Sonntag, 24. April 2011
Day 47: China: Guyuan – Kashgar
One of my typical itineraries these days...
5:45 a.m.: Getting up
6:15 a.m.: Check-out
6:30 a.m.: Breakfast – we get spicy noodle soup with large chunks of mutton
7:00 a.m.: Leaving Guyuan for Yinchuan
11:00 a.m.: Arrival at Hedong airport, Yinchuan. My flight leaves at 15:45 p.m, that of the others at 13:30 p.m. It is too early to check-in my luggage, so I decide to put it into a locker as we still have to meet the director of the archaeological institute who insists to have lunch with us somewhere close to the airport.
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: Lunch in a small restaurant at the bank of the Yellow River
12:50 p.m.: Back at the airport and saying good-bye to the others. Picking up my bag from the locker. Waiting until 13:45 p.m. until I can finally check-in.
15:45 – 18:30 p.m.: Flight to Urumqi. I am sitting next to some strange guy from a village in Gansu who flies for the first time in his life. Did I mention that this guy had an extremely bad breath and that he was almost sitting on my lap as he always wanted to look out of the window? Every once in a while he came so close that I could feel his breath in my ears – I almost passed out! Whenever he wants to start a conversation, he is shouting at me – I am the first foreigner he is talking to in his life. Moreover, German cars and soccer are the best in this world…
18:30 – 19:30 p.m.: Claiming my luggage and changing the terminal
19:50 p.m.: Check-in
20:20 – 22:00 p.m.: Flight to Kashgar. In order to avoid strange conversations on this flight, I decide to read the “Global Times” newspaper. I read the title story on Prince William’s and Kate Middleton’s wedding.
22:00 – 23:00 p.m.: Arrival in Kashgar at 22:00 o’clock Beijing time, 20:00 o’clock Xinjiang time. It is just about to get dark. I am taking the taxi to Qinbakh Hotel, the former British Consulate, and listen to a Uighur taxi driver complaining about the Chinese settling in Kashgar.
23:30 p.m.: Washing clothes, writing some text for the next blog-entry and making a plan for tomorrow.
1:00 a.m.: Going to bed…
Flight over the Taklamakan Desert
5:45 a.m.: Getting up
6:15 a.m.: Check-out
6:30 a.m.: Breakfast – we get spicy noodle soup with large chunks of mutton
7:00 a.m.: Leaving Guyuan for Yinchuan
11:00 a.m.: Arrival at Hedong airport, Yinchuan. My flight leaves at 15:45 p.m, that of the others at 13:30 p.m. It is too early to check-in my luggage, so I decide to put it into a locker as we still have to meet the director of the archaeological institute who insists to have lunch with us somewhere close to the airport.
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: Lunch in a small restaurant at the bank of the Yellow River
12:50 p.m.: Back at the airport and saying good-bye to the others. Picking up my bag from the locker. Waiting until 13:45 p.m. until I can finally check-in.
15:45 – 18:30 p.m.: Flight to Urumqi. I am sitting next to some strange guy from a village in Gansu who flies for the first time in his life. Did I mention that this guy had an extremely bad breath and that he was almost sitting on my lap as he always wanted to look out of the window? Every once in a while he came so close that I could feel his breath in my ears – I almost passed out! Whenever he wants to start a conversation, he is shouting at me – I am the first foreigner he is talking to in his life. Moreover, German cars and soccer are the best in this world…
18:30 – 19:30 p.m.: Claiming my luggage and changing the terminal
19:50 p.m.: Check-in
20:20 – 22:00 p.m.: Flight to Kashgar. In order to avoid strange conversations on this flight, I decide to read the “Global Times” newspaper. I read the title story on Prince William’s and Kate Middleton’s wedding.
22:00 – 23:00 p.m.: Arrival in Kashgar at 22:00 o’clock Beijing time, 20:00 o’clock Xinjiang time. It is just about to get dark. I am taking the taxi to Qinbakh Hotel, the former British Consulate, and listen to a Uighur taxi driver complaining about the Chinese settling in Kashgar.
23:30 p.m.: Washing clothes, writing some text for the next blog-entry and making a plan for tomorrow.
1:00 a.m.: Going to bed…
Flight over the Taklamakan Desert
