Urumuqi – Kashgar – Lake Karakul – Urumuqi – Tian Chi – Turpan – Dunhuang – Jiayuguan – Xi’an – Xining – Lhasa – Tsetang – Gyantse – Shigatze – Tingri – Kathmandu – Pokhara trek
Hi Serge, I’ve done most of the catching up on the journey home, so I’d like to have a chat with you.
My first greeting is certainly to thank you for your perfect organisation of our stay. Thanks to your co-ordination and the dedication of your colleagues, we found ourselves travelling through this immense country and all its surprises. We enjoyed every minute of this journey, which could have been perilous, but which turned out to be the fulfilment of our long-held dreams. The three stages – the Silk Road, Tibet and Nepal – were filled with wonder and amazement at so much splendour.
I’ll leave aside the disadvantages of any trip abroad and just mention the immense pleasure we had in meeting interesting, colourful, welcoming and even devoted people. The landscapes were grandiose and the points of interest we had selected all exceeded our imagination and forced our admiration.
The Uyghur country delighted us. The nights in the yurts proved a little chilly, especially the one at Lake Karakul. On the other hand, the one at Celestial Lake was delightful, thanks to the warm welcome and attentive care of our hosts. In Urumqi, Sophie kindly guided us through the museum and introduced us to her cute little daughters…..
The end of the Silk Road was spectacular, with the dunes and the wall. There was one small problem: Meiling, our guide, asked us for a 200 yuan tip. If I add another 100 for the driver, that makes almost 50 dollars in tips per day, which is a bit steep…. It’s a shame because she was our best guide.
On the other hand, I’d like to pay tribute to the dedication and professionalism of Wu Yi, who made us really appreciate the Tibet we’d been dreaming of for so long. He was very present and never skimped on explanations and good words. We could almost apply to become Buddhists tomorrow morning……
Nepal also lived up to our expectations. Too much, in fact, because we had overestimated our strength and struggled to make it up to Poon Hills. We were all the more proud to have succeeded. I’d like to have Olivier’s contact details so that I can thank him for his perfect organisation and give him my comments too.
I hope I’ve given you a good idea of how pleased we are. I don’t think I’ll be going back to your neck of the woods, though, because our old bones won’t let us after we’ve been through the list of countries waiting for us to visit. The fact remains that we’ll always have in mind the marvellous images that were etched there and the sweet memories of brief but warm encounters.
We wish you every success in your endeavours, because you are helping people to discover a country that may seem daunting at first glance, but is full of pleasant surprises when you dare to get close.
Our sincerest greetings and thanks,
Diane and Normand.