Tributaries

Have figured out that on this "cruise" it's best to position yourself early and strategically
for a plate of food. The mad rush at the small ballroom entrance meant it was arms and
elbows time to get any kind of eating done.
With the Victoria Cruise line boat docked next to us for the morning we had a chance to
peeping tom our way into their cabins and discern the finer side of water travel with hotel
size rooms and flat screen t.v.'s and food for all tastes. Can't complain though, we got what
we paid for which meant it was more about the sights and less about the accommodation.
Transferred to another boat for a tour of one of the tributaries. This was actually better
than expected because the haze (humidity) finally cleared and the bluer skies allowed more
than adequate viewing of the sites. As instructed we had to use our Chinese imagination to
picture some of the more popular rock formations (sleeping beauty, mushroom etc.)
There was also the constant reminder of how many people had to be resettled because of this
Three Gorge Dam project and of the benefits and trials for those forced upstream or up the
mountain.
Later that afternoon back on the big boat we had just as spectacular scenery through another
of the gorges on the sun deck. 5:50pm now, so the rush for 6pm dinner begins. Time to wrestle

Tributary

Gorge

People actually farm up here

Out the other side

back to the main river

Even more impressive 175m ago

Cutting edge

The rivers cut deep

Temple run

Missed breakfast. Always a brilliant start to the day. First tour, that of the ghost city was
an early start at 830.
Finally
an English schedule was posted which confirmed I would be hungry for a while.
We made it up all the steps to the temple, along the way greeting some of the many taoist
gods. A special stop along the way to pay homage to the god of wealth and opposite, the
god of health. They go hand in hand apparently. Then off to the depictions of hell and
torture captured in claymation used to encourage good behavour in the quest for salvation.
Back down the hill to some lunch and an afternoon of not much else. Key lesson for today
was that all the constant haze that was obstructing our view of the temples was actually
due to the high humidity and not any kind of pollution...Tell tourists anything!!!

God of health

God of wealth. Hand in hand

Can't see through the humidity today!

Things are clearer up close

Yangtze Downstream

On the waterfront

Made it to Chongqing without issue. Didn't realize just how huge this city was until you start
driving through it. The pollution wasn't too unexpected though. It's called fog city but smog
city is entirely more appropriate. Can't know which census to believe but there were
34 million inhabitants here in 2007. Wild estimates and projections make a figure today
unreliable but you get the idea of BIG.
Had some snacks and took some pics before we set off at 9pm. Rooms are a tight fit but
comfortable. We came a bit early so they were still doing turnover. Maybe we'll see the
English printed schedule later on...Maybe not.

You can make out the bridge somewhat

Actually not a bad waterfront site

Back in Beijing

Tired of being in Beijing now. But since they haven't yet opened Tibet we have
to reroute and find something to occupy our time for the next 5 days. After some quick
thinking we settled on a Yangtze river tour. One last hurrah in China proper before moving
on...
Will have to deal with this later. Can't concentrate right now at this noisy airport hotel which seems to kiss the runway. We can just about make out the passengers coming in.

How best to start a fight

Toured around the city for a day before our flight back. The dinosaur museum was definitely
worth it but at the other end of the city, paying a ridiculous amount to go into a supposedly
free temple was a waste of time so we took our outside pics and ran.
Walking back down the street for dinner minding my own business, a guy just walks up to me
and plucks my hair. There's curious and there's stupid. I was about to pull the six hairs on
his end to see how he liked it when his wife started apologizing as he walked off looking
into the sky as though nothing happened. Better to let it slide than answer questions in
a Mongolian station I figure. The best part is that Jeanna saw none of this. Bless her heart
the hollering and screaming that could have followed would definitely have ended us up in
a cell somewhere, she on the phone with Jimmy Carter or Robert Gates begging to be saved, me on
the phone to my family asking for last rites!
Then there was the other guy who punched me in the shoulder. Couldn't figure out if he was
kidding or serious. Let that go too. Why bother?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keeping calm

'Click and run' victim

10 Days no Shower!

Because you're not exactly prancing around in bathtubs when it's this cold it was nice to be back at the hotel and get some water on your skin. The layer of grime that develops over time is almost as extraordinary as the sensation of seeing your limbs again for the first time in ages!

Best grapes ever?

Went past the very large salt lake and made good ground back to the city. We were excited
at the prospect of a freeway again to take the jagged edge off our journey. Seems we were
duped though because the freeway back into the city consisted of a many potholed and sometimes
incomplete roadway. You had to laugh. Cars looked like they were warming up their F1 tires
moving side to side as snakes in a slow motion game of chicken. You had to laugh.
Back in the city went to the supermarket for some supplies and because of a missing leading
'1' on the price tag, I ended up purchasing some pretty expensive grapes. We enjoyed those
as if they were made by the gods themselves in fields of gold.

Huge deposits of salt

Sunset shadow boxing

Ended the day at a camp. Walked around and enjoyed the setting sun splayed out among
the rocks. Last night out in the Gobi.

Whatever you want it to be

Top of my own world

Perfect sunset to leave the Gobi

Pancake rocks

Left our family. They even gave us one of their album pictures. Too nice really.
Up north we head again. Lunch at a 'restaurant' along the way and marvel again that there
really is no difference between the roadway and the offroad.
Found the interesting set of rock formations and had some time to get out of the jeep again
and stretch our legs.

Walking weather while the jeep is tended to

Off road or on road?

On road or off road

Enjoying the afternoon sun for once

Snow lunch

After wiping the camel snot off my coat we were off again.
The 10K hike through Yolin Am didn't materialize because there was no way through the more recent snow that
had fallen. But it was a warm day so finally had lunch in the outdoors again.
Spent the night with another gracious family.
Braved the cold again for a 2am excursion. Even more stars in the night sky than before. Brilliant!

No time for a ride only a sitting

Can finally stretch our legs again

The kind ones

Probably was the same way for baby Jesus

Down from the mountain, too cold for tents, can't find a ger whaddya do? Drive around for a
bit until you run into a small farm and ask for shelter. Thankfully they had another hut
nearby but we would eat first before moving on. Think the driver was tired though because
he persuaded us that those would be long hard kilometers in the dark so we should just sleep
where we were. Unfortunately where we were was a small hut with a family of 5 and about 20
sheep all cozy and together. As far as traditional goes, there is nothing more to the limit
than this night. This would be Jeanna's limit. No wise men on this night but again can't
fault the family that took us in all smiles and hospitality. The constant baa baa through
the night in your ear just made it a bit difficult!

Near the manger

All the baby sheep

Nothing to do but hunker down

Queen of the Gobi

After another indoor picnic we had the good fortune of running into two more crazies just
like us that decided it was a good idea to forage around in the wilderness. We can't all be
stupid so we must be doing something right.
Caught a look at some rare wild goats later that afternoon and finally made it to the sand dunes.
I think the plan was that we would find our ger for the night and then head off on a dune hike.
Because our guides couldn't find any ger nearby nor farby then they encouraged us two to
head off up on the dune and enjoy a climb -  "code for we can't find any accommodation that is
actually supposed to be here in winter so go frolic while we try to make some secret calls
and figure out where the hell we stay tonight"in the end occupied ourselves with
a brisk walk up the hills. I faltered near to the top, just couldn't get the traction right.
Jeanna however high stepped her way to the top and then slid down it like a theme park. Views were
spectacular.

The things they use for altars these days

And then we were three

Can't find our ger so let's take pics

Trick of light and?

Her titanic moment

shadowboxing. More timewasting

Fastest way down

The little Jeep Wrangler that could

Started off at the red cliffs and headed further south. Doesn't make sense complaining about
the cold anymore because no one is around to hear you go numb. Experienced the joy of
an underground well that wasn't frozen though which was a welcome sight. Halfway through the morning
ride on a persistent route to make one of the passes we found ourselves stuck for the first
time in a bit of snow. Half an hour later we were out...and then in another hole 5 minutes after.
That Jeep she's a keeper but sometimes even the best have to say no. So we did the roundabout
route and headed out into the open plain.

The well that wasn't frozen

Red hills

Standing firm

The whiteness

The concerned onlooker

More shoveling awaits

A tale of two Pee's

Thus far on this adventure it's always been a case of go to the bathroom just before bed
and right at dawn once the dung fire gets burning. The good and bad thing about the facilities
is that they could be a bit of a walk from the hut. Not to beat a dying horse but temperatures
were not conducive to night trips out in the open. But on this night I could bear it no longer
and at 3:21am I stepped out into the frostbite, 1..2...3! Air was still night was quiet,
moon was out and nothing was around. There were stars EVERYWHERE. The solitude was unbeatable.
This was one of those life moments by yourself soaking up what the world had to offer.
Went back inside happy as taffy, two swigs of water and back to bed.
6:40am - Damn those two swigs. Had to head back out again. This time I was slapped around
by wind with no stars and nothing fun to experience. Learned my lesson.

Another nowhere ger

Another nowhere toilet

Middle Gobi

The day began with some good news about relatively warmer weather to the south where we were
heading. Happily off to search for water but this particular well had runneth frozen.
Again meterology fails us at such crucial junctures. This can't be a good sign.
Felt bad for our host but he didn't seem perturbed as this was
probably a regular occurrence so with heartfelt thanks we were on our way again.
Headed into Erdenedalay to catch the temple and....well nothing else really.
This is appropriately the middle of nowhere nearby. How the driver keeps finding these places
using his head and not via GPS (the scarcity of landmarks hours at a time makes giving
directions useless) still causes us to scratch our heads.
This being the season of birth we were fortunate to catch sheep along the way giving birth
real time. The less pictures of that the better for you all.
Lunch again inside the Jeep no questions asked.
We seem to be leaving the snow behind now and there are just pockets of ice. Except that
there seems to be a blizzard ahead which combined with the lack of road signs or any indicators
makes for the perfect whiteout! The camels don't seem to care though. Advantage them.
Grinded it out the next couple hours and did the usual knock and barge our way into a ger.
(That warm weather never materialized)
Thank goodness for nomads. Our tents have yet to see daylight or lay on tundra.
Dinner and more snuff. Sniff, sniff, pass.

now i have a long cold walk ahead

the gloves we should have had

This is actually a road

paying respect

when the weather was still good

The camels who laugh at us