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Been there, Dan that!

a travel blog by Dan

Well, i'm off to wing it in China for a while, there is some structure to my plans i'm just not sure what they are yet! Thats not entirely true, i'm hopeing to do a bit of teaching somwhere whilst i'm out there and i fully intend to land in a plane in Hong Kong, see i've got loads of plans!!!
it'll be reet mum...

note: the name has changed again, for the last time i promise!


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The Karakorum highway

Karakul, China

Kashgar is at the northern end of a road that spans the himalayas through to Pakistan, it was constructed about 10 years ago but the pass has been used for centuries as a trade route though to China. Apparently 400 workers died in the roads construction the road itself rising to 4800 meters at its highest point. I travelled up the Chinese side to check out the scenery, it wasn't a disappointment arid desert transformed to massive mountains, the largest being Murzag Ata (7600 meters) then enormous marsh lands surrounded by sand dunes and huge basins being grazed by anything from yaks to camels.
I was travelling with a French chap on his way to Pakistan, we took a car with a chirpy taxi driver mohammad who was a firm believer that 6 or 7 shish kebabs every Thursaday was good for your "capabilities" with the ladies!

Karakul Lake
We were dropped of at Karakul lake with some of Mohammad's Kyrgyz friends who snook us into the park (normally a 50 yuan entrance fee) fed us and let us stay in one of there yurts. The lake was very pretty shadowed by the aforementioned Murzagh Ata it was a steely blue, but perfectly clear when you were up close.
Whilst wondering around we were accosted by local shepherds wanting to show us there Kyrgyz bazaar usually a collection of local crystals and bits of tourist tat they were all really friendly and also offered us places to stay the night. We ate with the family and then slept, was really comfortable inside the yurt not cold at all.

permalink written by  Dan on May 22, 2008 from Karakul, China
from the travel blog: Been there, Dan that!
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The end of China

Tashkurgan, China

Tashkurgan is the last place you can go along the KKH on a Chinese visa any further is Pakistan and sadly that's not on my itinerary for this trip.

The town itself is a bit of a hole, as most birder crossings are, but the scenery getting here was again spectacular and there was also an old mud fort thought by the locals to be over 2000 years old though in reality its probably more like 600.

Tashkurgan fort

I hung around with Arnaud for a couple of hours then got a car back to Kashgar.

permalink written by  Dan on May 23, 2008 from Tashkurgan, China
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Animal market

Kashi, China

Kashgar is famous for its Sunday Bazaar and animal market because of its silk road history. Tourists quite literally swarm the town at weekends to go and see them. I had a train to catch at lunchtime so only had time to briefly see one and had been reliably informed that the normal bazaar was just very big and touristy, the animal market on the other hand was an entirely different er... animal!
I knew it would be cool as we approached on the dual carriageway when we hit a traffic jam consisting of donkey carts. Mohammad (he spotted us again outside the hotel) fought his way through in double quick time with excellent (some might say excessive) use of his horn. He was also curios as to how many kebabs i'd eaten last night, he clearly had my best intrests at heart!

Massive bums!

At first glance the place looked a chaotic jumble of animals and men from all over the region buying and selling but on closer inspection it was well organised the first section was cows, apparently you can buy yourself a fully grown one for 5000 yuan (14 to the pound) Then came the sheep, some of these where huge, with even bigger backsides. Next was the really fun part donkeys and horses next to the area where they were all stationed was an expanse of gravelly land on which a lot of test driving was going on. Donkeys and carts hammering it around the track being watched by prospective buyers along with the occasional mongol style horse, seemingly barely broken in, try to throw its rider.

testing out the product

I could have stayed there all morning watching the old gents checking teeth and mussels of horses and folks sheering there sheep with a pair of regular scissors. Sadly though I had to leave to catch the train.
It was a fairly expensive detour to head out to Kashgar but I'm really pleased I made it, the Uighers are some of the most genuine people i've ever met and the town itself though being modernised all the time is still a great place.

permalink written by  Dan on May 25, 2008 from Kashi, China
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One last Nan!

Urumqi, China

To be honest I dont have a lot to say, just wanted to make the orange line go from the correct city for my flight tomorrow morning. Took a train back from Kashgar with little incident apart from banging my head on a shelf.
One last nan bread tonight, its going to be emotional.

permalink written by  Dan on May 26, 2008 from Urumqi, China
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Giz a job!

Kunming, China

Flew back to Kunming from Urumqi in 5 hours. After taking 2 months to get up there it sort of put it all into perspective.
I'm now looking for some work, probably english teaching to tie me over for the summer then back onto the travels again in September. This is all dependent on visas however so my plans may be forced to change.
Kunming hadn't been my first choice as a place to look for work, that had been Chengdu but i figured it wasn't really appropriate for me to head over there hawking my services at this time.
Will keep you updated as to any developments.

permalink written by  Dan on May 28, 2008 from Kunming, China
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Got a job

Kunming, China

So it didn't take much searching to find a job, the English language training centres here are always looking for native English speakers to come and teach at the schools. They were so desperate they tried to get me to work before i'd even had the interview!
Got my first class this evening, an hour and a half on phonetics.
I've been given 9 classes a week to teach, 7 of which are at the weekends so I have most of the week free. They work on quite a tight syllabus too so my lesson plans are half done, I just have to elaborate on the tasks and make them a bit more interesting.
I'll hopefully have some Chinese lessons in the week but I'll have to see how much spare time I have first.
The school have given me an apartment too so I'll hopefully be able to save a fair bit of the money I make.
The only problem i've had/got is Visas, they wont give me a work visa unless I sign a years contract so i'm still on the tourist visa which expires next wednesday. I've been assured by the authorities that I can have the two 1 month extensions i'm entitled too but they keep changing the rules with the olympics coming up. All this means I definitely have to leave China in early August (assuming I get both extensions) so i've signed a contract until the end of July. Then i'll head to Laos I think.

permalink written by  Dan on June 4, 2008 from Kunming, China
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The apartment

Kunming, China


View from my balcony
So i've moved into my apartment in Kunming will be here for the next 2 months, its a bit of a distance from work but thats more than made up for by the massive sofa!
Theres also plenty of amenities close by a big french supermarket and Cinema are within 10 minutes walk.

The living room

The house itself is part of a large complex of about 20 blocks, there quite tastefully designed and have lots of private garden area. We also have guards who are dressed in army cammo, a bit odd.

Kitchen, 2 bedrooms and bathroom off to the right.

Well anyway not a lot more to say, not done much this weekend apart from settle in and go to the shops.
Visa extension tomorrow morning barring any hiccups.

permalink written by  Dan on June 10, 2008 from Kunming, China
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Update

Kunming, China

Well its been a month in my teaching job (got paid today!) and all is going well. Only had a couple of annoying kids and everyone i'm working with is super friendly. Apart form working i'm ashamed to say I have done little. Go to now the locals (shopkeepers mostly) and can live of about 15 yuan (a quid) a day with ease. This means the saving is going well and the money I make working should comfortably pay for my next 2 months travel, that just leaves the last 2 months but i'm sure i'll work something out.


All the team
Was roped into a school opening ceremony last weekend. Had to go along and show my face, they like showing off there foreign teachers here. I was made aware that I would have to give a speech at the ceremony but wasn't told it would be on the street!

A small crowd!
Also ended up giving an impromptu lesson and singing heads shoulders knees and toes!!! Probably a good job I didn't know it was going to happen just going with the flow seemed to work ok.

Still no word on the second visa extension I have to go down to the office next week. I'm sure there'll be no problems. Received my anti malarial kit from Mum in the post today anyway so If I have to make a run for the border i'm all set.

Got some other work on the side too. Reading an English translation of a Sichuanese mayors thoughts on a tourist attraction or something. Its going to be broadcast on the radio or something. Pretty good money about 60 quid for a mornings work! Will see if they have anything else to read as a few more of those almost equals my monthly teaching wage.

Going to one of the other teachers wedding tomorrow, don't actually know her but you should never say no to free Baijo!


permalink written by  Dan on July 3, 2008 from Kunming, China
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Visa ok

Kunming, China

Just to let you know I got my visa extended yesterday with no problems. So i'm here for 30 more days, hope to be racking up the lessons to get extra spends for Laos etc. I'll be headind there around August 9th. Just as the Olympics finally get started. I hope it isn't so hyped in England in four years time, sorry for being miserable but its really starting to grate!
Apart from that news not a lot going on. The voice recording job went well, they said they liked my voice and might have some more work for me, which would be great as it pays really well.
Hope everyones keeping well back home, i'm starting to miss it a bit! Hear the weathers bad again, raining a lot here too. Big looming clouds and long thunderstorms then a couple of days of scorching weather and lovely warm evenings, then rain again.

permalink written by  Dan on July 12, 2008 from Kunming, China
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Explosions in Kunming

Kunming, China

The Dan luck strikes again! I should definitely be made to stay at home.

This morning there where 3 explosions on buses near my work. Not my apartment I was nowhere near. 3 people have been killed, unsure of the motives etc.


Quite a good report on it here www.gokunming.com/en it should be on th emain page.


Just thought i'd let you all know/


Strange atmosphere is town today and my bus to work was very quiet!


PLEASE DONT WORRY TOO MUCH :)


Dan


permalink written by  Dan on July 21, 2008 from Kunming, China
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