Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. - Cyril Connolly
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Itinerary
Well, I think I have a final itinerary completed for China, with some time left to relax or to catch a sight we didn't fit in along the way. I'm just waiting for final confirmation from a tour operator in Xi'an, and I'm good to go.
Day 1: Travel from Baltimore to Beijing
Day 2: Arrive Beijing, get to apartment, relax, have dinner
Day 3: Guided walking tour of Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City in the morning, afternoon free for other sightseeing.
Day 4: Day Hike through a village in the countryside outside of Beijing. Views of the Great Wall and rural village life should be great.
Day 5: Temple of Heaven and a walk through the Hutong neighborhoods of Beijing in the morning. Maybe a visit to 798 SPACE - the hip art gallery community of Beijing in the afternoon.
Day 6: Fly to Xi'an and tour the Terra Cotta Warriors and the Great Mosque. Attend an evening performance of Tang Dynasty music.
Day 7: Tour the Shanxi Museum in Xi'an, see the City Walls, and fly back to Beijing in the evening.
Day 10: Free to explore the Olympic venues and prepare for the Silk Road.
Day 11: Fly to Dunhuang and visit the Mogao Grottoes in the morning, visit the Crescent Lake in the Gobi Desert in the afternoon - ride camels in the sand dunes of the Gobi at more than 400 feet below sea level. Take the overnight sleeper train to Turpan.
Day 12: Arrive Turpan. Visit vineyards in the morning and tour the ancient desert city of Jiahoe, from the Han Dynasty. Dinner and hotel in Turpan.
Day 13: Drive to Urumqui from Turpan through the Flaming Mountains. Visit the museum in Urumqui, have lunch and board a flight across one of the largest deserts in the world, the Taklamakan Basin, to Kashgar. Arrive Kashgar in the evening.
Day 15: Drive to the world's highest alpine lake in the foothills of the Himalayas; Lake Karakul. At nearly 10,000 feet above sea level, it promises beautiful scenery in one of the most remote places on earth.
Oh, oh, I would have gone. :) Remember me next time. haha