K2 I see you

Today I leave for a 5 day trek. It crosses a glacier and ends at a peak of over 5000m with a view of K2.

I would like to say, that how the media has portrayed Pakistan is unfair. There is always a distiniction to be made about the action of a few representing the many. For example U.S. foriegn policy is not top notch in the middle east especially for the innocent people here who get caught up in the "crossfire". Despite this somewhat negative showing for the U.S., many people make the clear distinction that the U.S. goverments actions and people are two seperate entities. No coutry in the world, no matter what its size, shape, or population can be summed up in a label such as "bad people", or "sexest values". America is very diverse when it comes to the people, beliefs, and thinking, and Pakistan is the same. There are areas in the west that are dangerous, where clashes between secular Muslim groups are violent, but this is highly contrasted in the north. Of course the child who screams louder gets the attention, so if the U.S. draws a picture of Pakistan it looks like a dangerous place, with horrible treament of women, and religious fanaticsim. This is similair to maybe some areas of central asia whose only really contact and information about the U.S. involves a war whose reasoning has changed signifigantly since it began. Ultimetly, I feel Pakistan is a great example of something I have learned on my trip. No country in the world is simple enough to be generalized because all people are distinct. Their is never a homogenous hive mind driving the will of a people, even if a governemnt attempts to function in such a manner.

Here is an exprience in China I didn't post while I was traveling. It was the deal breaker in making me feel done with China.

I witnessed a despressing event before I left Chengdu. The hostel I was staying at was located on a great little street. While many of the buildings were in disrepair, they were extremely charming Qing Dynasty houses. The street was in some ways a slum, but housed a good deal of artists, musicians, and cafes. The street impressively had more culture in it than almost every city I had been to, combined. Sadly, the day before I left I witnessed large groups of policemen sweep through the street, destroying laterns, and threating the residents. Following the policemen was a group of contractors surveying the sites of their future mall/appartment complex/office buildings. While the police weren't actively kicking people out of their houses, they were deleiving notice that if people where not out soon they would be forced out. There was complete chaos in the street while residents yelled things like your destroying the last bit of culture in this city, and families sat in the street crying. This has been all to indicative of my experiences in China. Certian landmarks are considered historical, glossed over, turned into almost a disneyland style theme park and then sold to throngs of Chinese and Western tourists. Places outside the complacent consumerist culture of malls are paved over, and destroyed. Everything that is happening now is in fact a less pronounced but more enduring capitalist driven cultural revolution.

This is the difference between China and what I have seen of Pakistan so far. The Chinese government and culture, do consumerism, and materialism better than the U.S. could ever hope to. This is a scary thing with China growing in power and lacking a visible concious when it comes to the environment, minority people, human rights, etc. Paksitan is more like home. People seem to take into account their surroundings and a more long term view of the world, where as China seems a little bit like a child with it's now, now, now, gimme, gimme, gimme, actions. I was told something in Lijang that has really heald true throughout my travels. China is 3% communist, 40% capitalist, and the other 57% is just too poor to care. Don't get me wrong, I loved China, I met many wonderful people, it just came down to the fact that their value system around money became very draining after 3 and a half months.

I'll write again in about 5 days.

Hot damn I can read my blog!

I'm in Karimabad along the Karakoram Highway. The first "town" with internet access since I left Kashgar 2 weeks ago. Here is a recap of my cycling "adventures".

Day 1- This was a very stressfull day, trying to get everything together for the trip. What compacted this already intense day was that things between Caroline and me were breaking down. I tried to talk about it with her, but with no luck. I almost left alone from Kashgar but then decided it might be ok because Dave (www.velodesoie.com) would be traveling with us. When we finally left Kashgar at 3:00, Dave road up on his recumbant bicycle which was a suprise for me. The first 50km to Upal were flat but the last 10 included some rain. Upal was a small town with very minor, but pleasant, accomadations. This day I realized that traveling with a recumbant bicycle is more like a parade than anything else. As you pass through towns, the people who aren't too busy laughing, follow the recumbant for a good distance. After a while its not uncommon to look back and seen 10 children following us, and everybody on the side of the road laughing histaricly. I have enjoyed this immensely.

Day 2- We rode from Upal to the Ghez checkpoint on this day. We stopped in some pleasant Uyger villages, and started to see some amazing moutain scapes along the way. The day ended up being 70km which was a little too much seeing that 35 was starting to move uphill. We arrived at a small house at the Ghez Checkpoint just as it was getting dark and spent the night there.

Day 3- We took a small road to Upper Ghez looking for dried fruit and found a village very untouched by tourism. We decided to spend the day there. Many balloon hats were made and I spent a good couple of hours playing with some disguctingly cute children. The village was maybe the first place where we started to meet people who identified at Kyrgyz (people of Kyrgyzstan). This day I hiked up to an even smaller, very greecian, village, whose beauty rivaled that of Yubongs, and spent time with some extremely kind and beautiful families. That night we slept in tents in some walled gardens.

Day 4- We cycled up through ghez canyon. This was only 40km, but by far the hardest and most grueling day. The canyon was amazing though and our first taste of the Karakorum moutains. We saw a huge rock slide that day that included boulders the size of cars. It really sounded like nearby thunder rolling through the canyon and was close enough to send us cycling. That night we reached an amazing area that looked alot like a tidal flat at the base of some sand dunes. This was in sharp contrast from Ghez canyon and a shock to find when we emerged. That night we stayed with a family of Tajik people (from Tajikistan) in a house that smelled more like goat than I though was possible for anything other than a goat.

Day 5- We cycled 40km to Karakul Lake on our first truly poor road. Along the way I met a man on a motorcycle from Seattle who had been traveling around the world for over 2 and a half years. At Karakul we stayed with a Tajik family in a traditional yurt. The food was good, but some of the area was very touristy and there were clashes between the locals and Han Chinese Tourism.

Day 6- We decided to rest at Karakul for the day. The lake was very beautiful and we had some colorful experiences with locals in Karakul Village.

Day 7- We began cycling to Tashgargan. The first 25 Km were pleasant on good road but I soon realized that the rack on my bicycle had come loose. I didn't have a replacment screw so I ended up having to fashion something simple with an electrical outlet prong and some tape. After 25 km we climbed to the second highest pass on the Karakorum at 4100m. The road was dirt/rock and not so good. When we crested the somewhat dissapointing pass, we found the worst road conditions possible. It turns out that the Chinese are completely rebuilding the road from the pass to Tagarma (40km) so the road that had existed was completely removed. We reached Tashgargan that night at nightfall exhausted. This was when the everything fell apart between Caroline and myself, which made the next couple of days very akward.

Day 8- Foriegners are banned from using internet in Tashgugan so I was only able to watch people play Diablo, and not touch a keyboard. I bought the last of the essentials for the trip and prepared for Pakistan.

Day 9- We had been told, and were therefore prepared, for the fact that we could not bicycle over Kunjerab pass. The Chinese goverment would not allow it, so we were forced to travel by bus over the border to Sost in Pakistan. The day was very intense and the beauracracy was so thick you could walk on it. It took us over 4 hours to get through customs and onto a bus bound for Pakistan. This day was also the most interesting becasue it contrasted so heavily the China and Pakistan people. When we finally reached the boarder, we showed our passports to some very stern and quiet PLA's (peoples liberation army) who then just stood frowning on the bus for 10 minuted before letting us pass. When we finally crossed the border a cheer rang up from the people in the bus and there was a 90% increase in smiling among the people from Pakistan. When we reached the Pakistan checkpoint the bus stopped and out ran a army officer with no shoes on and a gigantic smile. People leaned out of the bus and he shook there hands. After a very short while he stopped looked the at the bus for less than 30 seconds and waved us through. This experience was a very pleasant shock for me. When we reached the entrance of the Kunjerab National Park (where you have to pay an entrance fee), I was grabbed by some jovial park officials who took me to see Leo. Leo turned dout to be a baby snow lepoard who's mother had died, and was being raised by people working at the parks gate. So, I got to hold and play with a baby snow lepoard which was very fun. I also got a little cricket playing in. Finally we reached Sost and found a decent hotel. The amazing contrast of kindness in China and Pakistan is still taking some time to get used to.

Day 10-We stayed in Sost and hiked to a gorgous village on a platua. The people were all Tajik and very liberal. Everybody was kind and there were woman everywhere talking and enjoying themselves. The children we wonderful and some balloon hats were made.

Day 11- Dave and I hiked to some small villages with, again, wonderful people. We were given more fruit than we knew what to do with, and saw some gorgous scenery. This is also the day that Dave and I parted ways with Caroline which was an uncomfortable experience, but ultimetly good for everybody.

Day 12- Dave and I headed for Passu on bicycle. It was 40km but all downhill. Despite this being an easy trip I had a sinus infection and collapsed after just 2 and a half hours of cycling. In Passu we stayed at the Shisper View Hotel which was great. The manager was a fascinating man and it was a quiet place very similair to a french villa. That night I was feeling up to crossing the 800 ft suspension bridge that is famous in Passu. Its hard to describe the bridge except to say that it seems like it came right out of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Day 13- I rested and saw the Passu village.

Day 14- Dave and I cycled 80km to Karimabad. The road was rough, a little scary, but mostly downhill. At one point we found an abondoned ruby mine and went exploring inside. Karimabad is the first signaling of Pakistan. There are Less Tajik people, western food can be found in the resturants, and there are tourists everywhere (western and Japanese).

The internet is extremely slow here which makes doing anything on the web difficult. As soon as I find good internet I will write more which should be in the next couple of days. I'm getting more excited about traveling to India. I will apply for my Indian visa soon when I get to Islamsbad and then take a short trip to Pashwar which is a very safe city near the Afghan Border. Telling people I'm American has been no problem so far and I have had some really good conversations. Pakistan is safe, kind, and very welcoming. I'm very happy to be here.

Lastly, I have an msn messenger account now under username tragicallydorky, soon I will buy a microphone and then I can talk to people if you catch me online.

Hope you are all well.

Yak shimo sez (hello in Uyger)

Just wanted to post this because I've been thinking about it a lot. I just got an e-mail from a friend who lives in Chengdu, but who I met in Zhongdian. They are going to teach english during the spring in Yubong, and would like me to join them for a couple of months. If I accepted and went to teach english with them in Yubong, it would mean two things, one, I wouldn't be back in the states for a total of over a year, and two, I would be in the same place long enough to have visitors. This is a long way off, and dependent on a number of factors, but I think I would really like to do it if I have the chance. For those who weren't around for the beggining of my blog, Yubong is a small Tibetan village on the Tibet, Yunnan border. It has no roads, and can only be reached by a 20km hike or horse ride. If I do end up doing this, I will post an extensive guide on how to reach Yubong from the states.

Also, while I have the chance, I should say that when I start bicycling my posts could become more scarce. They might be wrong, but according to the books and online info I have it looks like internet access will be spaced between 2 and 3 weeks in some places.

Anyways, nothing new in Kashgar.

Three's Company

Caroline and I just picked up another cyclist. His name escapes me, but he's french and roughly the same age as me. This mean I will be traveling to Pakistan with two people from France. He has been traveling for a year bicycling from France to China. I start my trip in two days, its very exiting.

Also, last night I went to hang out with some Japanese friends of Carolines that she had met in Lhasa (Tibet), who happen to be in Kashgar. After we had sat with them a while they said a friend/travel companion, who was at their hotel, would be arriving soon. When he showed up, it turned out to be Hiro, the Japanese man I hiked Tiger Leaping Gorge with. Also, a Korean man we mat at the table that night had been traveling with some french friends of Carolines by chance and was staying with them at a hotel in Kashgar. I have constanstly run into the same people over and over again in my travels. I believe this is a testement to the fact that the pool of people traveling the way I am is not very deep and that they all have the Lonley Planets guide to China.

I'm off to go eat some Uyger food. Bye.

The news in brief

I left Urumqi in a little bit of a rush. This was partly due to the fact that the man running the Hostel I was staying at had a little bit of a freak-out. He decided that Caroline (the girl I'm now traveling with) had offended his wife and decided that he should come and yell at us about how he thought we were trying to cheat him. After Caroline had left in tears, and he finally calmed down, he admitted that his anger had nothing to do with us cheating him and instead was about how Caroline had told his wife that "she wished she could speak English". This situation became a motivating factor in getting out of Urumqi, so the next day we hopped on a bus with our Bicycles.

The bus ride turned out to be 30 hours because one of the tires went flat at 2am, and then an old woman fell ill and looked near death for the last 8 hours. Riding in a poorly air-conditioned bus through the desert in seats made for people much shorter than me for that amount of time was truly a new experience for me.

I'm in Kashgar which is a pretty fantastic place. The bazzar, although not in full swing, is still amazing to walk through. Especially when you get mobbed by small children wanting their pictures taken. One child pulled out my water bottle and just started drinking from it. I ended just giving him the water bottle seeing that he had somehow reached a higher state of filthiness that the other children and looked like happy with it.

In Urumqi Caroline talked me into getting our nails painted with pictures. I got my thumb nails painted with skulls and cross bones and glitter, it looks pretty intimidating. Of course I think that I'll probably take them off before I enter the Islamic State of Pakistan. I also want to get a mohawk, but I think thats going to have to wait too.

I also just realized I will be in Pakistan during Ramidan. That should be really interesting. I guess I'll have to throw away that spandex body suit I bought in Bejing.

Lastly, its been really interesting meeting people in Kashgar. My hotel seems to be a stopping point for traders from Afganastan so I've been mingling a little bit. Everyone seems really nice as long as they think I'm from Canada. Judging by their feelings about American foriegn policy, it would be bad for me to reveal my nationality, although it feels really weird to say I'm from a different country.

I'm staying until Sunday for the world famous Kashgar Bazzar and then I start cycling. I hope everyone is well, especially the people I know living in New Orleans.

Desert in Dunhuang

Tommarow I go to the PSB and attempt to get another extension. That will determine how my trip plays out over the next couple of months. Despite being told by other travellers that its hard to impossible to get a third extension, I am hopeful. I found a bike today. It is a pretty good qaulity moutain bike for 100 US dollars. In the US the same bike costs between 200 and 400 dollars. I am in Urumqi. I will be here as long as it takes to get supplies, and my visa, but then I'm off. My biking partner is named Caroline. She is a doctor from Southern France who specializes in tropical diseases. She seems like a very good match for a traveling partner who I may be spending up to two months with. Its funny, I'm trying to learn Uyger, and remember the french I learned when I was younger, so conversations have slid in and out of Mandarin, French, English, and Uyger over the last two days.