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John's blog
`Wild`life in Africa - is this the way it will be?
In a few years (most? all?) big game in Africa will be chipped, tagged and named. Reserves will look up on their computers where the animals are before going on game drives.
Conservancies are presented as a way for government, tourism and local communities to manage the wild. In Namibia we saw what that really means: we came across a gang of locals in a pick-up, driving wildly leaving tracks which take years to disappear, shooting game from the back. When we drove up we saw the hopelessness of trying to stop it. The leader swore at our guide and told him to get lost. How could he, or any ranger, stop a gang of armed men? It would take small army to stop it, and then they would need to be prepared to arrest or shoot armed gangs.
Apparently the conservancy has a quota for shooting animals. They are supposed to tell the lodges about where they are hunting so that the tourists never see the slaughter (tourist routes in one place, locals doing what they like in others). If the local hunters are caught, the animals will count against the quota, if not then they won`t. So, `conservancy` is really managed poaching.
Hunters pay huge prices to come in to shoot big game. What they may or may not know is that a lot of that game is trucked in to be shot. Buy a rhino (fairly expensive) or cheetah (cheap because they cost a lot to fence in) or zebra, slap it on the behind, then send the shooters out to bag it. Not much of a sport but it is the Africa wildlife market at work.
And as long as people don`t look too closely, locals get their meat, hunters get their trophies, tourists spot their `wild`life then eat their zebra or oryx steaks as the sun goes down.
18/01/2008:London
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John's blog
First thoughts on Africa
What a difference - Africa (so far) is 4x4 heaven. There are so many other 4x4s with roof tents, garages, marked and unmarked offroad trails through wild countryside. Both South Africa and Namibia have fantastic dirt roads, incredible views, more wild animals in a day than we saw in the whole of the London to Beijing trip. We now know how to camp - everybody slips into a routine and we plan for more time to walk, cook and relax without the pressure of the Big Trip.
06/01/2008:London
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John's blog
South Africa!!
So the first trip is over, but the adventure will continue in Africa, (though now only in 2-week chunks).
First experience was getting the car out of Port Elizabeth in South Africa where it had been packed and stacked in a huge container (6 weeks by ship from Beijing/Tianjin). The container crane put it onto a lorry where it was delivered to a tyre factory for unloading. It had been beautifully packed, and once all the wires and blocks had been chopped off I could drive straight out. Jinjeh started first time and I was out into the stunning late spring sunshine, with lilac trees carpeting roads in purple flowers.
I took Jinjeh to a game reserve where she drove right by a rare black rhino, giraffes, elephants etc, then onto a hair-raising 4x4 trail which I wasn`t sure I would get out of. There was noboby for miles around and the rutted track went straight up and down steep hills, with thorn bushes scratching both sides of the car.
Then I took her into Toyota for a service (whereand back to the tyre garage for storage til this Christmas when the family adventure will continue.
07/11/2007:Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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John's blog
Last night of camping and great wall
We drove through beautiful countriside towards the Great Wall but liked it so much we turned off, turned off again, then again and found ourselves in a glorious gorge, with huge hills on each side, and the most picturesque villages we have yet seen in
China. Extraordinary to think this is just 2 hours from Beijing. After lunch on a new country road (so new, we accidentally dented the edge concrete which was still wet - we paid 80 Yuan to the road man who was quite happy), we drove on a dirt road through the hills and found a place to camp by the river. Very steep drive down the river bank and unfortunately steep drive up again. Jinjeh got stuck in the mud, but with diff lock and hi4 I managed to reverse out and then drove down the river a bit to try again. After a lot of mud squelching I managed to get her out and into a spot to camp, by a corn field growing on the bank. Glorious. The children had a mud fight and played in the river and then, with the hills all around, we settled in for our last wild night.
28/08/2007:Beijing, China
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John's blog
Great Wall and into Beijing
After a 5am start we drove 3 hours to the Great Wall at Simatai (there are 6 spots around Beijing and this is apparently one of the wildest and least touristy, but still walkable). We did the very steep climb up, dripping with sweat. Incredible views. The developed bit stopped just short of the top, but we persuaded the guard (we paid the required fine) to lead us on the normally closed bit. Overgrown and in its original condition, with steep drops on each side, it was a wonderful extension to a great walk, with stunning views on both sides, and the wall snaking until it disappeared into the distant mist.
28/08/2007:Beijing, China
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John's blog
Good kit, bad kit
Good Kit:
Jinjeh – a star. Problems we’ve had have mostly been my fault (eg not tightening wheel bolts adequately) not hers. /
Jimmy’s thunderbox – comfortable, portable, does exactly what it should do and nothing more. /
Rab down gilets. /
North Face Summit series jacket /
Webber tables – broken and dented but so light, quick to put up and easy to fold and store /
3-seater camping chairs
Easy-Awn tents
Keen sandals and Merrill walking boots /
Panasonic Toughbook /
Garmin GPS /
Horizon trailer mark two – actually quite good now it has been strengthened /
Petzl headtorches /
Leatherman /
Silk sleeping bag liners /
Ipods and PSPs /
Thin climbing-type /
Warn compressor and winch – used much more than expected /
Alpkit bags /
Extra front lights and work lights //
Bad kit
Horizon trailer mark one – disastrously unfit for purpose /
Barbeque – no wood so have hardly used it /
Portable shower – never used it /
Awnings for our tent – never used /
Rain awnings – pain to use even when it rained, and blew over if it was windy too /
Nera satellite phone – pain to set up, poor quality when we did /
Ready prepared meals – horrible - much better doing it ourselves /
Camcorder – can’t fit it in a pocket.
28/08/2007:Beijing, China
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John's blog
A semi-global perspective - thoughts from our trip.
We’ve now nearly completed our drive half-way round the world. We’ve driven through the faded communist empire and into the emerging one in China. We’ve been to 14 countries, crossed 7 mountain ranges and 5 deserts. Those 14 countries contain around half of the world’s population.
Several things stand out. /
1. We have seen almost no wildlife and driven through almost no forests. Natural habitat – apart from unliveable deserts and mountains – has been massively transformed, cultivated and built on. Rivers have been dammed, hills have been cut and shaped and bent for agriculture, for roads and railways. Of course everybody iknows this intellectually, but over 12000 miles of driving it, touching a line across it, gives a different perspective of how radically the world has been transformed, and now little nature is left. We had 3 fires the whole trip – after Europe we had almost no wood – at high altitude trees don’t grow, and at low altitude most of them have been chopped down. /
2. Politics, geography and religion make less difference to peoples’ lives than the huge difference between country and town. Peasants on horse carts in Romania live much he same lives as peasants with horse (or donkey, or ass, or camel) carts in Kyrgyzstan and China. The buzzing new wealth of Baku is not dissimilar to the buzzing new wealth of Xian – attracting the same consumerism, the international brands, shopping centres with polished floors, glass lifts and water features. /
3. Commodities are a dice-throw to upset the rules – normal market forces are distorted, wealth and power is concentrated and bizarre political systems which would otherwise probably not exist can flourish. Turkmenistan is the obvious example which takes the Wacko Jacko prize for the trip – whitened, facelifted and with a Neverland as its capital in Ashgabat. /
4. For every one rude/aggressive/unhelpful person there have been 20 that are kind and helpful. Whether we have been stuck in Georgia, Turkmenistan or China, we’ve always found people go out of their way to help, with kindness, patience and laughter. We’ve travelled through many Muslim countries but the fact that we are Jewish has not once been a problem (though we haven’t advertised it). /
5. Money is not everything. We have found many people who have helped and refused payment (in money, cigarettes, or gifts). We have not been taken advantage of when we have had problems. People have in general been fair. Of course we’ve come across our share of arrogant and corrupt officials - the ticket salesman for the ferry from Azerbaijan to Turkmenistan, the policeman at the Uzbek-Tajik border – but often the requests for bribes have been good-natured, and the privileges that we have from being Westerners I guess makes us fair game. /
6. Many people told us this was mad, dangerous, wrong to take the children. My own view is that danger is often over-stated, and can prevent people from getting out there and seeing things for themselves. If more people visited Iran maybe there would be less of an “evil empire” attitude. The flip-side to this observation is that bad people-places do exist, so danger is not always over-stated. Our only real brush with danger came in the most expected place – the Tajik-Afghan border. /
The most beautiful places we have visited (for me) have been Eastern Turkey, parts of Georgia, Tajikistan (especially Pamir highway) and Kyrgzystan, some of the desert in Xingiang and the grasslands near Xiahe – all wild, largely unspoilt places with toughened people living there. The most beautiful historic sights have been Konye Urgench, Khiva, the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang and Pingyao, although the touristification of them all makes me long for the travel of even 20 years ago. I don’t know how my children will capture the aching beauty of seeing something strange when they are older – it is not possible from an electric cart with loudspeaker t
28/08/2007:Beijing, China
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John's blog
Arrival!
The Simitai road is the most dangerous I have driven in China, with extraordinary blind overtaking, cars passing on the verges etc. Traffic fatalities in China must be huge. After a quick blast of wonderful new expressway we hit solid Beijing traffic. The air changed to rancid industrial flatulence, and the huge new blocks seem to stretch on endlessly. But there are also some fantastic new buildings, with the birdsnest-inspired Olympic Stadium a masterpiece. /
We`ve now arrived - our hotel is 100 yards from Tiannanmen Square. We will do the last formal bit tomorrow, and take the necessary photos (after our river and countryside trip, Jinjeh is plastered in mud - quite pleased that she stands out from the polished little Beijing cars!).
28/08/2007:Beijing, China
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John's blog
Chinese children and dogs
We’ve had countless stares at our large family which sticks out a mile in one-child China. The one child policy has apparently led to the population being 400m lower than it otherwise would have been. Mothers and fathers holding single children are everywhere, but there are side-effects too – soon there will be 119 boys for every 100 girls, and as the diet and wealth are changing there are large numbers of loved but spoilt and podgy children. /
Some of the frustrated maternal instinct has mutated into mini-dog ownership. Miniature Poodles and Pekinese (did these originate in Peking?) are everywhere, cuddled and petted by mostly young women (though I do keep checking to see if we are outside a restaurant).
26/08/2007:Datong, China
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John's blog
Crossing Chinese roads
The time our lives have been in greatest danger on this trip is crossing Chinese roads. There is no regard whatsoever for pedestrians. Even when the little walking man is green, cars, trucks, scooters and bicycles charge through crossing people missing them (so far) by inches. A lot of Chinese scooters are now electric so they add deadly silence to the menace. We stick closely to crossing locals, trying to get them in between us and the cars and relying on their finely honed skills. We clasp the childrens’ hands and tug them over with us. Even so there have been many screeched yelps from Ingrid as one child lags behind.
26/08/2007:Datong, China
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Ingrid's blog
Pingyao
After the industrial sprawl and concrete skyscrapers of China`s cities, our stay in the ancient walled city of Pingyao, was a welcome change. The black brick wall which surrounds the city, complete with crenellations and garrison posts at the gates to the east and west, is still intact and it is easy to imagine soldiers with weapons held at the ready defending the enormous gates. In side the walls, the buildings are original Ming dynasty with beautifully decorated roofs, but lived in by the people of Pingyao, who hustle and bustle about in every direction on bikes, scooters and electric cars (we joined the bustle on rented bikes and tandems of our own, and cycled all tghe way roubnd the walls. The city was particularly atmospheric at night - the red lanterns hanging outside the shops and restaurants casting a dim red glow over the small alleys and streets.
Back to industrial sprawl today, as our journey to Beijing draws to a close, with an overnight in Datong. But on the way in we visited the Yungang caves - a series of caves carved into a 1000 metre stretch of mountainside west of the city. We visited 20 of the caves, each decorated with statues of Buddha and Bodhisattvahs. The most beautiful cave had a four-sided central column with an enormous seated Sakamouni (sp?) Buddha at the front and Buddhas past and future on either side. Every inch of the cave walls and ceiling is carved with reliefs of Buddha, his disciples, flying angels, dragons and monsters.
26/08/2007:Datong
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John's blog
Xian night market and brown sky
Got cycle rickshaws to the Xian night market, noisy, colourful, full of life. Noah was a bit shocked by the little cages with noisily live crickets in. Eden looked up at the night sky and asked why it was brown – it was (damp dense air and smog lit up by the city lights).
26/08/2007:Datong, China
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John's blog
Old town of Pingyao - a highlight
Drive to Pingyao was over series of spectactular viaducts, linking the tops of hills with huge columns down into the valleys – another example of amazing Chinese roadbuilding. /
Pingyao is one of the only preserved old cities in China – sloping tiled roofs, wooden shop fronts, narrow streets, pagodas and temples etc. Many shops now sell souvenirs but the city does have a buzz of life in it with lots of people, bicycles, fruit and veg salesmen shouting out etc – great fun. At night it is truly atmospheric with the red lanterns lighting the dark wood and old paintings on the fronts of the buildings. Cars are banned from the city inside its old Ming walls so we can walk around with a lesser risk of being squished. We also catch bicycle/moped or electric carts to whizz us round. The children love it, especially when we “race” (not allowed to tell the driver/rider to go faster) so its random fun. Changed into a wonderfully characterful hotel built in an old merchant`s house, with courtyard coming off courtyard. We wish more places like this remained.
26/08/2007:Datgong, China
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Noah/Eden's blog
Pingyao by Eden
We went to the market in Pingyao. It was really cool! There were busy shops selling silk pyjamas and there were people with carts full of apples, and shops selling toilet paper and milk and all of that. We walked to an old wall. There are electric bicycle carts and we went on some. We rode through town at night which was fun. There were lots of lights and restaurants, and people on bicycles, and bars. Dinner was amazing – we had chicken, vegetables and rice and everything was so nice. Today we moved hotels. Yesterday’s one was noisy and the rooms were nice but the beds platform thing was hard and not comfortable and Hannah’s had a dirty bit. This hotel is great. Mum and dad have an upstairs bedroom and a living room downstairs. It is in a very old Chinese house with lots of courtyards and old paintings and curvy roofs.
26/08/2007:Datong, China
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John's blog
To Datong
We`ve now covered 12,000 miles. Today was another expressway drive through fog and rain. For some reason Chinese drivers don`t turn on their lights even in thick fog or unlit tunnels. Lane choice also bears no relationship to speed so there is a lot of weaving required. Only two more days driving to Beijing now. /
More wonderful Buddhist carvings at Yung Ang outside Datong. Giant Buddhas covering the whole cliff, and thousands of relief carvings. Caves are more cave-like here which the children enjoyed.
26/08/2007:Datong, China
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John's blog
Stone tablet library
Walked to the library of stone tablets - before books were printed ancient texts were carved on huge stone tablets including some of the original books of Confucianism. Wonderful collection of ancient stone animals too.
23/08/2007:Xian, China
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John's blog
Xian - new Chinese city and terracotta army
Xian was 5m people 3 years ago and is 7m today. There has been minimal city planning and the infrastructure can`t cope. Almost every building is a concrete block. The air is so thick that even 100 yards away things are hazy, and with the temperature in the high 90s and dripping-humid, the atmosphere is foetid. Shops are full and new shopping centres are springing up to satisfy the bursting exhuberence of Chinese consumerism. This feels like the future - mega cities outpacing governmental ability to keep control, with the countriside a quaint anomoly, and select historic mega-sights turned into tourist conveyor belts with smaller ones neglected or destroyed. /
One of the mega-sights is the Terracotta army which has actually been done quite well. The extraordinary sight could overcome almost any presentation of it - thousands of individually-featured life-sized soldiers, and thousands more still buried in (or marching out of) the mud. It was started 2300 years ago, and the omnipotence and egotism of the 16-year old emperor who had it built puts modern despotism into perspective. Two new pits have bee excavated since my last visit, and the presentation is better. Cars are required to park half a mile away and electric golf buggies (for a fee) shuttle tourist groups busily to the entrance, and on the way back drop people a long way from the car park so they have to run the gauntlet of tourist mini-warrior salesman. Loved it nonetheless.
22/08/2007:Xian, China
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Ingrid's blog
Maiji Shan to Xian
The Buddhist caves on Maiji Shan are truly spectacular. The mountain itself is a sheer red cliff that rises vertically out of the green forest below, and carved on one side of the mountain, are a series of enormous Buddhas and Bodhistavas, and many caves and nooks and crannies with beautiful statues and wall paintings of disciples and donors. There were few visitors, and we dispensed with the services of our guide (who barely spoke any English) and climbed the high walkways on the face of the mountain, exploring the highest carvings, until we were higher than the swallows swooping below. The placards describing the caves and their carvings were perfectly apt: `a statute of Buddha with liquid and rhythmic lines`; `a statue featuring giant size and western style`; `simple and solemn`; `realistic and mundane`.
Visited the Terracotta Army today and were not disappointed. There are three enormous vaults and although only a fraction of the figures have been excavated, there are more than a thousand figures: in battle formation in the first pit; with horses and charioteers in the second pit, although this has barely been excavated; and as if in battle headquarters in the third. Each soldier has different facial features and expression, and carried real weapons, though these (for reasons unknown) have been removed. I could not help but feel overwhelmed by the extraordinary vanity of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who came to the throne aged thirteen, and ordered the building of the Terracotta Army to guard his tomb, only three years later.
22/08/2007:Xian, China
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John's blog
Maiji Shan grottoes and teen fashions
In Maiji Shan (pretty, misty rugged hills reminiscent of traditional Chinese paintings) there are hundreds of grottoes carved into a cliff perhaps 300 feet high, with steep staircases up the cliff to give access. The metal wire meshing in front of the caves and concrete walkways were not sympathetic, nor was the rubbish left by previous visitors (cigarettes stubbed out and water bottles left in the grottoes) but the caves were nevertheless wonderful. There are many styles of carving, with some beautifully paintings, with the colours of 1700 years ago still vivid where the cliff overhangs give protection, including of a giant bat-man creature, and visions of Nirvana. Most spectacular are six huge Buddhas looking out over the hills - in groups of three (past, present and future Buddhas). /
We then went shopping in the centre of Tianshui - great fun. Teen fashion here is bizarre - weird hairdos (perms, asymmetrical cuts, frizzes) and shorts, skirts and tops which start baggy and then get narrow. We did like the lightweight jeans with designed-in mega-creases. We bought Eden some, then Jake (shop assistants all got very excited), then I felt left out so I bought some too (cost appx $20). We also loved the Chinglish slogans on the T-shirts. We went out to dinner in our new gear which Hai-Ping assured us were poor quality and worse than we could get in Beijing!
21/08/2007:Xian, China
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Jake's blog
Extract from my diary by Jake - my birthday
Its my birthday today. I`m 15 already. It seems quite old. Its been a wonderful day so far. I had lovely cards and some great Chinese presents although I thought I`d get nothing. I got a dragon lock, stone eggs, an old Qing dinasty coin, and a sandstone stamp with my name in English and Chinese on it. Apparently my Chinese name translates as `excellent killer`! Dad gave me a birthday chocolate with a candle on it .
20/08/2007:Tiansui, China
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Jake's blog
The Tibetan monastery
The monastery was like going back in time by hundreds of years. It was huge with wonderfully painted wood. People span cogs which were painted with Buddhist prayers, and gave offerings to amazing golden Buddhas. We saw a group of young monks, some sitting in lines wearing yellow furry hats while others stood facing them, clapping at their faces. It was very odd. We saw the monastery kitchen, assembly hall and hospital and even may have seen the place dad slept 23 years ago.
20/08/2007:Tiansui, China
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Jake's blog
Maiji-Shan grottoes
We saw some grotty grottoes this morning. It was hot and there was a long climb up concrete steps.
The grottoes were covered with red wire mesh. However, there were some lines of magnificent Buddhas, some 1700 years old. There were also 3 huge Buddhas carved into the mountainside. Some of the Buddhas have huge guardians with bulging eyes, raised fists, and they were standing on oxen - they were quite scary .
20/08/2007:Tiansui, China
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Ingrid's blog
Xanhue to Xiahe
Xiahe is a small town on the edge of the Tibetan plateau, home to the most beautiful Tibetan Labrang monastery. The monastery buildings are red clay with large sections painted burnt orange and wooden pagoda-style roofs, arranged around small courtyards. There are also long lines of roofed prayer wheels stretching the length of the monastery on each side. We walked alongside many Tibetan pilgrims (always in a clockwise direction) who turned each prayer wheel as they passed. The pilgrims wear traditional Tibetan clothes, heavy wool skirts with dark cloaks. The women wear huge silver ear-rings with coral or turquoise stones, and their hair is long and plaited in two at the back, then tied up in cloth and silver. They wear heavily decorated belts (with coral or shell or coins) and a right handed glove to make it easier to turn the many prayer wheels. /
The inside of the temples is a riot of colour, smell and activity – people move in a clockwise direction praying and leaving offerings; yak butter burns in huge containers (quite pungent) and incense sticks are lit around the Buddha or photographs of the Dalai Lama or the Panchen Lama; fruit and seed offerings are left; rainbow coloured silks hang from the pillars and decorate the ceiling; and all around the walls there are paintings of buddhas and bodhisattvas. In one temple there were monks chanting prayers in unison; in another there was a group of monks sitting cross-legged sifting rice and another group chanting, and I watched three boy monks who were supposed to be walking clockwise around the temple building, playing the fool and jumping out on one another; in another temple courtyard we watched a group of monks in costume dress (there were deer, horses and monsters) practice a dance and music performance.
19/08/2007:Tiansui, China
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Ingrid's blog
Grasslands camping and small-road driving through rural China
We camped in the grasslands north of Xiahe – rolling hills and valleys covered in white, purple and yellow wild flowers where yak herds graze. We found a perfect spot by a small stream which was full of frogs to the delight of the children. The sun came out and we sat by the stream, eating, reading and sleeping. The next morning we walked into the Takkar hills nearby, coming across an ancient village and many hilltop altars. /
The landscape has changed again. We are driving through heavily cultivated countryside. Every inch of space in the valleys and the stepped hills has been planted with corn, marrow, aubergine, or row upon row of triangular haystacks; and everywhere there are people in motorized carts piled high with straw or vegetables, going from or to market. There are also many people on bicycles wearing traditional straw hats, or walking with poles across their backs, buckets hanging from each end of the pole. The houses in the small villages look as if they are made from red clay, but many have old wooden roofs, and the hillsides are dotted with Tao or Buddhist temples. Today we drove through apple orchard countryside which was a frenzy of activity. Wooden carts piled high with green and red apples; makeshift tents in which people were sorting apples and packing them into boxes and bags; lorries being loaded with apple boxes; and people everywhere.
19/08/2007:Tiansui, China
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Ingrid's blog
Chinese food and yak milk
The food in China has been universally excellent but breakfasts have been a bit of a struggle for the children (pickles, red tofu, hardboiled eggs and milk soup) so we have tended to bring our camping breakfasts into hotels (to the interest of staff, who watch intently as John mixes porridge oats with seeds, raisins and golden syrup). This morning we had run out of milk so John and I went to a local shop and bought a few cartons of what we thought was milk, although there was no English writing on any of the cartons. We had to go back to the shop shortly afterwards with Hai-ping because we had bought sweetened trawberry yak’s milk .
19/08/2007:Tiansui, China
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John's blog
Taer Si Tibetan Buddhist monastery
We drove through Qinghai – high remote grasslands populated by yak-herders – too high for farming, one of the last remnants of “old China”. The Tibetans consider Qinghai as part of Tibet and there is a mixture of Muslim Hue and Buddhist Tibetans here. Next stop on the nostalgia tour was Taer Si Monastery or Kundum as the Tibetans call it. It is one of the most important monasteries in the yellow hat sect and home of the Panchen Lama. I stayed in the monastery on my last trip and loved it – incredible carvings, mesmerising colours and smell of incense and yak butter. A Tibetan festival had just ended and I was captivated by the wizened faces, long plaited hair tucked into ribbons then silver boxes and men in Tibetan bowler-type hats who stared at me as much as I stared at them. Taer Si then was surrounded by farmland and I went on an all day walk into the beautiful countryside, eating fish-heads in a farmer’s house. /
We drove up this time and found a tourist town which has built up outside the monastery, and a new town next to it (complete with an army base to make sure it does not become a centre for unrest, and a whole industry of metal bashers creating Buddhist metal statuary). But the hotel we stayed in was Tibetan with vibrant colours, and mattresses on a raised platform. In the morning we went early to the temple and in spite of the tourists we loved it. Last time access inside was limited but this time we went right through the working monastery and saw hundreds of monks in their burgundy robes in a debate on scriptures (some in huge mohecan-style yellow hats, others clapping to emphasise points), saw lines of pilgrims prostrating themselves repeatedly in prayer, saw groups of Tibetans in their traditional clothes, smelt the yak butter candles with the vivid multi-colours of hangings, wood carvings and Buddha figures in the candle-light – it was still entrancing.
19/08/2007:Tiansui, China
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John's blog
Xanhue to Xaihe
Another beautiful drive to Xuanhue, with quilted fields of yellow and green, huge red rock wedding cake mountains springing up beside them. First part of the journey was on a new expressway - the lady at the toll booth initially refused us entry because we have a trailer (although both cars and lorries were coming the other way, and we’ve had no issues on countless toll roads all through China). Our guide Hai-Ping wanted us to turn back, but I switched the engine off, (calmly) asked to see the rule book, asked her to phone her superior and eventually was let through. The highway was almost deserted – maybe they don’t want any traffic spoiling it!
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Drove to Xaihe on mountain road to nature reserve. Decided not to go in because access was by guided golf buggy only! Headed for Xaihe – towards Tibet, most important Buddhist monastery in China. Drove through hills with every square foot cultivated. Farmers were collecting in the straw and bailing it with hats on to keep the rain off.
19/08/2007:Tiansui, China
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John's blog
Xaihe - one of best places on trip
Xaihe is stunning – large numbers of Tibetans in their finery, huge numbers of burgundy-draped monks, in the monastery praying but also drinking coke, chatting on mobile phones, shopping and playing. A group of Tibetan women pilgrims took a shine to Eden and were highly amused by her prayer-wheel spinning. /
In the early morning sun we saw groups of monks chanting, boy monks practising chanting but getting bored and chasing each other around a temple, a rehearsal for a masked play with an acrobatic monk in a deer mask doing various contortions as part of the dance, a boy practising ritualised stick-fighting – fantastic. There are also thousands of Tibetans here, both living and making pilgrimages. They pray by prostrating themselves, then taking two steps forward, clapping above their heads, at chest level and then lying down again. The ones that cover large distances have pads on their knees, stomachs and hands, but look exhausted. At the temples, there are lines in the floors polished to a bright shine by the hundreds of years of prostrations.
19/08/2007:Tiansui, China
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John's blog
Grasslands, wildflowers and hunting for frogs
We drove up a dirt road to an area of hilly grasslands on the edge of the Tibetan plateau – beautiful, wild and deserted. It is high so there are no trees, but the whole area was covered in wildflowers. There are patches of purple and yellow where the flowers are so thick they hide out the green. We found a perfect campsite – down a track then down a hill across the grass to a stream with steep hills surrounding it. Nobody visible from horizon to horizon. We arrived early in the sunshine, and had our first day of the whole trip doing nothing much. The children caught frogs (and let them go), found fish in the stream, played and read. We then walked up the steep hills and found an eerie scarecrow on a grave (looked very real) at the top of a hill, a huge spider, and a bizarre trench on the hilltop that stretched to the horizon. /
Next morning we drove to another area of grasslands which stops at a sheer cliff, thousands of feet high and quite spectacular. The road to it went through an old city which still has a village of mud-brick houses and farmland contained in its walls. We went for a walk up to a Tibetan prayer alter – coloured sticks, flags, scarves, paper about 20 feet high, and then started the drive to Wushan. We totally miscalculated both distance and time it would take – glorious drive through rural china, with every possible piece of land cultivated, and lots of peasants in straw hats, but night fell and the driving became difficult – lots of people still on the road, people emerging suddenly – walking, on cycles or on carts, and blinding light trucks roared dustily past. I had to drive off the edge of the road a couple of times to let arrogant road-hogging trucks by. Arrived at (grotty, standard-format, mosquito-infested, smoke-smelling, hard-bed) hotel.
19/08/2007:Tiansui, China
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John's blog
Buddha cliff
Drove up river bed to 40 metre high Buddha and Bodhisatvas carved into immense cliffs. Beautiful but atmosphere spoiled by groups of shouting local tourists (small numbers but seem to require noise level as if there were hundreds). Then walked up to Taoist temple carved higher up the cliff face – extraordinary position, old (Buddhist) paintings on rock face and sweet water well at the top of the temple in a cave. Long white bearded Toaist monk smiled, chatted, and gestured to donation box. /
Then drove through densely cultivated fields with every piece of mountain flattened into steps with lush green vegetables growing, then down into a valley of apple orchards. It is harvest time and we saw mountains of apples being carted, piled, bartered for, boxed and put onto lorries. Into Tianshui – “heavenly water” – over bridge of brown, oil stained, stagnant ponds in the river bed.
19/08/2007:Tiansui, China
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Ingrid's blog
Tibetan China
Our drive from Jiayuguan to Huanglong (home of the Taer Si monastery) was beautiful. We drove through a mountain gorge, sheer cliffs on either side, then into the pass with snow capped peaks in the distance. Shepherds, now on motorbikes, herded great shaggy yaks across the road and into the pastures. We stopped for a long (and unusually leisurely) picnic lunch in pastureland. As we sat waiting for the pasta to cook we attracted much attention from local herdsmen and their families. A couple drove up on motorbikes – the most inquisitive, a family of three who drove right up and stopped to chat (refusing all offers of food) and expressed delight and amazement at our large family. They said (through Hai-ping) that we were the first foreigners they had ever seen. /
The monastery town is full of tourists (all Chinese) taking guided tours. This seems to involve wearing a particular coloured cap and following a guide who holds a coordinated coloured flag and shouts into a megaphone. It also involves a deal of pushing, as Noah snarled when he was shoved out of the way for the umpteenth time. But we managed to escape some of the crowds and enjoy some moments of solitude in the lesser visited, old courtyards and pagoda style temples of the monastery. The temples house huge statues of Buddha with ferocious looking guardians on either side, and many smaller Buddha statues and paintings on all the walls. There is much ritual associated with temple visits – you must walk clockwise around the ‘altar’ and the temple itself; you must spin the prayer wheels clockwise; there are large bowls full of seeds and beads, with small prayer wheels in the centre, and handfuls of the seeds are poured onto the prayer wheel ; yak butter is offered and poured into large containers to fuel candles. We came upon a courtyard full of monks, resplendent in their maroon robes with pleated cloaks and yellow hats, assembled for prayer or scripture discussion in groups of 20 – there were about 300 altogether. As they spoke to each other they snapped their hands together and rocked. Some looked like young boys and a play fight broke out amidst groups of these younger monks.
19/08/2007:Tiansui, China
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Ingrid's blog
Xanhue
Another stunning drive to Xuanhue, a Muslim town (no alcohol served in the restaurant this evening and when we said that we did not want any pork, the manager was most offended at the suggestion that it might be served in his establishment) on the banks of the Yellow River with craggy mountains all around. The countryside is a patchwork of greens – lime, olive, bottle, pea – broken up by red clay hills and darker mountains. Wind erosion (I guess) has created fairy castles in the red clay, and in some places, the hillside looked like an enormous organ with deep red pipes.
19/08/2007:Tiansui, China
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Noah/Eden's blog
Tibetans by Eden
We went to a monastery and saw women with plaits. They prayed very weirdly, lying down and getting up and lying down again. We went into some rooms with big Buddhas and there was a table with a bowl on it and you put seeds over a statue-thing and that is supposed to give you good luck. Then we went into town and we tried yak-milk. /
Then we went on motorbike taxis with seats at the side and I sat in the back and Hannah sat in the front but the back was funner because the back seat was higher. It was great but I didn’t like it when we went over bumps.
19/08/2007:Tiansui, China
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Noah/Eden's blog
Food by Noah
In the monastery we saw prayer wheels which you turn to get good luck. There were hundreds of them and I tried to turn all of them so I hope I get a lot of good luck.
We saw yak butter in great lumps in bowls and yak-butter candles. They smelt quite bad but looked cool. /
We tried yak milk and I didn’t like the taste. It was sweet and yoghurty. I tried a Tibetan sweet sausage thing which was also weird. Today I tried thousand year egg which is like hard jelly but didn’t taste of anything much. Jake had a bigger bit.
Foods we’ve seen but not tried include donkey, chicken in a bottle, pidgeon and deer’s lips,. We did have pidgeon eggs which were small and tasty and I tried goat.
19/08/2007:Tiansui, China
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John's blog
To Jiayuguan - end of Great Wall
Parking knock as I reversed the trailer out of its tight space in Dunhuang - dented wing of old car – my fault. Wanted to leave money for repairs but car park attendant getting cross and people gathering so decided to pay and go (pre-determined plan for this sort of thing). Put more than enough money under the wiper then headed off but guard wanted to block us so had to nudge him out of the way! Unpleasant.
Drove through Gobi desert on new motorway – incident free apart from motorbike coming wrong way up fast lane, car coming through break in central reservation and man from crashed car running into the road. Very hot and can’t use the aircon because Jinjeh is overheating. /
Went to Jiayuguan – fortress at the end of the Great Wall. Beautifully preserved/restored, and because it was early evening it was quiet. Fun – we fired bows and arrows into straw targets from the ramparts – I hit arm and foot, Jake hit between the legs and Noah, Hannah and Eden did good warning shots. Wall (mud wall about 10 feet high here) stretching into the distance, cut by motorway and train line. /
Then dinner – restaurant proprietor amazed and jealous of our four children. He’d had a bit too much mao tai and stared into their faces and held Jake’s jaw to examine his teeth. Fortunately tone stayed jovial and Jake decided to say his one phrase of Chinese (taught by school friend) – “I am the golden fire dragon”.
13/08/2007:Jiyaun, China
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Jake's blog
China trip so far
I`m loving the trip. It has been fantastic- interesting, beautiful, amazing. I love the bazaars, old historical sites and the mountains and cities. Yesterday we did sand boarding which was really exciting. We also quad-biked through dunes. I am still writing in my diary every day so you can read that at some stage probably. Bye for now .
13/08/2007:Jiayuan, China
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John's blog
Chinese hotels
All Chinese hotels so far have been he same - big lobby (ornate if high class); square room with corner cut out for small bathroom, twin beds (“this room is onry for sreeping”?) with unbelievably hard mattresses; stink of smoke.
13/08/2007:Jiyuan, China
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John's blog
Dunhuang dunes
23 years ago: I hitched a lift on a tractor through farmland (growing hemp), then climbed the dunes behind Dunhuang at sunset on my own. Nobody for miles around.
Now: 4-lane highway from Dunhuang to dunes, with normal, VIP, and super-VIP parking. Thousands of Chinese tourists. Hundreds of camels tied nose to tail walk through the dunes. There are quad-bikes, 4-wheel drives and even microlights. We took the quad-bikes up the dunes, then slid down the dunes in rubber rings down feathered matting (fast and great fun).
I loved it both times, but has any country changed as much as China?
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This morning we went back to the Mogao Thousand Buddha caves. We`d booked the guide yesterday to take us to some of the caves that are not normally on the tour route. We got up early, ran to the front of the queue, ran to the entrance, and were the first group in. It was stunning - we had the place to ourselves at first, and every cave to ourselves. Totally different feeling from when there are loud-speaker tour groups. Privileged experience.
12/08/2007:Dunhuang, China
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Noah/Eden's blog
Food by Noah
My favourite Chinese food is chicken with cashew nuts. Sometimes chicken comes with all the bones in and once it had the head and feet. Its not very nice. I`ve learned to use chopsticks. We play cards and use the lazy susan thing for swinging round rummy sets.
12/08/2007:Dunhaung, China
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Noah/Eden's blog
Story in a Buddha cave, by Eden
One cave had a story painted. There were 3 brothers. One was a prince and he went travelling and saw a sick hungry tiger with her cubs. So he lay down so that the tiger could eat him but the tiger was too weak. So he found some cliffs and jumped off with some sharp bamboo sticks and the tiger drank his blood and ate him. The tiger grew strong and fed her cubs. The brothers were very sad but built him a temple and he became holy. Then they went hunting and shot the tiger (that was dad`s ending to the story).
12/08/2007:Dunhuang, China
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John's blog
Nuclear test zone
Ruochiang is next to Lop Nor where China carries out its nuclear tests. Security is therefore high and we had extra police checks. We were not allowed to stop on the road between Ruoqiang and Miran – a drive into the desert with the endless expanse of Lop Nor stretching as far as we could see. We decided to take the old road – the new one is perfect in parts but under construction in others. The old road was romantic and wild. Had to drive up the river bed, 4-wheel drive, often at 2mph with the car swinging from side to side on boulders. Nearly deserted since most cars now take the new road.. Took a long time and by nighfall we headed to Magnai Zhen hoping for a pretty village by a lake but instead found an asbestos factory and its worker dormitories, belching fumes and spraying white dust for miles around. Drove away as quickly as possible – perfect new (narrow)road but it ended at a village where they said there was no more road for 500km. Tried to head for the mountains across the grey desert gravel but it was bleak, ferocious wind, no protection, so headed back and camped on the grass a couple of km away from the village.
Windy night, but one of our best camp nights – everybody in good mood,pleasant temperature. Woken in the night by Hannah who shouted out that we were under attack from a group of donkeys!. Woken in the morning by a peasant walking past with two camels.
11/08/2007:Dunhuang, China
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John's blog
Night market and Thousand Buddha Caves
Dinner was small pieces of chicken buried in a mountain of chilli - and mushroom soup (huge hunks of meat in it, so couldn`t have it). Then we went to the buzzing night market - packed with Chinese tourists and souvenirs but great fun.
Went early in the morning to try to beat the tourist hordes, and persuaded the guide to do her normal tour backwards so that we had the caves to ourselves for the first part of the tour - wonderful. In 1984 the guide said there were less than 1000 visitors a year, now there are more than 5000 a day. But the caves are still incredible, both the small caves with their delicate painings covering every surface, and the huge buddhas, 50 metres tall. Access now restricted to 10 caves, but we persuaded the guide to take us to 10 different ones tomorrow so we will go back.
11/08/2007:Dunhuang, China
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Ingrid's blog
Desert travels
We have driven around the southern edge of the Taklamakan, and then a few days ago, took a short (500km) detour into the middle which gave us a sense of how vast this desert is. Nothing but sand dunes as far as the eye can see. But the Chinese have irrigated the length of the trans-desert highway – they have planted in grids and there are black water hoses and wells all along the way.
Near Quiemo we visited a lost city in the dunes – the only indication that it had been there was broken pottery strewn in the sand, some pieces looked clearly like ancient cooking pots or vases, other pieces too small to tell. We were the only people walking through the dunes in the early morning sun, imagining how this ancient city must once have looked. There w | | |
