Yearly Archives: 2016
stairway to meteors
Today saw me falling out of bed at five. There was an idea behind this: I wanted to snap pictures of the first sun rays creeping into the canyon. I had seen it the morning before, when it was already too late to set up the camera, and today I wanted to be on time. […]
hidden
Found this hidden spot today: Well it wasn’t really hidden, actually it was really close to the eco park. But nobody seemed to be looking for it, so I was the only one there all day: By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock YouTube At first I […]
your tail
Here’s the resort at which I am staying: Here’s some of the bungalows they rent out (one of which is mine now): I spent the day mostly just laying around, but I did a little walk up the canyon once… …just because I needed to get some cellphone reception so I could tell everyone I […]
apologies to the Caboose
Slight change of plans. People had been telling me about the REAL canyon. It wasn’t here where I was. It was somewhere far away, and it was supposed to be awesome. So I left the place with the nice trees and the nice feeling of safety and got back on the road: I crossed the […]
the gun scare
This is going to be a long one because some shit happened. But read for yourself if you like. Or just watch the videos. … I got up and left Shonzhy early in the morning, because I wanted to get to a certain Charyn Canyon in the west. The small town seemed to be still […]
the ribbon
Spent another day in Shonzhy (though the people here seem to call it “Chunzha”). By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock YouTube I went into a fruit shop: And even though I wasn’t feeling that well, I somehow still ended up buying a huge watermelon. I think […]
the green light
Stayed in today, and yet I somehow managed to almost get run over. It happened on my way out to have some Uyghur food (which was awesome, btw): I was on my way back when, after walking for a few days, always checking left and right for cars, I almost got run over at this […]
heat
I woke up at five in the morning. I was in a small room on a sort of kang-style bed: And I wasn’t alone. I had spent the night with a man who introduced himself as Jackson: Apparently because his original name sounded a bit alike. And Jackson had to get up early in the […]
what good is a shrub?
When I got up this morning, I figured I’d do a bit more walking than the day before: It was easy at first: I walked a light 20km, and I basically felt invincible. There were no villages. One time these two serious-looking guys stopped just to give me a lollipop: I offered them some of […]
cats and dogs
I left Zharkent early in the morning… …because I wanted to get as far as I could before the sun started punishingย the land. I walked down a long tree-lined road: And I saw a cyclist once. He looked likeย an old man, and he had a Swiss flag attached to his bicycle. He didn’t stop. In […]
run by little girls
I stayed in today. Did some laundry, walked around a bit. Some thoughts: By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock YouTube One time I ended up in a store that sold wedding dresses: They had European dresses and traditional Kazakh ones. I liked the Kazakh ones better, […]
all the other countries
I left early in the morning, and when I did, I sawย a sparrow’s nest that the people here were keeping next to a window: I hadย noticedย the bird in the corridor the night before, but I had thought nothing of it. Now I knew that the bird somehow belonged here. Walking was tough but good. The […]
bye-bye Zhongguo
It all started with a hangover. I woke up feeling terrible. Soย I just lay there for a while. The ceiling was there. The room was there. The hotel was there. Everything was there. Nothing was missing. I was ready to go. Yetย I didn’t really want to. I made the decision to leaveย around noon. That’s when […]
used things
My friends Lin Bo and Dennis Wu came back to see me today: They took me to a place where my new tent had been delivered (it was actually not new but used, “95% new” the vendor had said). I went to the border and asked if I could walk through, but they said no. […]
bye tent
Bad news. I just realized that I lost my tent. It must have happened on one of those flights: By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock YouTube So I ordered a new one, and I spent the remainder of the day buying things and putting them into […]
shooting
Today I spent in Khorgas shooting with my friends Lin Bo ๆๆณข… …and Dennis Wu: We took some shots near the border: And then we filmed the process of loading up the Caboose: By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock YouTube
flights
Four years later, and here I am – back in Khorgas. It took a lot of flying to get here: Hanover – Istanbul Istanbul – Beijing Beijing – Karamay Karamay – Yining …and then a car ride to Khorgas. Most of the time it looked somewhat like this: By loading the video, you agree to […]