| Home | Map of Route | Silk Road Report Sep 2006 | Rachel album Sep 2007 | Rachel album May 2008 |

2-20 SEP 2010 (19 days) China's Silk Route Urumqi to Xian
Cost Rm5600 (per pax for 12 pax group), Rm5550 (14 pax), Rm5400 (16 pax) & Rm5300 (18 pax & above)

Update 22 July - We will have one more day in Huashan due to flight connection. Hence the trip cost revised accordingly for extra night at Xian. Trip is FULL

Update 18 May 10 - We are sorry but we are FULL. If you don't mind going on "wait-list", email/call Rachel.

Update 10 April 10 - We have good response for this trip are collecting deposit for confirmation now. Traveling date may vary a day or two, depending on the actual flight schedule, which is still not known.

Update 26 October 09 - September is super peak season for Silk road trip. As such, kindly CONFIRM your seat for this "most" popular Yongo trip. Please email rachelheng123@gmail.com 012-3520868 for registration

IMPORTANT NOTICE
This is meant to be a "free and easy" adventure trip. Participants should be relatively fit, with a good sense of humour, and above all, have the right attitude for close travel with others through possibly some trying times. Most definitely, this is not a trip for prudes, whiners, fuss-pots, and other similiarly assorted types! We had a couple of those before and it wasn't pleasant for us or them. Although every effort will be made to stick to the given itinerary, ground conditions may change and cause some disruption and/or deviation from the norm. Otherwise, have fun!

    
Stay in a Kazakh Yurt in Tianchi

Uighur Xinjiang is quite likely the least “Chinese” part of China , and this is where we begin to run through the gamut of sites and landscapes that has seen likes of Marco Polo and others of his like! We traverse the snow-capped pine-clad mountains of Tianchi, and the next will be in the giant sand dunes of Dunhuang, past the miraculous grape oasis of Turpan in the middle of dry and hot nowhere! Han China looms with the so-called end of the Great Wall at Jiayuguan before ending our silk road sojourn in Xian, visiting the Tibetan towns of Xining & Xiahe. All in all, a fine adventure, but certainly the journey will not be smooth as silk!

We hire buses most of the way and have three overnight trains (soft sleepers 4 pax per compartment) that will save us traveling time. We stay mostly budget hotels except for 2 nights in Tianchi Lake. Here accomodation is very basic and we sleep in Yurts or Mongolian Tents near the water's edge, pictured above.

Day 0 KLIA Thur 1 Sep 2010 11PM: Meet in KLIA at 11PM for past midnight flight 0230AM. No need to take this day off from work.
Day 1 KLIA: Fly KLIA on Shenzen Airlines flight ZH9086 to Shenzen leaving on Thursday 2 Sep 2010, at 0230AM and arriving 0610AM. Connect to ZH9843 to Urumqi at 0855AM arriving 4PM. We stay near the huge Wuyi night market and will spend the rest of the day eating and shopping. Overnight (ON) Urumqi.
Day 2 Urumqi: On this day we use the convenient public buses to move about in Urumqi. This leaves members the option to skip certain places and also to come back earlier. We visit Remnin Peoples Park to view hundreds of residents participating in various morning exercise routines. Later we visit the touristic Hongshan Park and the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Museum. We spend the rest of the day at the Erdaoqiao Ethnic Market and the Grand Bazaar. Great eating available at the numerous Uighur restaurants. Overnight (ON) Urumqi.
Day 3 Tianchi Lake: On to Tianchi Lake 120 km 2.5 hrs to begin a 2 day stay in a Mongolian tent or yurt. Arrive in the early afternoon with time enough for to walkabout the lake area aka as the Swiss Alps of China. Simple Kazakh meals are provided. ON Tianchi. Note that these are local nomadic residence and sleeping/eating arrangements are very basic. But warm thick blankets are supplied. Yurts sleeps up to 10 pax. Many past Yongers are of the opinion that this is one of the highlights of the trip with unbeatable sceneries.
Day 4 Horse Trekking Tianchi: A full day on horseback riding to a viewpoint and lunch stop. Cost of horse for te day Y100 (Rm50). We'll have great views of the pine forest, icy streams and the Bogeda Feng (Peak of God). ON Tianchi.

   
Horse trek Tianchi Lake / Horseman baby boy at Tianchi / 67 years old trekker up Flaming Mountains

Day 5 Turpan: After breakfast, we bus to Turpan 400km 6hrs, also known as the grape capital of China. We should arrive in time for a visit to the Karez Wells and the nearby Jiaohe ancient city, a UNESCO site. ON Turpan.
Day 6 Turpan: We'll start in the early morning to climb the 1,308 steps up to the top of Flaming Mountains with great views of Tianshan mountains and Turpan Valley. There are some grape vines ares below this same mountain. Then we move back to Turpan to browse the colourful Uighur market. Free and easy or we can go to visit the local Village. We then drive on the train station at Daheyan 40 min for the overnight train to Dunhang departing at 10pm. ON soft sleeper train.
Day 7 Dunhuang: We arrive at 830am and we'll spent some time browsing the interesting Dunhuang local market. After lunch we make our way to the UNESCO listed Thousand Buddha Caves at Mogao. We will have some free time in the evening going back to the markets to enjoy the local food. ON Dunhuang.
Day 8 Dunhuang: The sand dunes of Minshashan or Singing Sand Mountains are best visited in the early morning. These are the highest dunes in China. Bactrian camels rides are popular with tourists to move about this pretty desert area but walking is cheaper and better for photo-taking. We lunch in town and in the afternoon, we have the option of hiring bicycles (cost Y10) to visit the surrounding farms and villages. ON Dunhuang.
Day 9 Dunhuang/Mengke Glacier: We bus to Mengke Glacier 280km 4hr. On the way we will visit the Yulin Buddhist caves, a sister cave to Mogao. The Touming Mengke Glacier is the largest valley glacier in the Qilian Range located in Subei County Gansu Province. Its rated the 6th most beautiful glacier in Chinese National Geography book.Those less physically inclined are encouraged to walk as much as they are capable of and enjoy the wonderful mountain scenery. ON Guazhou.
Day 10 Guazhou/Jiayuguan: We bus to Jiayuguan 385km 3hours and visit Jiayuguan famous Fortress located at the Western end of the Great Wall of China and the Xiuanbi Changcheng or Overhanging Great Wall. We also visit some Wei and Jin Dynasties Tombs, built some 1700 years ago. Located some 20km from Jiayuguan, it is famous for its brick wall paintings depicting scenes from everyday life from tea-making to silk production. Later we check into Jiayuguan railway station to catch the 11pm overnight train to Lanzhou. ON soft sleeper train.

   
Trek up Glacier Jiayuguan / Cycling at Xian Gate Wall / Climbing Huashan

Day 11 Xining: We arrive at Lanzhou at 7am and travel 4hr to Xining. We visit the nearby Ta'er Si Tibetan Monastery, noted for its extraordinary sculptures carved out of yak butter. Expect crowds of local tourist at this popular site that is one of six main Tibetan Temples in China. ON Xining.
Day 12 Xiahe: We start the day early to enjoy the scenic drive to Xiahe on part of the Qinghai Plateau. This less-frequented route is dotted with quaint and pretty Muslim Hui and Tibetan farms and villages. The rolling high altitude grasslands with flocks of yaks and sheeps are especially pretty. ON Xiahe.
Day 13 Labrang Monastery: A full day to visit Labrang Tibetan Monastery that is reputed to be more Tibetan than Tibet itself. We'll have adequate time just walking around and taking in the atmosphere. After the lunch, we bus to Lanzhou 4hr. ON Lanzhou.
Day 14 Lanzhou: We visit the banks of the Yellow River and its water-wheels and sheep-skins rafts. We also visit the White Pagoda Hill and all that will take us a good part of the day. We take a couple of rooms to freshen up and rest before our 1040pm train to Xian. ON soft sleeper train.
Day 15 Xian/Hua Shan town: We arrive at 630am at Xian and visit the Unesco's Terracotta Warrior and will drive to Huashan town for next day climb. ON Huashan town.
Day 16 Hua Shan Mountain: This is a full day tour to one of five scared mountains in China, located 120km from Xian. There are some scary climbs up chained platforms. There are also cable car rides available for the regular tourist. ON Xian.
Day 17 Xian: We will visit Shanxi Provincial Museum in the morning and afternoon then free rest of day include Beimenyuan night market at night.ON Xian.
Day 18 Fly Home: We have a couple of hours for final shopping before going to the airport for flight ZH9085 to Xian at 1800PM.
Day 19 Home: Arrive KLIA at 130AM early Morning on 20 Sep (Mon).

  
Monks in Labrang Monastery / Tibetans in Xiahe

    TERMS AND CONDITIONS
    1. Cost cover airfares, accommodation, bus and rail transport.
    2. Accomodation will be in budget hotels and guesthouses. We also stay 2 nights at basic Yurts or Mongolian tents in Tianchi Lake.
    3. Airport transfers and inter-town travel by chartered bus and local train is covered.
    4. Not covered are China visa fees Rm58, airport taxes & fuel surcharges (current Rm550), meals except for Tianchi Lake, in-town taxis, extension hour for the room, entrance fees, bicycle hire and horse trek in Tianchi. Note that entrance fees in China are HIGH and expect to pay more than Rm600 for the numerous places we cover on this extensive itinerary. The one day where we move about in Urumqi by public buses/taxis is also not covered.
    5. Simple meals is provided in Tianchi Lake. You can get meals by with Rm30 per day for the balance 15 days totaling Rm450.
    6. A deposit of Rm1009 is payable to confirm your place.
    7. Cost is subject to change if there's a significant changes in foreign exchange rates and airfares.

    Email: rachelheng123@gmail.com or yongo@streamyx.com
    Phone: Rachel 012 352 0868
    Phone: Yong Lee Min: 016 220 9033 or 603 4023 8210
    Mail: 19 Lorong Air Bersih Tiga, Air Panas, 53200 Kuala Lumpur