We took a marshrutka, a Soviet minibus, out of Karakol. The rundown town faded into the distance, and we were soon knee deep in the Kyrgyz countryside. Dirt roads, tall grass, short trees and fading jalopies. The marshrutka’s driver dropped us off at a handful of huts, smoke from a wood fire pouring out of …
When we had been at the Mogao Caves the day before, a light breeze whisked through the leaves of the trees planted beside the caves. The next day, though, as we were walking into the desert to find a campsite, the wind whipped across the desert hills. Storming out of the red mountains that face …
I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited, but I couldn’t stay away, couldn’t fight it… Adele, Someone Like you If you haven’t read the two previous posts, make sure to check those out here and here before reading this one. We got out of the white SUV and the driver, the pudgier …
If you haven’t already checked out Part I or Part II of this series, take a look at them before reading this post. In the 1990’s, our Tibetan friend had once done the hike we were doing, though it was different. Back then, they had travelled on foot from their village for two days. They …
Continue reading ‘Hike up Maya Snow Mountain – Tibetan Gansu Part III’ »
Note: If you haven’t already read the post about Huazangsi, click here. We were moving up out of the city and on the mountain road by 5:45. Though the sun had not yet risen, light illuminated the brown, scrub-less hills. The air had not quite dropped to freezing where we were, but, in the mountains, …
Continue reading ‘Approach up Maya Snow Mountain – Tibetan Gansu Part II’ »
It was the first time we could see the stars in China. They twinkled lightly above the granite outcroppings that loomed above us in the midnight sky. During the day, we had been sweating on the streets of Xian, but, here at Huashan, the night air was cool and got chillier as we worked our …