Here is the map of our 2009 summer route.
We’ll be putting up some more material in the next few days and weeks related to the trip. The next text will be about the Sichuan and Chongqing towns of Pingle and Songji. This will be followed by more information about Yushu and the area around. We took so many photos that it is taking ages to sort through them.
Just a quick visit this time, to keep withdrawal symptoms at bay. We entered China from Thailand by boat, floating along the Mekong River between Myanmar and Laos. Basing ourselves in Jinghong, we set out to explore the area of Xishuangbanna in more depth than we had done in 1991. Unfortunately, some of our plans to venture further along the Burmese border were dashed by torrential rains and collapsing roads. We left China via Menglun and Mengla and entered Laos, for a five-week, North-to-South crossing of that charming country.
Starting from Nanchang and the white lovely villages of nearby Wuyuan we embarked on a cross- China route to Tibet. On the way, we took in the Holy mountain of Heng Shan in Hunan, the fascinating Longhorn Miao people and the impressive Maling Gorge in Guizhou, as well as the Tibetan villages of Zhongdian and Deqin in Yunnan, in the area known as Shangri-La. We then spent three amazing weeks in Tibet, visiting innumerable monasteries in and around Lhasa, such as Sera, Samye or Ganden, before taking the famous new, high-altitude train back to Beijing. Still not tired, we made a final excursion to the town of Zhending, renowned for its temples and pagodas, and the magnificent Cangyan Shan, both in nearby Hebei province. [Read more →]
1990 / 1991
On our first China trip, when foreign visitors could be counted on the fingers of one hand, we entered China from Pakistan on a rickety old bus that followed the Karakoram Highway and crossed the Khunjerab Pass. The Kashgar Sunday Market was our first, unforgettably exotic, ‘Chinese’ experience. We then loosely retraced the Silk Route all the way to Beijing. Next, we swung back towards Central and Western China, using local boats, buses and trains. Highlights such as Lijiang, Dali and Ruili were totally unspoilt and utterly fascinating. After nearly 6 months we left China via the Pearl River on a night boat from Guangzhou to Macau.
