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Overland
  • Lauren Braithwaite
Feb – Apr 2015

Overland

A 74-day adventure by Lauren Read more
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  • Lauren BraithwaiteOverlandLauren Braithwaite

    Mandalay

    March 11, 2015 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Well, Mandalay is not quite as exotic as it's made out to be. In fact it's a dusty, dirty, polluted, busy, smelly grid of streets. And it's pushing 40 degrees (the picture below sums up the mood in the mid-afternoon heat). But it grew on me as the day wore on. I didn't bother with the main touristy things such as the hill and the palace but instead went to see the world's biggest book at the Kuthodaw Paya (picture below). 729 text-inscribed marble slabs, each in a little stupa, together represent the 15 books of the Tripitaka, the three baskets of Buddhist teachings. The rest of the day has been spent walking between the post office and DHL trying to post a Burmese Harp. Still no success.Read more

  • Lauren BraithwaiteOverlandLauren Braithwaite

    Kunming

    March 12, 2015 in China ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Third time in China and it keeps getting better and crazier each time. Having checked into the hostel, I went for a walk through Green Lake park (feels like a smaller version of central park) before dinner and came across a group of musicians playing by the water; erhus, madolins, violins and singers, all with their own portable microphones. I was in heaven. I stopped to listen and after a while they invited me to sing... I gave them 'the turtle dove', something stereotypically English and they worked their way around it. We did some other songs too. I shared dinner with Ben, an Aussie on a bike, who approached me whilst I had my head buried in LP looking for the restaurant road. We decided to share dinner and went to a local chinese and had a wonderful evening of talking about life, decisions and travelling.
    Friday the 13th was a write-off. I had hoped to go out of the city to visit some hills and set out to find the bus. I got on the number 5 and after an hour (and going past where I got on) it reached the terminus where I was to swap to number 6. I couldn't find it and by this time I was over it and with no Mandarin, I couldn't ask for help. I wandered to the museum to find it closed, and then tried the art galleries which had been knocked down. Feeling exhausted after 5 hours I went back to the hostel and had a snooze. 4 weeks on the go, it catches up with you.
    That evening I went back to the musicians and took a Chinese flute I had bought. I gave it a go but was rather shy and was struggling with working out keys. But they appreciated the effort. I found the expat bar for dinner and met loads of people who over the evening filtered in. It was a bit of a cliche club and a few were a little odd and full of themselves.
    This morning I headed back to the park. There ia such a community atmosphere there, it is just a blissful place to be. This time i was to try my hand at tai chi. Literally dozens of small groups just congregate in the park and set up with a little stereo. I just joined onto one and when they finished, I joined another. It was ao realxing in the warmth of the spring sun with blossoms floating from the trees.
    I explored the Yuantong temple which was rather beautiful before checking out of he hostel. On the way back from a coffee, I walked through the park (again) and found hundreds of the locals dancing crazy dances to crazy chinese music. I watched for a while before plucking up the courage to join in. Many were dressed in traditional costumes. By the end we were all dancing round in a huge circle. Thankfully the routines were quite simple. Now I am at Kunming Railway Station waiting for the overnight train. A big adventure given everything is in chinese!    Read more

  • Lauren BraithwaiteOverlandLauren Braithwaite
    1

    Lijiang

    March 15, 2015 in China ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C

    One word - Disneyland. Lijiang Old Town had been somewhat ruined by the consumerism of tourism. The old cobbled streets with rickety wooden buildings are an enchanting place to walk around in the early morning... But then the glittering souvenir shops and tour operators open their shutters and the picture is ruined. They even sell Djembes here as a special thing... Wrong continent.
    Feeling a little disappointed by the place I went to see if I could find some other people at the other youth hostel (mine was empty) but got lucky halfway there. Enter Kevin and Briony from Sydney with whom I would spend the next three days having A LOT of fun.
    We lunched, we walked, we took photos. Then we had dinner (after I got horrendously loet looking for the Irish bar) before an early night ready for the big trek the next day.    Read more

  • Lauren BraithwaiteOverlandLauren Braithwaite
    1

    Tiger Leaping Gorge

    March 17, 2015 in China ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the deepest Gorges in the world and has a famous trail to tackle. The bus dropped us off at the beginning and the driver pointed vaguely up a dirt road. Eager to begin, Kevin, Briony and I marched off. The scenery to begin with was rather uninspiring but we soon left behind the town and started ascending the mountains. The morning was hard; we were laden with water and the sun was beating down on us. A sherpa followed us, waiting to see if we wanted to hire him and his donkey to take us up the hill... No chance. At lunchtime we stopped at Naxi guesthouse and devoured a cold drink abd noodles. By this time we had acquired Lee (from Singapore) and the group became four. The afternoon was much more pleasant; shaded by trees we meandered along the cliff edge chatting and taking in the spectacular views. By five we made it to Tea Horse Trade guesthouse and called it a night. We showered off the caked-on dust, watched the sun set from the rooftop and shared a meal before bed.
    The next morning we continued on deeper into the gorge now looking down onto the Jinsha river. We stopped for morning tea at Halfway guesthouse which has a loo with one of the best views ever, as Michael Palin claims in his book 'Himalaya'. I had to investigate and yes, I agree.
    On the way we saw some great sights including farmers with their goat herds and little goat kids running behind. We reached Tina's guesthouse (the end of the main trail) by lunch and explored a bit more of the gorge although the wind had become ferocious by now. We got the bua back to Lijiang in the late afternoon, tired but very contented.    Read more

  • Lauren BraithwaiteOverlandLauren Braithwaite
    1

    Lijiang

    March 18, 2015 in China ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    Celebrating St Patrick's day in style at an Irish Pub in China. After successfully completing the gorge trail we attacked all boissons Irish; Bulmers, Guinness, Baileys and, because it's green, absinthe. On the way out I thought I had been struck by the hallucinogenic green fairy as there was a huge white furry llama standing in front of me. Thankfully it wasn't a vision but the real thing. We had a photo together.
    Last day in Lijiang was spent avoiding the tourists. I took the bus to Baisha, an ancient town to the north. Here I met Dr. Ho, a legendary Chinese Herbalist who treats patienst for free and has been the subject of many international documentaries. He's also had a visit from Palin too. The evening was very exciting for me as I was going to a concert of the ancient Naxi orchestra. Every aspect of the performance was old; the music (dating back nearly 1000 years), the instruments (one was a relplica of a 2000-year-old string instrument), and the performers (most were in their eighties and kept dozing off). It was fantastic to see so many players on the stage although the thud of the music from the clubs during the silences was a stark reminder of how the modern world is taking over...    Read more

  • Lauren BraithwaiteOverlandLauren Braithwaite

    Lanzhou

    March 19, 2015 in China ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    Not a terribly exciting day although Ellen on the bus did help me with my Chinese. I can now count to ten and vaguely ask to go to the train station. Essential vocabulary in my case.
    Lanzhou is a very industrial town; a forest of lego-like high-rises emerge from the lunar landscape. This was the start of my silk road adventure, onwards to Dunhuang on the night train.Read more

  • Lauren BraithwaiteOverlandLauren Braithwaite
    4

    Dunhuang

    March 20, 2015 in China ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    An oasis town and once an important hub of the silk road, Dunhuang has little left of its historical character. However, out of town lies a wealth of fascinating sites.
    Arriving at the train station in the dark, cold early morning, I was greeted by a wall of taxi drivers all competing for passengers. Behind them dozens and dozens of old volkswagons were lined up, nose to bumper. I found a driver and he led me to his car... Now, how were we going to get out? There was a lot of impatient shouting and manouvering of cars through tiny spaces until we were free.
    In the morning I explored the Mogao caves; over 700 buddhist caves built into the sandstone in the Gobi desert. I found another westerner (German man) and we had a tour together. The frescoes and statues inside were inredible and so we preserved given many are over 1000 years old.
    Later, I went to the sand dunes where the original oasis is. The chinese have managed to give it a slightly theme park air to it but once I had scaled the first dune (via the stairway to heaven), the views were incredible. I even joined a group of chinese to do a tandem rubber ring down the other side, flying through the sand very fast. For dinner I tried donkey which, if you're wondering, tastes like roast beef.
    The next day I took slowly and spent the afternoon sitting on the rooftop of the Silk Road Hotel with Tess and Francesca, a mother and daughter team who are cycling the Silk Road. Very admirable. They are lovely, interesting people with many stories to share.    Read more

  • Lauren BraithwaiteOverlandLauren Braithwaite
    4

    Turpan

    March 22, 2015 in China ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    Turpan - death valley of China. At night it is freezing cold but by day the weather rivals that of a hot British August afternoon. I arrived at the train station after another overnight train to a mob of men shouting aggressively 'Tulufana, Tulafana!', which in is the local word for Turpan. The province of xinjiang (where the rest of my time in China will be spent) is home to a minority called Uyghur, part of the Turkic ethnic group. They speak Turkic based language and they write in Arabic script. They are very conservative muslims so the women wear headscarfs and the men muslim hats. They don't look Chinese; more Turkish or middle eastern. It is a strange sight.
    I picked a taxi driver from the crowd and waited 45 minutes for the car to fill with other passengers... This involved doing some mainies of the station road shouting 'Tulufana!' out of the window. The landscape is grey and desolate. It is nearly 9am and the sun is only just rising; the whole of China works officially to Beijing time but over here they have 'local time', two hours behind to account for the discrepancy with the sun's movements. It makes organising events a tad confusing.
    I hired a bike from the hostel (where I was the only guest) and set off to explore the old parts of town. Due to the arrid climate of Turpan, houses are made of mud and ancient ruins can be found all over. The streets are lined with people baking naan bread, frying samsas (meat dumplings) and carving up animal meat which hangs off racks. Mosques are everywhere. The best part of cycling round the town, however, was admiring the ornate gates of peoples' houses, hiding a secret world of courtyards. They were fascinating; bright colours, intricate patterns and floral carvings.
    Late afternoon I went to the Emin Minaret. I was a little peeved at the $9 entry fee but when I went in there was a festival taking place. Turpan is known for growing lots of grapes and during winter they bury them underground. Today was the day they dug them up and it was heralded with traditional music and dance. I was in my element as I absorbed the thunderous drumming and shrill cry of the shawm-like instrument. One of the dancers dragged me up to join in. I guess that's what happens when you're the only white person in town...    Read more

  • Lauren BraithwaiteOverlandLauren Braithwaite
    1

    Kashgar

    March 24, 2015 in China ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    After a long overnight train I arrived in the incredible city of Kashgar. Here, the majority of people are Uighur and of Islamic faith. The food and architecture a very middle eastern inflenced. Walking through the old town gives you a fascinating glimpse of a time gone by with people cooking bread, welding door knockers, turning wood and chopping up sheep... As for the latter, I can tell you that they place the sheeps heads on the pavement...
    Along the street you can also sample pomegranate juice and freshly churned vanilla ice cream. They have got the right idea these people.    Read more

  • Lauren BraithwaiteOverlandLauren Braithwaite

    Osh

    March 28, 2015 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    Here's a story about how to get from one ex-communist country to another.
    First, get on a sleeper bus with thirty odd chinese men. Warning: you will be required to squeeze on to a bed the size of a match box (three rows, each two story).
    Drive through beautiful mountainous scenery and arrive at Chinese border. At this point your passport will be taken from you with no indication of when you will be reunited.
    Proceed through customs and immigration; perservere with the argument you will have with chinese immigration that, as a British citizen, you do not require a Kyrgyz visa.
    Drive 150km to Kyrgyz border. Wave at the camels and donkeys on the way.
    Arrive at Kyrgyz border. Wrap up warm as it's cold and there's snow on the ground.
    Enter Kyrgyz immigration hut. Don't be put off by the 7-foot tall Kyrgyz policeman dressed in full army attire with a Russian fur hat. Just smile, and when he smiles back, admire his full set of gold crowns on his upper teeth.
    When asked by immigration (in Russian accent) 'do you speak Rrrrussian?', reply in your best home counties accent, 'I'm so sorry, I don't' and look innocent.
    Hop back on the bus. As the bus climbs higher into the mountains and the depths of the snow drifts exceed 2 metres, don't be alarmed, and hope that snow chains will soon appear.
    Snow chains don't appear and ice and snow cover the road. Panic. Bus swerves a lot. Panic a lot.
    Night falls and the bus goes very slowly. At this point you will stop for dinner in a small conrete building where one man feeds the masses with scrambled eggs and bread. It will be the best scrambled eggs you've had.
    Sleep until your arrival at Osh at 2am. If you have made the mistake of trusting lonely planet and are expecting to arrive in the cold light of day the next morning, feel free to panic again as you figure out what you will do for accomodation.
    Finally, enjoy your stay.
    Disclaimer: all of the above is truthful and factual information based on the experiences of one young traveller who thought she could get across the world with no foreign language skills.    Read more

  • Lauren BraithwaiteOverlandLauren Braithwaite

    Bishkek

    March 29, 2015 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☁️ -3 °C

    Let's play a game - spot the Lada! They are everywhere and seem to be the automotive brand of choice for the police force. So USSR. Today it started snowing and tomorrow the "high" is -6. I intend to spend the day at the Iranian embassy; I do hope it's centrally heated.
    Staying with a Kyrgyz family. It's a guesthouse and I am the only guest (staying true to the name) and their hospitality is quite unbelievable. They invite me in for dinner, make me tea and Guiliya the grandmother has been sharing her many stories with me. We think she should write a book. I am glad to be staying for a few days here.
    Kyrgyzstan is a fun country. Please take a moment to look at the hat below. No lie, this is what the men wear about the town. It's like something out of Noddy. However, they are made of felt and fur-lined so incredibly warm in this cold weather.
    Ruth - I found a vanilla latte. Unfortunately, you weren't with it.    Read more

  • Lauren BraithwaiteOverlandLauren Braithwaite

    Bishkek

    March 30, 2015 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ 🌫 -9 °C

    Miriam - schnee! And lots of it.
    It has been below freezing for two days here in Bishkek, plummeting to a painful -13 yesterday morning.
    The post office is very old fashioned. A giant map of the world adorns the main wall and it even had a sewing machine behind the wooden counter. Parcels are wrapped in brown paper and then tied with string. The address is then written on by hand.
    Iranian visa collected this afternoon. Only took three months to arrange...    Read more

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