Kyrgyzstan: Jun 14 - 27

Irkeshtam - osh - bishkek - osh

Homeward Glances

Sometimes it's the closing in that makes you realise how far you really are.

We had raced from the border with a brief stopover in Osh. The first leg was in a hatchback so crammed we took turns lying on our panniers with feet dangling out the rear, the second in a rack-equipped stationwagon where the comfort of greater sprawl space was offset by the looping mortality song of tyres screeching around blind descents at 130 km/hr.

Xinjiang: Jun 13

Ulugqat

Blind Deaf Justice

Well at least Dheiu no longer has to worry about coming up short if a conversation turns to talk of pushing the Chinese deaf around.

Here's the exchange as a montage. Cue The Benny Hill Show's 'Yackety Sax' for full effect:

Xinjiang: Jun 2 - 12

KASHI

Uyghur Please

Kashi sits in the far northwest, nestled against the Taklamakan Desert in the Xingjian Uyghur Autonomous Region. In its Silk Road heyday merchants converged on this oasis city from Central Asia and China on heavily-loaded, slow-moving caravans.

Xinjiang: May 23 - Jun 1

URUMQI

Why is a Chicken Like a Chinese Train?

After a certain point it can start to feel like travel might just be about practicing your nod in different timezones.