Wildlife Refuges for Migrating Birds in Bay Area

Don't remember how I got the information about the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge, but in 2009 we decided to pay a visit. After paying the entrance fee at the visitor center, suddenly I heard some noise that's not familiar in daily life, a noise of many many birds, while there was not a single bird in sight around the center.

The magic unfolded in the 6 miles auto tour around the Refuge.  Forgive me for not be able to describe the scene of thousands of birds gathering in one place.  (Watch the video at the end of this page and feel it.)  I kept on saying "Holy *&^%" that day, which just reflected how I felt.  All the birds simply moving from one pond to another in big number while talking to each other, somehow the process alone pleased me to no end.

My Central America Wildlife Experience

Had wildlife tour in Panama and Costa Rica. The snorkeling in Roatan Island of Honduras was exceptional, if only I can have an underwater camera to catch the images!

Sloth

The first thing said to our tour guide on the Panama Canal wildlife tour was, We want to see sloth! The easiest way to find a sloth is to find the tree grows sloth's favorite leaf (as showing in the second picture), then looking for dark round shape thing. That proved to be quite effective.  But one has to be extremely lucky to see a sloth that moves, because they sleep long hour each day.  Also depends on which kind of sloth. Two-toe sloth actives only in the night (after sunset), while three-toe sloth could be active day and night. Sloths have low metabolism, so they move slowly, and it takes one week for their body to produce waste. They would move down from the tree to poop and urine, cover it, and move back to the tree top slowly.

The Doors and Knockers of Antigua 舊瓜城的門與門環

Doors in Antigua, Guatemala can be enormous for the horse carriage (now for the car) to pass, the small door obviously is for people only. I was fascinated by the shape and design of the door knockers, always took picture while walked around town. Years ago when I visited the Louvre Museum, I thought of taking each and every chair in the exhibition room, kind of like cataloging them. That remains a distant thought. This time I did have extra time, and here they are, the world of door knockers and door decor of Antigua.

有些舊瓜城的古門很大，是以前給馬車通行的，現在當然改成給汽車通過，充當車庫門。若是只有人的話，開小門就行了。多年前我曾奇想把羅浮宮展廳裡的各型椅子都照下來，因為是奇想，當然沒實現。這次在舊瓜城留的比較久，有時間多照些有趣的門和門環。雖然看了多日，還是覺得古意無限，很有味道。

Northern Vietnam Minorities 越北少數民族

2005. After visiting Ho Chi Ming City and Hanoi in Vietnam, I continue on to the Chinese border area of Sapa in northern Vietnam, wish to see the ethnic minorities. The plan is to join a small tour group, take night train in and out of Sapa, leave me two days to explore with one night stay in town.

The Village 山村
With the free time after arrival, I hired a local guide to take me to one of the local markets. First, he takes me for a short walk of village life in the hills.  For all I can see, everything comes from earth, not factories.  Even the fabrics is made locally, from hemp and vegetable dye.  Pigs, chickens, and ducks running freely. My guide leads me into a house, only a boy is around, preparing cassava, a rooted vegetable. The house has only one room, with very limited and primitive handmade furniture. A huge wok on the stove is the most noticeable item, and that is not even for human consumption, but for cooking cassava for the pigs. Young children playing outside, no adult to be seen, likely all working in the field.

To see how people lives is one of the purposes of travel, especially to see people with different lifestyle from us. But seeing this family barely has anything in the house make me wonder, who am I to see their poor condition? And how would that enhance my experience?  I find my curiosity toward seeing people's living quarter diminish after this.

遊過了胡志明市和河內，我繼續到越北和中國邊境的 Sapa 去看少數民族。因為偏遠，從河內只有夜車來回。我參加了一個小旅遊團，要去山區徒步。

到了之後還有時間，我就雇了一名地陪，帶我去看有名的市集。地陪帶我經過田間一些小村，感覺上真是徹底的田園生活。家畜四處亂走，放眼看去，所有的東西都是地上長出來的。連穿的麻衣都是自染的。陶淵明說的避禍桃花源，大概類似這種情形吧，完全自給自足，和外界交通中斷了也沒關係的。看到路邊一個人家，地陪就走了進去，木屋裡的家具都很簡單而粗陋，最顯眼的是一只大鑊，居然是用來煮豬食的。一個小男孩在抽木薯，就是豬的晚餐。幾個更小的小孩在屋外玩，大人們大概在田裡工作，一個也沒見。

我的馬路英雄

在去大理的車上

鄰座是一個老法，我們一路上聊了起來。他計劃在中國旅行三個月，兩周前從廣州開始，坐火車到昆明，乘公交去了連我都嫌難去的石林，(偷懶，遊客小販太多，令我興趣缺缺）現在要去大理。他拿出法文的旅遊指南來給我看，前兩頁的中國全圖，打星的是作者建議去的地方，他希望都能去看看。我想，書是法文的，他說的是英文，路上看到的都是中文，這語文轉換也夠煩雜的了，此人的志向真是遠大。他說著說著，一面翻書，突然指一個地方給我看，說：這個名字常常出現。我看了有一點想笑，Renminlu 是人民路，跟他解釋中國叫中華人民共和國，Renmin 就是其中的 People。 仔細想想，我看英文也不過看個名字的長相，有看沒懂，什麼時候問了意思了。New Orleans, New Jersey 都是當名字唸而已，那裡知道 Orleans 和 Jersey 原來在法國，在英國，更不知道美國地名、街名其命名背後的歷史意義。那。。。我迷失了多少東西？

Cleaned Out In Lisbon 在里斯本被偷的精光

Nazari Coast

My third day in Lisbon, I decided to join a two-hour city walking tour, then see the City of Belem outside of Lisbon in the afternoon. It's getting hot, so I decided to ditch my hiking pants and wear shorts. ( Major mistake!) I moved my goodies to the bottom of the backpack, put other small things and my shirt on top of it and kept only the spending money for the day in my shorts pocket.

The tour guide was quite knowledgeable.  Walked through the Lisbon city center, I was surprised how old and distressed the downtown area looked. New development, like malls, have moved to the suburb, old establishments were ignored and only the old residents stayed put. The Figueira Square, next to the busiest Rossio Square, was a hospital destroyed by the 1755 earthquake. The government had no money to rebuild it, so a statue was placed at the center and leave it as a square. Now the best usage is for kids to practice their skate board. Following our guide, mostly I kept my backpack at front, but occasionally moved to the back. When we were on the public bus, our guide shield us from other passengers in and out of the bus. She did not specify the reason, just reminded us to be careful. My lunch after the tour was nothing worth mentioning, and I felt totally sleepy after that. Hot weather and full stomach are lethal combination. Still, I had to finish today's plan and go to Belem. The Age of Discovery was a monument for the glory days of Portugal's golden day of exploration. I bought a ticket and waiting to see a film. Too sleepy, I reached my backpack for candy hope the candy would wake me up. The small pouch where I put candies was no where to be found, and the backpack barely had anything in it. By now I was very much awake. Ran to outside so I can see better, my things were gone!! When? How? I could hear my voice quivering, telling the service people I lost all my money. He kindly gave back my 5 Euro ticket money, I rushed out of the door, heading back to Lisbon. This time I did not even get a chance to fight them, they got me without my knowledge.

Thugs On The Metro 馬德里地鐵遇劫

I was the last one to got on the metro. When the door closed behind my back, I automatically wanted to move into the cart to get ready for the incoming passengers next stop. I found myself could not move and could only see chests and shoulders at my eye level; those people surrounded me were tall, and none of them moved. There were many standing passengers in this cart, but for sure there was space for people to move inward. What's going on? I tried to push a little, still, no one budged. I was walled in. Then I saw something looked like a piece of fabric coming toward my face. I panic. I remembered this...where? My brain cells must turned lightening fast, searching... and pull out the memory of...an European movie called "Vanish", a movie gave me the chill to no end. A guy abducted strangers for no reason by sedated them with ether soaked fabric. Victims woke up and found themselves in a coffin buried underground. Horrified, I let out a roar and push away hard, before the fabric reaching my face. All of these happened fast, and everything seemed like a blur. Next thing I knew, I found myself stood 4 seats away from that door to the right, panting, fingers clutched hard to the vertical rail.  Once in a secured area, I instinctively looked toward the direction where I was blocked, wanted to know what happened.  One tall guy next to the door was staring at me. My gut feeling told me that's the guy with the fabric, the guy just failed to rob a gray haired Asian woman. I stared back. The lady passenger sat right in front of me looked at me with sympathy, her eye and mouth expression showed me, even though not in English: those are the gangs. Three seats to her left, a Spaniard who sat right next to the standing gangster, also looked at me, no sympathy, just curiosity. I suddenly realized these locals all knew what just happened, (I wonder how loud was my "roar",) but no one did anything to help... I exchanged stares with the tall guy again, wanted to show him my middle finger, but decided against it; they had several in the cart while no one was on my side. Next stop was up, he stepped off the cart, strolled leisurely toward two policemen patrolled on the platform and chatted. Welcome to Madrid!

Hilo：火山，天文臺，熱帶雨林

晚上在 Jaggar Museum 前看到的噴口，四周是大火山口

從西邊Kona到東邊的Hilo, 我們選擇從中間斜向穿過。更具體的說，是從大島的兩個4000米高山中間穿過。這條路因此命名為馬鞍路 Saddle Road，從Kona 和 Hilo 到這裡的距離差不多。這條路有一個世界級重點：天文望遠鏡。我在書上讀了一些，都看不懂，只知道在山頂上有一個速霸路中心 Subaru Center 可以開放參觀，但需先在網上預約，我就先約了。至於怎麼上一萬四千呎就看運氣了。

驚艷夏威夷大島

早上八點多在咖啡館見到的前方景象

有一張未能成行的機票，必須在作廢前用掉。聽朋友說他們去了夏威夷，令我想到那火紅的火山熔巖流入海裡的景象，去看一下也不錯。但是那火山在哪一個島，我是一點都不知道。除了去過 Maui 之外，我對夏威夷的印象還留在草裙舞，陽光海灘的階段，都不是我喜歡的。對這州的認識很有限，只知道大部分的生活必須品都是從國內運去，所以東西很貴。決定要去了，就開始搜集資料，才學到火山所在的是大島 The Big Island, 其他地名、人名簡直是難的要命。在 Amazon 買了一本好評的大島旅遊指南 (Hawaii The Big Island Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook)，又參考了一個 blog，這位小哥去了八天，資料齊全，連在 Priceline 標到旅館的底價都 po 出來，我一直想試 Priceline, 現在有了底價，勇氣大增，終於下海，也標到了同樣的兩家旅館。

我的旅遊必備

剛買iPod Touch 之後，除了用來聽音樂之外，完全不知道還有什麼用。古典式的iPod 只有輪盤，Touch 則像小電腦。正如Apple 大部分的產品，這Touch 也沒有用法手冊， 就這樣攤在那裡好幾個月沒用。下一個發現是拿來照相，接著發現照片在有無線上網wi-fi 時可以很容易就 email 出去。漸漸沒事時就拿來玩，這樣開始一連串的“發現”。反正就只有那麼幾個鍵，每個都按就是了。到後來坐在沙發上看電視時也用它來上網檢查電郵，臉書，聽新聞，不用搬筆電了。頓時我家成了低頭族人，一到廣告，兩人無語，各自低頭努力。

我永遠會記得在臺北的公車上看到“本車有無線上網”的標識時，有多興奮，在短短的車程裡，不但看了未讀的電郵，而且照了一張那寶貴的標識，馬上送出，報給眾親友：臺灣真酷！我很土，很晚才發現。

2011年春，我到歐洲旅行六周。在eBay上花三元美金買的多彩斑紋保護層，在旅途中還吸引了一些目光，招來話題。此時的Touch 已經是我的資訊控制中心。在里斯本時不幸被偷的精光，只剩二十幾歐元和這個Touch。（我通常把它放在膝蓋側邊的口袋，要扒比較難。）也多虧它沒被偷，還能拿來報急要錢，否則真不知道以後的三個禮拜該如何是好。iPod第五代出貨在即，我也已經決定把這老Touch送給朋友。在此紀錄一下這個寶貝的用途，當成紀念。

速河與白沙，麗江的兩個平凡姐妹

在網上找了一家小有名氣的速河民宿，老板願意到麗江來接我過去。下車一看，又是在鎮的邊上，很好。出門就是河邊和菜園，沿著河的石板路走到鎮上，用不了五分鐘。速河的遊客比麗江少多了，真是小鎮的模樣。直到看到一排餐廳，很像臺灣的啤酒屋。進去吃了一頓午餐，還行。但是越發覺得這一區格格不入，就不再向前了。後來聽說這整區都是新開發的，我的好奇心就降到零，不去也罷。河到了鎮上大街邊就成了敞著的水溝，水很清，有些在溝邊賣菜的就順便在水裡過過菜，去土。一位老太太在大街邊洗了半天，我才看清楚她在洗豬腸子，旁邊一條狗聞香流連不肯離去。除了傳統菜場，路邊還有很多攤老婦賣菜和瓜子，看來都像在自家院子裡種的，每樣一點。石板路加兩旁的木屋，頗具古意。我在鎮上走了一會兒，覺得差不多了，回民宿的路上碰到老板娘帶著孩子在散步，就聊了起來。她們現在已有一些退休的臺灣常客，每年來，一住就是一兩個月，四處悠遊，所以生意算是穩定。我問她這裡的老太太們是不是很窮，每攤只賣一點點東西。她的回答令我吃驚。原來旅館民宿盛行，很多居民把舊房子出租當民宿。想租的話，不但要投入一大筆錢整修屋子，而且租金一下就要收八年十年。以保守的一年八萬人民幣來估，十年八十萬，一次付清。屋主拿了這大筆錢，就到村外賣地建大新屋。速河現在已經滿是民宿，而且隨處可見還在翻修的屋子，平靜小鎮是半毀了，所以她們已決定遷往白沙，趁著發展還沒到白沙，租金便宜，定下多年合約。現在已經每天監工整修，完成後就把速河的民宿轉租出去。大興土木造就了地方官員的財富和就業機會，想緩下來是很難的。

麗江，失真的小城

到麗江必須住在老城裡，整個古城是不能行車的。住進客棧，看了地圖，才知道住在城的邊緣（靠近方國瑜故居），難怪客棧主人接我的車可以開進來。客棧外表看上去是舊房子，但是房間很現代，浴室是整片玻璃牆隔開。行李還沒放下，主人就很忍不住的要聊天，說聯合國教科文組織的官員都貪腐。這倒是很少見，一個小客棧主人怎麼會知道這種事？轉念一想，麗江（又稱大研）和旁邊的兩個小鎮束河和白沙並列為世界文化遺產，鎮上居民改建房屋必須遵守規章，了解某些教科文組織的事是必然的。主人說，列為世界文化遺產的條件之一，是城裡必須有一定比率的住民，但是麗江過度發展，店鋪旅館老早就超過了比率。七八年前他開張時，麗江有兩百多家客棧， 現在（2011）已經多達一千兩百家。聯合國官員來檢視，居然先來電說明抵達日期。當地政府就規定那個禮拜店鋪不許開張。門板一上，看上去都是居民，當然查不出來任何事。我姑且聽之。

Majorelle Garden, The Gem Of Merrakech, Morocco

Ignored our guide's advice that the Majorelle Garden is small and costly, several of us made a go. What an colorful feast it turned out to be. 

Majorelle Garden is a botanical garden named after the designer French artist Jacques Majorelle.  In 1980, the fame designer Yves Saint-Laurent co-owned it.  After Mr. Saint-Laurent's death in 2008, his ashes were scattered in the garden. Honestly, I was very curious what a garden would deserve Mr. YSL.  Small in size, the garden contains mostly cactus and plants suitable for the Moroccan sun. The best part was the colorful containers and fixtures that greatly enhanced the relatively dry appearance of the plants, among the relax surrounding of Moroccan Riad. And, of course, the unforgettable Moroccan blue through out the garden.  

A Funeral In Bali

I wished to learn to "hang" in a good place, instead of constantly moving to next destination. The first chance to practice was Ubud, the arty village in Bali.  After 3 days rent-a-car-and-a-driver, I moved to the town center, and practically wandering around town everyday.  One day I found a notice at the visitor information center, a funeral, willing people should gather at a time and took bus over to some village. A funeral in Bali?!  I read it's a worthy event to see, but still, what kind of family would open their funeral to public, especially foreigners?  Well, if they posted at the center for people to see, that should not be my concern. 

Up Close With The Gentle Giants in Baja California

The starting conversation among my travel buddies often liked: So where are you going next?  Now that most of the low hanging fruits were gone, finding an interesting place to go may be quite a task.  I paid attention to what people said on the internet, scanned books to get new ideas, couch surfing travel magazines.  I do own a National Geo book of Journey of a Lifetime; there are 500 destinations listed in the book, after scanning them, only one easy target was found: Baja California and the Sea of Cortez. Actually Baja has been in my mind for years, the main hazard that stopped me was CAMPING!  The target area is a desert and reserve, with no facilities. Camp next to the beach for days could be the ideal vacation for many, not me.  While I am very curious about the clear and turquoise water, to access the water by kayak was another hazard, because I can't swim.

Dogsledding, My First Real Adventure

I am not a winter person. Never like cold weather, never tried skiing.

One night in the fall of 2006, I watched a PBS program called "Great Lodges" (of America). One of the lodges hosted the tour of dog sledding from one lodge to another, in Minnesota, the land of ten thousand lakes. I was always fascinated by sledding dogs since the book White Fang, but also considered it out of reach because of the season, price, and distance.  With the push of the fresh TV program, at least I can  google the tour company.  There it was: Wintergreen Dog Sled Lodge, and the price was very reasonable with different length and size of trip. Totally doable! That's the time I did my first spontaneous travel booking.  Strait ahead to the north!

My first sighting of California Condors 見到加州禿鷹

加州禿鷹是北美洲最大的鳥，成鳥展翅幾乎有十英尺長。因為棲息地減少，鉛中毒和偷獵，在1987年只剩22隻，全被捕獲，在洛杉磯和聖地牙哥動物園保育繁殖。我印象裡的禿鷹都是保育人員手套上戴著假禿鷹頭餵食新生兒的照片。到1991年保育成功，就開始逐漸放生野外。他們常在在中加州Monterey 以南的Big Sur附近活動。這次跟著賞鳥隊，希望可以一睹這瀕臨絕種的大鳥。領隊問說，誰沒看過加州禿鷹？十五位隊員裡，只有兩人舉手， 我當然是其中之一。一行人到一號公路旁的 Andrew Molera State Park 裡的 Discovery Center 參觀，出來正要吃自備的午餐，有人抬頭望著天空，問說，那是嗎？領隊 Lisa 拿出望遠鏡鑒定：就是他！高空盤旋的禿鷹，飛的低時，可看見胸前的白塊，是成鳥！展翅飛翔毫不費力，這鳥很會利用熱氣滑翔，一旦登空，很少需要拍翅。每天覓食可能要飛上一百五十英哩。天空中還看到 Turkey Vulture 和 Red Tail Hawk, 今天的任務已經達成了！

When Sea Lion Met Pelican

On the way of my bird watching trip, an attempt to see California Condor, we stopped at Moss Landing, south of Santa Cruz, to check out the birds there. Right at the parking lot, we saw a pod of sea otters, sea lions, sea gulls, brown pelicans, and a group of terns all within a short distance. Kayakers were just starting out for their day trip. A big group of sea lions occupied the long pier dock, mostly sleepy. This is Northern California coast, at 10am, thick marine layer still covered the sky, sun was not out yet. Our birding guide Lisa just pointed at a pigeon guillemot for us to see, my first sighting of that bird. Suddenly some big splash on the pier grabbed everybody's attention. Two brown pelicans just decided to land at a section of the dock, and all the sea lions on that section simply fled and slipped into water.

我從天使的領地裡回來--墨西哥看帝王蝴蝶遷徙 I Came Back From The World of Angels

在電視節目上看到帝王蝴蝶從北美的美、加遷徙到墨西哥和中美洲去避冬的過程，感到很不可思議。那麼小而弱的生物可以飛到那麼遠的地方去，又能不約而同的聚集在幾個特別的地方！我曾經到北加的Monterey試圖去找在那裡過冬的蝴蝶，結果是一隻也沒見到。後來才知道牠們都棲息在高樹上，冬天天寒，要到中午以後氣溫升高了才飛得動，一大早去當然看不見。後來找到牠們在墨西哥棲息的地方，覺得很難去，我的西班牙文只有兩三句，要自助到那裡可能有嚴重困難。磨蹭了幾年，看到加拿大小團旅遊公司G Adventures 有出特別團在二月去看帝王蝴蝶遷徙，因為時間不長，所以也不太貴，就決定跟了。

The Brilliant Poppy Show

California poppy is the state flower of California. They pop up here and there in the spring with bright orange flowers.

For years, I wanted to visit the California Poppy Reserve. But the drive is long, and I worried all I could find is the small patch of flowers scatter around vast land and would be totally lost and waste the long drive. Came spring 2010, with rainy winter and mild spring, everything bloomed like crazy. For once I did my homework, check the wildflower report, call the Reserve for information, then I knew the wait was over; I'd have to wait for several years to get such a perfect condition for the flowers if I missed this one.

The Little Chapel That's Full of Imagination

When I first traveled to Europe, I was totally in owe of the churches. Not only the facade looked exotic to me, but also much more sophisticated, arty and full of history than the churches in America.  Years of traveling passed, I now often hail: A church is a church is a church, and usually skip them. 

One of the exceptions was a little chapel. When my friend Tina said she would like to see the Chapel of the Rosary in Vence while we were in that area of France, I had to agree because she was the one that did the research. Once walked in, it surprised both of us. I have never seen a church more alive, stimulating, and full of hope. After so many churches, I came to believe that churches are designed to make people feel the power and peace of religion. Yet this very small chapel, designed by Matisse, simply refreshed my sense, and the one thing came to my atheist mind was: Heaven!

"A Château That's Gone to the Dogs"

That's what Europe travel guru Rick Steves call the Château of Cheverny (in the Loire Valley in France) , and that was the sole reason for my visit in 2000: to see the dogs. More specifically, it's the mix of English foxhound and French Poitou. And there were a whole army of them.

My Pelican Encounters

Come to think of it, I have seen several species of the big birds, although the last two were in the not so glorified Singapore Zoo.

Other than the American White Pelican frequent my neighborhood, the Brown Pelican just a bit further out at the coast of California, and Baja California.  Different from the White on the hunting style, the Brown Pelicans usually fly high and dive into water.

American White Pelican Group Hunt

Early April. My lucky day at the Charleston Slough between Palo Alto Bayland Natural Reserve and Mountain View Shoreline area of California.  This group of White Pelicans had a field day fishing. Followed them up and down the shoreline, I had a field day shooting pictures. 

新疆雜事

行前翻看“寂寞星球”，說有單身女遊客在新疆被騷擾。2009年漢人和維人嚴重衝突，兩方被殺的人據說都很多。 本來維人就仇視漢人，現在更別想改善了。

我在和另外二人會合同遊北疆之前，有二十天的時間，決定還是咬牙單獨遊南疆， 從烏市，喀什，和田，經新沙漠公路到庫車，庫爾勒， 吐魯番，回烏市。離家前和朋友道別，還說，“如果我還能活著回來的話...”，感覺真的有一點去冒險的樣子。

Turpan 吐魯番

吐魯番距離烏魯木齊兩個半小時車程，是中國著名的“火洲”。如果時間有限，先去吐峪溝，再去坎兒井，交河古城。高昌故城所剩的遺址很少，看不出什麼端倪。如果正好碰到八九月葡萄收成的時節，可去葡萄溝看一下。

還沒到吐魯番就在高速路上看到整個山坡上都是蔭房。這裡濕度很低，葡萄不在太陽下曬，而是用蔭乾的。附近只要有地，就是種葡萄。藤拉起來在太陽下提供蔭涼，連老枝都不浪費，去當柴燒。沒來以前聽說綠葡萄乾有名，問了之後才知道那是把整串綠葡萄浸過化學藥物再蔭乾的。一來加快蔭乾的速度（從六周減成三到四周），二來顏色一致成綠色。 沒浸過藥水的則有不同自然蔭乾的混和色。

Dole Out in Luang Probang 龍坡邦的化緣和尚

到龍坡邦的第一目的是看著名的和尚化緣。住進旅館之後發現化緣的路線就在門口，再走兩分鐘就到大路，也是化緣的主線。第二天一早，眼睛才睜開，我朋友就急忙到路口轉角去跪在那裡準備給和尚們食物。旁邊小販適時遞過來一盤香蕉和一小筒飯，於是開始分發食物。小隊和尚一直走來，那一點香蕉和飯好像永遠用不完，用完了旁邊總有人遞過來。做善事心裡真愉快...  等到沒和尚再來了時，旁邊的小販就開始算那些空盤子，我們才知道那是要付錢的！！！

Northern Xinjiang Loop Part 2 北疆環遊（下）

經喀納斯湖，禾木村，布爾津，回到烏魯木齊。烏魯木齊摩登到不覺得身在新疆，和其他的中國大城沒有兩樣，所以沒啥看頭。只有新疆最大的自治區博物館值得一看，二道橋和大巴扎已完全失去風味，不看也罷。

Visited Kanas Lake and Hemu Village, back to Urumqi to complete the Northern Xinjiang loop.  Urumqi is the largest city in Xinjing, totally modern and without character, just like most of other cities in China. The only place worth a visit is the Autonomous Regional Museum.  Erdaoqao and the the Grand Bazaar have been "upgrade" to the extend of without characters, totally skipable if time is tight.

Northern Xinjiang Loop part 1 北疆環遊（上）

我們一行三人雇了一輛越野車，決定在五月十二日出發環北疆一圈。在那之前，我一個人在南疆晃了兩個多禮拜，路上碰到的人都說，五月中去北疆太早了吧，還不到季節呢。還有人剛從喀納斯湖回來，說湖上還有冰，湖邊啥顏色都沒有。但是我在火車上碰見的一位從伊寧來的太太說，伊犁附近的草原已經轉綠了。我們本來要從烏魯木齊出發，順時鐘走，先到喀納斯。現在和導遊商量，改成反時鐘走，先到綠的伊犁草原。希望多給喀納斯的花和樹多幾個生長天，去時好看一點。

從烏魯木齊出發，要穿過天山到草原地帶。從書上讀到天山大半輩子，現在終於真的看到，經過。真是壯觀，值得“天山”之名。毛主席當年指示要開路穿過天山。因此這段路在沒有現代化大型機械的年代，以人工辛苦鑿開的。不僅是工程艱難，冬日苦寒，糧食短缺，很多人喪生此處。路邊有一紀念碑記錄開路英雄們的艱辛，喪生英雄們的墓園就在旁邊。現在一路上仍然常有大小崩塌，需要長年維護。

Kashgar's Livestock Market 喀什的家畜市場

喀什的家畜市場每周日有市集，大約在早上十點以後市場就滿場。從色滿賓館打出租車約12人民幣。

I did not consider Livestock Market as a "must see" when Lonely Planet mentioned it. It was someone highly recommended in the LP forum Thorn Tree that caught my attention. This Sunday market is just outside of the City of Kashgar. Arrived at 8:30 in the morning, the place was virtually empty. I asked the taxi driver to reconfirm this IS the place. After all, this market is a big thing, village people around would all come for their business.

Opal Monday Market, the real thing 烏帕爾市場

烏帕爾在從喀什去卡湖的路上，每周一有市集，就在大路邊上。因為是小鎮，這市集特別有傳統特色，乘電動三輪車來去市集的人和乘驢車的都有。我覺得很值得一遊。

Opal is a small village outside of Kashgar. The market day is on Monday. Coming back from Karakul Lake, we have the option of visiting the market. I was hesitated whether to do that or not. After all, I have seen several markets in Kashgar, and a market is a market...

Karakul Lake 卡湖

It was a test of determination for me to go to Karakul from Kashgar. When the China Youth Travel Service agent heard I have a foreign visa, she said, you have to find a car and go by yourself; i.e. you can't join our bus tour; i.e. I have to pay a lot more for the trip. But why?  It's a 200 km trip one way, going through high mountains. The main thing is, there is one check point. So what's the check point checking? Do I need to get a permit?

Obsessed about naan 饢

The staple of Xinjiang, China, naan can be seen anywhere the Uyghur lives. Much like the baguette in France, I saw people carrying naan everywhere. Because of the dry air, naan can be kept for a long time without going stale, best for long distance traveler, like me, to always have a naan around. And they are cheap, cost about 2-3 Yuan ($0.30-$0.50) a piece.