By the end of the first week on the road the extreme heat and stomach illness was taking its toll on Neil. Neither of us really enjoys the very hot temperatures but Neil struggles with it a bit more than I do. This combined with the fact that it would be school holidays in NZ while Neil was away (or so he thought), and he would miss out spending this time with his kids, had Neil talking about returning home early.
By mid June Neil had confirmed with the airlines that he could change his ticket and head back to NZ a week early and by the 28th of June he was on his way. This left me to ponder my options for the remainder of the trip.
We were now in the far west of China and Neil needed to make his way to Urumqi by the 26th to allow time to pack up his bike and get organised for the return home. I decided to join him as far as Urumqi and then head off again on my own for a few more days to Tian Chi (Heavenly Lake) in what was originally to be our last week in Xinjiang. The trip was now much less linear than I had originally imagined it but no less interesting or challenging.
Turfan Market - 1988
Kebab stall
Road to Turfan - 2008
Near Toksun - 2008
Kumush (aka Hell) - 2008
Dinner in Kumush - 2008
Friends in High Places - 2008
Silk Road - 1988
Neil and me - Half way?
Near Tashkorgan - 2008
Neil and me
Xinjiang - 1988
On the road to Kashgar
Mt Muztag Ata - 2008
Kashgar Market - 1988
Neil (not really)
Kashgar Market - 2008
Knife sharpening
Kashgar Market - 2008
Knife makers son
Dodgy Yoghurt - 2008
Silk Road - 1988
On the road to Khunjerab
Tashkorgan - 1988
Innocent till proven guilty
Tashkorgan - 2008
Neil and me
Khunjerab Pass - 1988
15,300 feet and yep, that's snow
4 comments:
Never a dull moment eh. Sorry to hear you lost Neil, just you take care out there and stick to the tourist tracks will ya!! Keep us posted. Thinking of you.
Well I hope you're all AOK out there on your own now, with no encounters with any wading policewomen, no wolves and no illness! Hopefully it is just great scenery and more (good) experiences..;=)
Had lunch with Iris yesterday and she told me about your anniversary trip. Reading so much about contemporary China at the moment has prompted me to reminisce alot about my own travels there in '85, so I was delighted (and admiring, and somewhat envious...) to hear you'd taken on the challenge of retracing old steps and confronting how far away the past has receded (China's and your own). Funnyfarm and blueskies are obviously better friends than me, because I'm all for straying far from tourist tracks and, god knows, a night or two in jail would do you good! See you when you return (and recover).
It was certainly fun being back there again Maureen but happy to say we made it out without any jail time or further incident.
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