27/5 - Kunming

Hi All,

After a 6 hours flight including 1 quick stop at Xian's airport, we arrived to Kunming - The Capital of Yunnn province. It was almost 24:00 at night while getting there, so you can imagine, it was a one full long day for us.

as usual, things got really slow when we issued the visa to Vietnam, it took us 5 days to do so. The funny thing, during these 5 days, we didn't do much, we spent 1 day in the bamboo temple with its wonderful clay figures which were sculptured a few hundred years ago.



It was nice visit but after seeing so many temples already, it was not something special for us, you can say we pretty much "templed out". The live open market nearby the bus station was more thrilling experience though.



Most of our time in Kunming we spent in the room since Efrat got sick, she "refused" to feel better until taking some Antibiotic pills (Yoni had to spend several of hours in the hospital to get it for here). We were lucky enough to meet in our hotel a retired nurse (Lea) with her husband who helped us.

On Sunday, Yoni left the "room of sickness" and spend a wonderful time alone, walking and wondering the city's Sunday markets and live shows in the local park.



The train to Guilin city is taking 18 hours and from there - another 1 hour bus to Yangshou (our next destination).



Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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20/5 - Turupan

Hi All,

Turpan is an old city with a long history. Traces have been found of humans living there, dating as far back as 6,000 years ago.
Turpan means 'the lowest place' in the Uygur language and 'the fertile land' in Turki. Lying in the Turpan Basin, the elevation of most of the places in the area is below 500 meters.
This is the city with the lowest elevation in China and the second lowest in the world, after our dead sea.
The city, which is also known as Huo Zhou (a place as hot as fire), is the hottest place in China.
The main attractions here are actually outside the city, therefore we rented a taxi for a full day to cover most of it.



The Ancient City of Jiaohe:
One of the world's architectural wonders hides in Yarnaz Valley, 10 kilometers west of Turpan. Like a willow leaf, the ancient city of Jiaohe with a history of 2300 years lies between two rivers on a loess plateau atop a cliff of over 30 meters. One of the largest, oldest and best-preserved earthen city in the world, Jiaohe is 1,650 meters by 300 meters at its widest; with an area of 220,000 square meters.
Along its great history, this city was destroyed and re-built several of times.





Astana Ancient Tombs:
The tombs which are located 42 km southeast of Turpan city were the public cemetery of the ancient Gaochang residents, both aristocrats and commoners. Among the excavated 456 tombs, the Gaochang king's has not been found.
A slope of over 10 meters long leads down to the chamber. The chamber is 2 meters high with a flat ceiling or a dome. The dead are placed on an earthen or wooden bed in the back of the chamber.
In one of the tombs we saw 2 mummies, owing to the arid climate, the relics are very well preserved; dumplings are the same as today's, and the mummies stuffing is as intact as it was when fresh. Murals with vivid pictures of humans, animals, flowers, mountains, and rivers decorate some chambers.





Tuyuk Village:
In this Oasis we walked around, once again we interact with the friendly locals, learning a lot about their simple and interesting lifestyle. The houses in the village are built from red bricks and brown mud, their entrance doors are colorfully painted.
Here you can find many Vineyards and small streams.





Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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16/5 - Karakul Lake

Hi All,


Karakul Lake (in Kirgiz: "black lake") is located approximately 200km from Kashgar. At an altitude of 3600m, it is the highest lake of the Area, Surrounded by mountains which remain snow-covered throughout the year.

The lake is popular for its unreal scenery and the clarity of its reflection in the water, whose color ranges from a dark green to azure and light blue, all of these can of course be seen in a sunny day, which we were not lucky enough to get it, but it was still impressive.





For us, the highlights for this trip were the road that lead to the lake and a visit in the village.
The way passes through yellow brown desert, high altitude mountain pass and impressive rivers. The village old lifestyle can be seen once in a while, some of the mountains were look like the red mountains in Eilat region, it was unbelievable to drive along the vast sand dunes 2 minutes after leaving the snow landscapes.

On the way to the lake:




We visited Kirgiz (ethnic minority) settlement along the shore of Karakul lake, it is build with stone muddy houses.

The local Yurt (a big tent) was quite experience to sleep in, the temperatures over there was extremely cold during the night but we were OK.

Karakul Village:




Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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14/5 - Kashgar

Hi All,


On the way ...
Before we start writing about Kashi, let us tell you a little bit about the "lovely" 25 hours ride to here.
We booked for a "luxury" bus which includes sleeping bunks, it was a nice surprise to notice that the size of the beds are no more than the average adult Chinese height which means 150 cm, the width was about 45 cm. To make us more "comfortable", the beds were built in a diagonal way, the upper part of our body had to lay on a 30 degrees up, after a few hours on a bumpy vehicle, your ass kills you. At least we heard a loud Arabic music through almost the whole journey.
The scent was very "pleasant", it seems that nobody really care about a non smoking bus, and the fact that everybody has to take off their shoes made us feel even "better".
There was no Toilet inside, we almost didn't drink through this journey, they will not stop you for a break no matter what., except for lunch and very late dinner (01:30 AM).



We told ourselves, this is our last long distance bus we take here in China.
At least we can say we had the experience for taking this adventure.

Kashgar is a important hub on the Old Silk Road,a vibrant Islamic centre within Chinese territory. It is the largest oasis city in Chinese Central Asia and 90% of its population of over 3,000,000 are Uygur (an ethnic minority). Kashgar's importance derives from its stratehic position at the foot of the Pamir Mountains, commanding access to the high glacial passes of the Silk Road routes into Central Asia, India and Persia.
It has a history of more than 2'000 years, along this time it has been remarkably mentioned with its trading atmosphere.



Id Kah Mosque:
The Id Kah Mosque in uyghur language means Square of festival, Typical Uyghur structure, regarded biggest in China, located in the center of Kashar, it was built here first in 1442. For us it was a disappointing place, like the rest of chinese popular attractions this one was renovated as well. We couldn't enter inside because of the prayers.

The Old City:
Kashgar's old city is famed for its warren of stone streets, teetering, multi-storied mud houses, and lively commerce, parts of the city have been torn down, but the core of it remains and will likely continue to do so.
The town is located at a precipitous position with mud-thatched buildings densely built one atop another. Numerous small lanes crisscross the town and reach every corner of it. Inside the town, are those hundreds-year-old, most of which are two or three-storyed simple architecture. Usually, each house is equipped with a staircase leads to the building top. Some architecture is dilapidated which seems to collapse at any time.



Generaly:
This is the China that isn't China. In fact, there's little about Xinjiang's sprawling and inhospitable western region that resembles the Middle Kingdom (central Asia). Residents are predominantly Uighur Muslim, peppered with Kyrgyz, Kazak and other minority groups living in an area of mostly desert and mountain ranges.



Kashgar stimulated our senses, with its combinations between old and new (tall building next to the old city), unique faces all around, delicious different food, and of course the open spaces markets.





Unlike much of China's natural beauty, the region hasn't been devastated by the nation's growing tourism machine – though there are signs that is changing.

Sunday Market:
Every Sunday, people come from the surrounding villages near Kashgar to buy and sell their wares. The town multiples in size and the crowds are clogging the streets. Recently the town council has constructed a covered market, but there is still chaos to be found.
In the past this place had an important roll along the silk road traders, now it is a huge market but not very unique and different than any other small street market you can find in Kashgar city.



The livestock market was much more impressive for us. Traders from all around gather 10 km away from Kashgar, buying and selling Horses, Sheep, Camels, Cows, Donkeys and more.



Once again, we shared some nice experienced moments with Tal and Amit.

Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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12/5 - Urumqi

Hi All,

Urumqi is the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur (a Turkic people of Central Asia) Autonomous Region and the most 'inland' city in the world. With a population of two million gaily-dressed ethnic inhabitants, the city is likened to a piece of emerald embedded at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains.

We came to visit this region because here you can see a different China, since the borders with - Tadzhikistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kirghistan, Mongolia and more, are not very far from here and therefore there are minorities ethnic groups make their living here.
We never seen so many variety of unique faces, which makes the walk along the streets here very interesting.

Tourist resources of Urumqi have its own advantages and distinctions, which are strategically important in the ancient Silk Road that assembles the cultures of both eastern and western countries.

The flight from Beijing to Urumqi took about 4 hours, it went by very fast, at the plain we got to know a Chinese young woman named Gaolina, we spoke though the whole flight and had a nice time together, later on we met again in the food market .



The local food here is somthing that worth to mention, it's combination between Chinese and Arabic food is very interesting. so you can see noodeles, steamed Dim-Sams come together with the familiar Pita, Humus, Shishliks and more.

Making Pita Bread in the streets:


Tian Chi (Heavenly Lake):
The most famous tourist spot among the numerous cultural relics and natural landscapes include the Heavenly Lake (Tian Chi) which is located 110 km east of Urumqi.

This crescent-shaped lake deserves its name, Pearl of Heavenly Mountain (Tianshan Mountain). With melted snow as its source, Heavenly Lake enjoys crystal water.
Heavenly Lake, a relic of the Quaternary Period Glacier and its surrounding geological relics, offers science lovers exploring opportunities.

It is very unique to see this beautiful lake in the middle of the desert, with it's snow high mountains.



In this one day tour we met another Israeli couple - Tal and Amit. We spent a wonderful time together.

Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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9/5 - Beijing

Hi All,

Beijing or as we call it - The Renovated city (every thing need to be perfectly fixed for the Olympic games), is the capital of People's republic of China, with it's 17.5 Million people you feel like a small dust in the wind, and here you can be assure to inhale some dust alright.
After a long journey by train from Hong Kong (25 hours) we arrived from one crowded city to another but nevertheless you feel here more calm. Generally we found people here are more friendly and smiling than HK, from the first glance it seems very vulgarian while many people spit everywhere, from childhood 'till elderly, smoke all the time and push their way into the busy subway.

traveling here is not easy like what we have been use to, the language barrier become more relevant than ever, most of the people can not understand English, those who does, speak very poorly. No doubt we proofed our pantomime increasingly recent days, and the bad news, it is going to be worse in other parts of China once we get out of Beijing ...

Temple of Heaven:
The Temple of Heaven is a worthwhile visiting place in Beijing. It is much bigger than the Forbidden City and smaller than the Summer Palace with an area of about 2,700,000 square meters. The Temple was built in 1420 A.D. during the Ming Dynasty to offer sacrifice to Heaven. As Chinese emperors called themselves 'The Son of Heaven' ,they dared not to build their own dwelling,'Forbidden City' bigger than a dwelling for Heaven.
The Temple of Heaven is enclosed with a long wall. The northern part within the wall is semicircular symbolizing the heavens and the southern part is square symbolizing the earth.
At last we had the opportunity to explore a little bit the Chinese history and culture in that place, and we found out that the more you explore the more you realize how complicated and interesting this culture is.



Tiananmen Square:
Located at the center of Beijing City is Tiananmen Square (440,000 square meters), where we visited Tiananmen Tower, Monument to the People's Heroes, Great Hall of the People, Mao Zedong Memorial Hall and see the national flag raising ceremony. Thousands of people come to the Square every day.
At the north end of the Square is Tiananmen Tower, built in 1417, the Square was the front door of the Forbidden City.
The granite Monument to the People's Heroes is just at the center of the Tiananmen Square. Built in 1952, it is the largest monument in China's history.
Mao Zedong Memorial Hall is at the south side of the Square. This Hall is divided into three halls and Mao Zedong (head of the communist party) body lies in a crystal coffin in one of them.





Forbidden City:
The Forbidden City was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Rectangular in shape, it is the world's largest palace complex. Surrounded by a six meter deep moat and a ten meter high wall are 9,999 buildings. Construction of the palace complex began in 1407, It was completed fourteen years later in 1420. It was said that a million workers including one hundred thousand artisans were driven into the long-term hard labor.
It was called The Forbidden City because during 500 years the entrance was not allowed for the non royal people, well, you can say that in the past an entrance fee had been terrible death, but now it's "only" 60 Yuan (30 Shekels).



The Great Wall:
The Great Wall of China, one of the greatest wonders of the world, was enlisted in the World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987. Just like a gigantic dragon, the Great Wall winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus, stretching approximately 6,700 kilometers from east to west of China. With a history of more than 2000 years, some of the sections of the great wall are now in ruins or even entirely disappeared.
To the great wall and Qind Dynasty tombs we took an organized Chinese tour. a big mistake !!!
before seeing the wall, we had to visit other "tourist places" - commission factories. these places manufacture all kinds of tourist gifts with very high prices, the tour company get the commissions for bringing us to shop, we didn't give a damn about shopping anything that day, we just wanted to climb the great wall already. Only at 14:00 we started the real deal, that didn't give us much time to spend in the tombs and the wall, the operator rushed us all the time, we felt like going back several of years to our military training time. It is worth to mansion the Chinese tourists were acted like robots during all the trip and played along this blackmail. The lesson learned - No more Organised Chinese tours.







Today we have a flight to Urumuqi in west of China, it's almost 4 hours flight and we are suppose to arrive to the farrest city from any ocean in the world.

Since we already filled up all our storage in picasa web album, we had to open a new account, for extra storage, so from now on, all the new photos will be at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/yoni.efrat

Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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3/5 - Hong Kong

Hi All,

The concrete monster tall buildings welcomed us in the gateway back to Asia, wow, it was 6 month ago since we left this part of the world, and now we are back on our way to explore China.



Worse than Sydney, worse than Auckland, this busy metropolitan showed us how stress life can be, we feel so tiny here among the endless crowed and huge buildings, Hong Kong seems to be a one giant Shopping center with thousands of thousands of people rushing restless from a place to another like there is no tomorrow ...



We start our journey here on the wrong side of the road, after 12 hours flight we got serious jet-leg, but we couldn't catch up with the sleeping after we found out we have to change our plans for the trip. The Olympic Games which are suppose to start this summer in China messed up almost every aspect of the journey here, apparently the Chinese don't want so many tourists to come inland so they started to strict the rules for visa for foreign passport holders.
Now we have to present our flying ticket out (which we didn't have and needed to go to EL-AL offices) and we can apply for only 30 days visa, that means we have to spend our month in China, cross the border to Myanmar (Burma) and come back for another 1 month to China.



We are staying at a place called Chungking Mansion in Kawloon district, the cheapest rooms in Hong Kong and you can understand why when you get here, everything here is so narrow and small, our room looks like a tiny cube - bed with 4 walls, the toilet and shower are approx 1 square meter long and the feeling here is sleazy.

We got a little help with "KEHILAT ZION" - Jewish community which is funded by Jewish businessmen, we felt a little bit like home, when we arrived they celebrate Pessach second holiday, a nice refreshment to suddenly eat Matzot and Hummus.

Victoria Peak:
Known as Hong Kong's most conspicuous landmark, The Peak is also the residential yearning of most of the population. It is located on Hong Kong Island, and tourists usually go there by tram (small cable train) during sunset time.
Victoria Peak is a good location to view its night scene. Being 554 meters above sea level, Victoria Peak is the highest point within Hong Kong and occupies the western part of the island.
When it gets dark you can view Hong Kong's big buildings lightened with variety of colors, that's something to wait for.





Big Buddha:
Also known as the Tian Tan Buddha, it is the world's tallest outdoor seated bronze Buddha (34 metres tall and weighs 250 tonnes). The statue is located near Po Lin Monastery and symbolizes the harmonious relationship between man and nature, people and religion. It is a major center of Buddhism in Hong Kong, and is also a popular tourist attraction.



Science Museum:
We spent a whole day in this interesting place, it is wonderful place for kids who would like to expand their knowledge about electricity, magnet, the human body, energy producing and much more, also adults can learn some few things with examples and interactive games of the issues.



We are on our way to Beijing now, our train suppose to leave at 15:15 PM today and we will arrive to the capital 25 hours later, it has been a while since we hop on a train in Asia ...

See you in China...

Have Fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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