag, pad, Gortex boots, clothing for all weather (hot, cold, sun, rain, snow), essential trekking gear (compass, headlamp, firestarter, etc.), Nook, iPod, and a lot of food items. I had instant noodles, canned tuna, peanuts, raisens, dried bananas, peanut butter, snickers bars, energy bars, tea and instant coffee, and moon cakes (for the Mid-Autumn Festival, people traditionally eat moon cake; delicious). SO, after stuffing everything in my backpack I headed off to the train station. I had an 8-hour sleeper train to Dali that night and slept pretty well. I got a bed ... read more

Kashgar was not the China I was expecting when I arrived there about a week ago. I was expecting the slick Urumqi that I had left nearly a month before. A multi-ethnic, have a beer at the delicious night market, clean, livable place. Kashgar, even by Chinese standards, is something completely different. While it still has the busy night markets with delicious food (although boiled goat heads are a questionable choice), there is certainly no beer to be found in this Muslim outpost in the far west of the country. I cannot call it clean either. Again, sitting on the western edge of China also means you sit on the western edge of the Taklamakan Desert. When the wind blows, so does the dust, dirt, and sand from the east. So what DO you see in ... read more

Hello everyone!! Thank you for all of the comments. I love reading them. I'm glad you are enjoying the blog. I think this should be one of my last entries. I will try to hustle back to Kunming from here on out while making just a few side trips here and there. Multi-day treks are finished as are border crossings. Things should become more and more familiar as I start to move southwest. So, from where I left off last time I was in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan. I took a bus ride back to Bishkek and slept at my host's house again there (I felt my welcome was nearing an end, but its just one more night!) The following morning I woke up early expecting to purchase a bus ticket bound for Kashgar, China. This would be ... read more

Well I arrived back in civilization again this afternoon with some new friends along. I begin at the beginning. I left Karakol town on Tuesday morning and headed up to the Jeti Oguz Sanitorium; the location of the first meeting between Boris Yeltzin and the first president of Kyrgyzstan. It has not been renovated since the meeting. Anyway, I was just in the area for lunch and it is a good launching point for a four day trek through the mountains. I found a good spot for lunch and ordered some noodles and one cold beer. There were no empty tables so I sat down with these two old kooks knocking back shots of vodka at 12 noon. When in Rome. Our conversation was without words and only gestures. I turned down offers to rent a ... read more