Preparing for adventure

Brady Fotheringham
Contributing Writer

IE you've ever thought
of taking a trip through
Asia here’s a list of
things to do and places
to avoid.

> China

Area: 9,560,900 square km

Population: 1.2 billion

Language: 70% Mandarin,

Cantonese (some English in

larger cities)

Religion: Taoism,

Confucianism, Buddhism,

and Islam

People: 93% Han, (Uyghurs,

Kazakh, Kyrghyz,, Tajiks -

Xinjiang Province)

Currency: $1 CDN= Y6.03

YUAN

— Planning Your. Trip:

Things to Remember — crime

is on the rise, but not a big
robiem yet;
ravel Advisory Warnings -

none (Xinjiang Province
puis = room reservations
a visa will be issued
and: Tibet requires alotof .
. paperwork but it’s getting
easier. every month).
When To Go -
(best | weather and not too
‘owded)

> ised in i week at the
Varicouver Consulate
— Fiirther Information:
Guidebooks’ -— China The ...
Ge Guide, Lamely Pi Planet

: se (Peter Honk
yeling
er,

To Xian (ion
ond f

= Pad Wild Siam Gang .
Ch chang); Loe Hears of Arte “

spring & fall’ *”

(Colin Thubron); Travels of
Marco Polo Vols 1& 2 (Marco
Pele} - by the man himselt,
Bitter Winds (Harry Wu);
The Great Game (Peter
Hopkirk) - Soviet /Britisl:
rivalry; Riding the Iron
Rooster (Paul Theroux) -
train ride of the century;
News From Tartary (Peter
Fleming) - [an Fleming’s
brother's account of 1930s
trek; Red Ching Blues (Jan
Wong) - Globe & Mail jour-
nalist’s compelling insider
story; Forbidden Mountains
(Vivien Lougheed) - Prince
George woman’s personal
account.

> Beijing

— Getting There:

By Plane — China Air (flights

weckly); Canadian (flights five

times 2 week)

By Train (within China) -

book first class or else you

will have a very sore bum!

By Bus - (don't even try it for

long trips - I was in a sardine

can non-stop for 36 hours in

the desert at 45C)

Places to Fat’ and Stay Bei

Lodgings - Top End (Beijin

pena Y860-Y1380); 8

Middle End (Tiantan

Hotel Y650); Bottom End

(Tiantan Sports Hotel Y300
re t place) — all rooms dou-

ie occupancy

Restaurants - McDonald’s

(great for watching cat fights

amongst the locals)

Hard Rock Café (great local

’ bands and last chance to

rge yourself in Western
food before immersing your-
selfi in the best cuisine in the

world)
— Things To See And Do:
Forbidden City; Great Wall of
China (Badaling nearest sec-

_tion 2 hours away); China Art

Gallery; Tiananmen Square;
Great Hall of the People;
Summer Palace.

> ~
— Getting There:

By Plane - direct flights from
Urumgi (Xinjiang Province)
on ageing Soviet military

planes -

By Train ~ none

By Bus — see above unless
you want to take a 1,000 km
trip out of hell and a 10-year
visit to the chiropractor

= Places to Eat and Stay:
Lodgings — Seman (pro-
nounced Sa-man) old Soviet
Consulate (Y120-180
w/bath)- Chini Bagh Hotei
old British Consulate (¥32-
52 dorms)

Restaurants — John's Café
(awesome French fries -
where all the Westerners hang
out - fax machine plus
phone); any of the Uyghur
Muslim cafes will liven up
your palate

Campsites — only the desert
Things To See And Do

Id Kah Mosque; Abakh Hoja
Tomb; Sunday Market
(biggest i in Asia 200,000
people}; Mao Tse-tung statue
(1 of only 3 remaining in
China); Kara Kul

Lakes (1/2 days drive by
bus/jeep in the desert at the
foot of a 25,000-foot moun-
tain - under a full moon
worth the entire plane fare
alone - nothing ltke sleeping
under the stars with nomadic
herdsmen, camels, Himalayan
size peaks with sand dunes at
the bottom)

> Pakistan
Area: 803,940 square km
Population: 122 million

age: Urdu, Punjabi,
: Sindh

ushtu, English (no

prot roblem communicating)
figion: Islam
Currency: $1 CDN= 28 Rs
(Rupee)
~ Further Information:
Guidebooks — Lonely Planet
Karakoram Highway, Lonely
Planet Trekking in the
Karakoram & Hindu Kush
Reading ~ Forbidden
Mountains (Vivien.
Lougheed); Lost Horizon
(James Hilton) - don’t go
until you read this classic;
lovers of the Western

Himalayas 1820-1895 (John
Keay) - great for the wekkers;
Daughter of the East (Benazir
Bhutto); Into Thin Air (Jon
Krakauer) ~ what can I say

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the man’s a writing and
climbing god; Himalayan
Passage (Jeremy Schmidt);
Dansiger’s Travels ( Nick
Danziger) ~- incognito during
the Afghanistan war with
Soviets Planning Your Trip
Things to Remember -
malaria pills, dress in tradi-
tional shalwar qamiz if female
in Northern Areas, this coun-
try is dirt cheap.

Travel Advisory Warnings —
Pakistan Kashmir out o!
bounds

When To Go - Karakoram

See Asia page 28

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