St. Franciscus’ Cathedral of Xi’an

The past couple of days I’ve spent in my hostel. Eating western food in the hostel restaurant is the likely culprit… I should’ve known better, I guess, but I just needed a change from rice and noodles. At least I didn’t get the tourist runs, but I’ll tell you; gas pains are almost as bad!… Continue reading St. Franciscus’ Cathedral of Xi’an

Christmas Eve in Xian

On Christmas Eve, I went to the site of the Terracotta Army. It’s located an hour outside the city centre, and on the bus there I met two more travellers, from Paris and Chicago, and we spent the day together. The sheer size of the site and number of statues was mindboggling! We watched a… Continue reading Christmas Eve in Xian

Xian – ancient city of central China

The apartment hotel where I stayed with Thorbjørn in Beijing was a bit of a  step up from where I’ve stayed earlier. I had my own bedroom with a queen size bed, and my own bathroom. In the basement there was a gym, a swimming pool, a steam bath and a sauna, and also a… Continue reading Xian – ancient city of central China

Beijing, meeting of west and far east

I arrived in Beijing on Friday. I am staying here with my Norwegian friend Thorbjørn, who works for FunCom here in Beijing, but I arrived a couple of days before I had planned, so I spent two nights at the Happy Dragon Hostel in the centre of Beijing. I got off the train, walked out… Continue reading Beijing, meeting of west and far east

Gobi

The past few days I’ve explored UB at a rather leisurely pace. I reunited with Michiel and Rick from Holland. We met in a CS meeting in Irkutsk, and had a day trip to Lake Baikal together the next day. When I left for UB, they stayed on for another day in Irkutsk, and then… Continue reading Gobi

-40 degrees

Do you know what forty degrees below freezing feels like? It means your lips freeze together when you close your mouth, your eyes and nose start watering, which again means you have ice forming in your nostrils and the corners of your eyes before you know it. In other words: you don’t go outside in… Continue reading -40 degrees

Ulan Baatar, the world’s ugliest capital?

I met my Dutch friends, and we went to Listvyanka village by lake Baikal, about an hour from Irkutsk. It was definately a huge lake, and I took some cool pictures (that I still can’t upload, as the computers in this internet cafe don’t have accessible USB). My first priority was to find a dive… Continue reading Ulan Baatar, the world’s ugliest capital?