Uzbekistan: Epic Islamic architecture, asshead police officers, bikers and more vodka.

"I love going to new countries and trying out the McDonald’s." - Mandy Moore, on the essence of traveling.

"Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - John Eldridge

*****

TASHKENT
It took about 6 hours in a share taxi to get from Osh to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. After numerous checkpoints and demands of 'passport please' and our driver stopping on the outskirts of the city and trying to extort more money from us to take us to the center, (and after we threatened to get out and flag down a marshrutnoe (minibus) and the lady traveling with us giving him some lip), we arrived at our B&B, a nice, small place run by a woman named Gulnara. Tashkent is a leafy city, with tree-lined boulevards, wide avenues, and even a metro system. I've mentioned before that all the stations are themed, although it is forbidden to take photos in them as they were designed as nuclear shelters (note to self: when the nuclear threat becomes a real possibility, take the next flight to Tashkent and camp out in the metro). Although Tashkent has a very rich history behind it, it is largely of Soviet design as an earthquake in 1966 leveled it and the city was rebuilt. It is quite a relaxing city, with lots of parks, fountains, and places to eat, serving both Western and local fare.

$100 in Sum.

Continuing the theme of weirdness on our Central Asian adventure, the Uzbek monetary unit is called the Sum and its highest denomination is 1,000. With the exchange being 1,200 Sum to the dollar, you can imagine the wads of cash we received when we changed $100, especially when the money changer we used only had notes of 200 Sum denominations. The above photo gives you an idea.

Statue of Amir Timur, Uzbekistan's version of Genghis Khan. His statues are littered throughout the country.

A beer. In the park. With fountains all around.

SAMARKAND
On the advice of a traveler we met in Tashkent, we stayed at Bahodir's B&B, an extremely welcoming place that offered communal dinners for a dollar extra. It was at these dinners where we met other travelers, and slowly realised that of the 10 or so people staying there, only three of us were not bikers. There was a group of Germans on motorbikes, and a number of individual pedal bikers, including a Japanese fellow who started his journey in Portugal. Perhaps the most interesting was Rob Lilwall, who started his journey two and a half years ago in the Siberian winter with his friend Al Humphreys. Another biker we met in Tashkent, Lindsay Hill, just had his bag stolen in Bishkek, with his passport, camera, mp3 player, credit cards and a little cash gone with it. Lovely.

Samarkand is famous for its epic Islamic architecture, most notably the Registan and Bibi-Khanym Mosque, once the biggest Mosque in the world.

The Bibi-Khanym Mosque from outside.

The Bibi-Khanym Mosque from inside.

BUKHARA
The highlight of our trip to Uzbekistan in my opinion, Bukhara really feels like an old silk road town. Narrow, dusty alleys wind their way throughout the city, and just when you thought you were lost you would walk out right in front of a huge Medressa. Bukhara was a major part of The Great Game (a book by Peter Hopkirk that I've recommended before and I'll recommend again. And again. And again.), and to see landmarks such as the infamous 'bug pit' that two British officers called their home before they were beheaded in front of the Ark. Nowadays to be a 'whitey' in Bukhara isn't as perilous as it was back then. Carpet shops are everywhere, and artisans ply their trade outside their shops, interrupting work when someone goes inside to take a look at their wares.

The entrance to the Ark.

Inside the Kalon Mosque.

Inside the Kalon Mosque looking out, with the Kalon Minaret in the background. They used to throw people to their death from the minaret in the old days.

The entrance to the Kalon Mosque.

The Kukeldash Medressa, and the Taqi-Sarrafon Bazaar in the background.

View of the Mir-i-Arab Medressa from the Kalon Minaret. And yes, I will be framing this one.

Another view of the medressa from the minaret, with some of the town in the background.

KHIVA
We had heard that Khiva was a squeaky clean museum town now catering to bus-loads of tourists on day trips from nearby Urgench, but I didn't care. Khiva was the most notorious town in the Great Game (the Khan's favourite method of torture: impalement, where victims would take up to two days to die), and I had to go there. No exceptions. And I did enjoy it. We managed to avoid the $10 entrance fee to get into the old town from some advice given to us by a German cyclist we met in Samarkand, staying with a nice family in their home, which had excellent views of the Juma Minaret. When all the buses had left and it was dark, I liked to wander around the old town, with the historic old buildings looking both sinister and grand in the moonlight, and the town itself full of activity with kids running around and families sitting and conversing to each other. I would put my hand over my heart, give a slight bow and say 'salam aleykum' to all the elders, which never failed to bring a smile to their faces.

The next day I began my journey 'home'.

The Juma Minaret with the colourful Islom-Huja Minaret in the background.

A view through the doors of the Mohammed Rakhim Khan Medressa.

Peek-a-boo.

Kalta Minor Minaret and Mohammed Amin Khan Medressa (now Hotel Khiva).

Another view of the Islom-Huja Minaret.

The Last Boast - Part 1: China

"Your major is traveling." - Marjory, my friend Wayne's cousin.

*****


BEIJING
Beijing is pretty much the city built around the center of the Universe: Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The whole city is based around these monuments. And for a city with half the population of Canada (and this is 2005 statistics), it is remarkably spread out. Wide avenues, giant buildings, and grandness on every scale. And it is all currently under construction (estimated date of completion: the 2008 Olympic Games, which I guarantee will be spectacular).

Lazy day in the park.

Beijing breakfast: steamed dumplings and warm soy milk, all for $0.50.

The Temple Of Heaven was under renovation last year (but we still paid full price). Now its open to the public (and we still paid full price).

XI'AN
For a city firmly on the tourist trail (Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai are the Big 3 of China), it still feels quite quaint. I knew this place would be awesome when I stepped out of the train station at 5am and was greeted by a massive wall and its North gate, which surrounds the 'old city'. This year, though, we arrived at the more civilised time of 8am. Because I had been here before, I spent time trying to find the friends I made on my last visit. One of them was Bill, my Muslim homie, whom I had befriended when his mother asked me to help her son practice his english. Bill is 10 year old, and is quite a genius for his age. I bought him a Vancouver t-shirt, which he politely declined until he had his mother's approval. I managed to find his mother's store, which has since halved its original size (one side convenience store, the other a bubble tea shop - delicious). He took us to the local park where we played catch on the jungle gym and had races down the slide (yes, two 26 year olds playing catch and racing down a slide with a 10 year old kid). His mother then treated us to the best dumplings we had on our trip, made fresh in front of our eyes.

Bill was not the only friend I made last year. I also met a number of university students more my age when I found myself stuck in Xi'an for an extra night because the train I wanted to Shanghai was full. Alex, Daniel, Jack and Helen befriended me on the bus to Hua Shan mountain, and we climbed it together from 11:00pm to make it for sunrise. We meet them again at their university, which is quite impressive. They treated us to kebab with all sorts of weird yet wonderful meats, before taking us to the 'musical fountain,' which as wussy as it sounds is actually wet, chaotic and loads of fun (Rayner Recommended).

Biking around the wall of the old city. This is one of the gates of entry.

Bill, The Yone and myself in the park. And yes, corrupting the innocents with my Flatbed t-shirt.

XIAHE
Xiahe is the most important place of pilgrimage for Tibetans outside of Tibet. It is also major stop for nomads wishing to stock up on supplies. It is an interesting contrast between three distinct groups of people: the Han Chinese, who look, well, Chinese; the hardy Tibetans, who live on a windswept plateau at 16,000 feet and the nomads. It wasn't an uncommon site to see Tibetans prostrate themselves around the monastery, which took me about an hour or so to walk, which is a testament to their religious beliefs. We did a day trip to the grasslands, seeing a few small sites along the way (and yes, all of them did have entrance fees). The highlight was a monastery, which we didn't actually see, instead being invited by a monk into his quarters for tea and tsampa, a Tibetan delicacy made out of barley flour, yak cheese, yak butter, and hot water.

Outside our guesthouse: shoesmiths apply their trade.

Tibetan doors. Mikey likey.

The monastery.

Goats hanging out.

LANZHOU
This was more a place where we found ourselves for 8 hours before our train left later in the day. It is a strange place, located in the center of a valley, and spread out thin throughout it. We bid our time by walking around it, seeing the famous Yellow River (tick), taking in a few performances in a park, and playing a few games of pool on the street, and finally settling into a beer garden right in front of the train station. It is also worthy to note that the people here were extremely friendly.

Pool on the street, with some young fans.

JIAYUGUAN
A lonely outpost that marks the Westernmost point of the Great Wall, Jiayuguan is truly in the middle of nowhere. Just desert and mountains.

Lets play a game called 'Shoot the Mogul invader.' I'm 2 for 3 so you better watch out.

Jiayuguan fort.

DUNHUANG
A prosperous tourist town where my first impressions were that it looked like a Chinese Las Vegas (more for all the lights than casinos, of which there were none), we entered late in the night after our bus broke down on the way over. It is most famous for its caves, which showcase the development of Buddhist art from the 3rd century onwards (if you received a postcard from me, this is where the paintings on it originated from). The caves, impressive as they were, wasn't the only reason we went to Dunhuang. Just outside the small city there is another attraction just as impressive:

Fricking Huge Dunes Of Doom

Hell yeah!

My little friend.

"Hello. My name is Yonatan and I am a turd. Look at me. Weee!"

Going down a dune - easy work.

Going up a dune - two steps forward, one step back.

TURPAN
The center of grape production in China, Turpan was the first stop where we didn't feel like we were in China anymore. We were constantly tormented by a Mr Arkin Mehmet, who wanted us to go on one of his tours and seemed to find us whenever we were eating. How many times do we have to say no!?!?!?! We ended up hiring a taxi for a fraction of the cost, and he was extremely happy to take us, shaking our hands afterwards with a big grin on his face. We bought some local wine and tried the soft icecream sold by vendors on the street.

Jiaohe ruins. Planet Of The Apes set?

The Yone tries a new desert swimming technique.

URUMQI
The furthest point from the sea on earth, Urumqi is the last real Chinese city we visited. It is big, pulsing and like any other Chinese city, constantly under construction. In this case, the main artery through the city was all but closed off, ripped up and being reconstructed. Its like if Sukhumvit in Thailand or Georgia Street in Vancouver were closed off in their entirety. We used Urumqi as a base to see Tian Chi, or Heavenly Lake, staying at the Xinjiang Fruit Group's flagship hotel.

Yoni gets down and dirty with his ice cream sundae.

The furthest place on earth from the sea.

Heavenly Lake. Looks like Banff.

The Temple at Heavenly Lake. Yoni likes stairs.

KASHGAR
After a 24 hour train ride we arrived in Kashgar, in time to see its world famous Sunday Market. This place does not look like China, and there has been an active separatist movement to make Xinjiang province into its own separate entity (much like Quebec in Canada). But the Chinese government no likey, and for a place as far West as you can get from Beijing, it has one of the few remaining Mao statues standing loud and proud upon its pedestal. We sampled pigeon kebab, wandered around the Sunday Market and old town, and watched all the activity outside of the mosque at sunset, with children running everywhere with blow-up balls, playing catch , and generally living life.

The Mosque - the center of Kashgar.

The Sunday animal market. Apparently a goat goes for $20.

The daily Sunday Market, not to be confused with the weekly Sunday Animal Market.

Taking a donkey taxi through the old town.

The Chairman Mao, ridiculously out of place in Kashgar.