Scouting Ahead to Lanzhou

It's 9:30pm in Wuwei, Gansu and I am typing from my hotel room! Unbelievable! This very moderately priced hotel comes with a desktop equipped with Internet in every room. China is moving up!

I have come and gone from Dunhuang, a place where I could see myself spending more than a day. Despite the high traffic of foreigners to see the Mogao Buddhist caves and the sand dunes, the town is quite clean and charming. In fact many of the cities we have been through have been surprisingly unpolluted and clean. As I approach Lanzhou, this will certainly change. The towns are already developing a slight haze to them. This is either actual pollution or my mistaking the interior environment of the bus. *Cough* My fellow passengers enjoy endless packs of cigarettes to pass the time.

I arrived in Lanzhou via Zhangye at 17:00. A mad dash ensued to find hotels before it got too late. By dusk, three were discovered, the last being what I feel to be the best choice. Tomorrow I am off to a very small city (by Chinese standards) named Tian Zhou and then off to Lanzhou tomorrow evening. I'll enjoy one day of rest and then will get up early for a plane ride to ShenZhen and then a hour long ferry ride to Hong Kong.

For those of you who have been following the TDA website you may have noticed that once a week Henry, the tour founder, does a radio spot on a travel radio show. The show is out of California and is hosted by Sandy Dhuyvetter. As it is an American show and our company is Canadian, Henry wanted two Americans to chat with Sandy.

The biggest drawback in being invited is that Sandy likes to do the show live, meaning that our time slot is around 0:30, 8:00 in sunny California. We wait until about 12:30 and then use our satellite phone to make a call into the radio station. Henry, Scott and I stayed up around a campfire (possibly enjoying some libations) passing time before Sandy could interview us. To make a long story short, you can listen to the three of us speak here.

Our last stretch was not much of one. It was a mere three days, with a hotel on the second night, to Jiayuguan. Jiayuguan is known for the Jiayuguan Pass, the largest and most intact entrance to the Great Wall. I went to visit the area, but when I found that it cost 100 kuai for admission, I thought better of it and managed to take a picture from the entrance gate. Although these areas of China are quite inexpensive, the tourist spots are outrageous. The Mogao Buddhist caves were 180 for foreigners, I managed to haggle them down to let me in for the price of a Chinese ticket, only 20 kuai cheaper.

Duncan, Sandra and I took the time to see the Great Wall. The Xuan Bi section, quite a big disappointment. It looked more Disney than Badaling. As we were leaving, I had to laugh as I noticed a sign. It proclaimed that the Xuan Bi section was the "Badaling of the West" They weren't kidding.

The Gansu landscape is quite amazing. At any given moment, there is a staggering, snow covered mountain range to one side. To the other is the most rocky and arid desert I have ever seen. I am happy that I opted to take the day bus, rather than sleeping through this majestic landscape. I'll miss cycling through this area, but for Ultimate, it is totally worth it.

I must say that I am thoroughly enjoying this computer in my room. The computer even has speakers, so I can listen to some smooth online jazz tunes. If I don't turn away from the screen, this standard Chinese room feels like a WiFi hotspot in a hipster coffee shop. However, it is getting late and I need to get up early to continue my pilgrimage to Hong Kong. Three more weeks of tour, with a week off for scouting and Ultimate. So really only two more work weeks until Beijing! I can't wait to get back to the Jing. As always, I hope all is well.

-CB