Across Continents

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A man called Eric

June 26th, 2010

He too was called Eric. We laughed. But no, I couldn’t cross into the military zone that flanked the Kazakhstan side of the border with China. The Chinese side was closed. Until the end of the week. By which time my entry visa would have expired. Phone calls had been made, I’d crossed a few land borders before so knew how sometimes these things played out. But no. A dead end. For now at least.

Lorries

They’d been clues along the road from Zharkent. A long line of lorries, of trailers, parked up, abandoned it seemed, just a few Turkish drivers wandering about, waiting. I’d checked a while back, and again in Almaty a few days earlier, that the Khorgas crossing – a major border post – would be open and was assured it would be. No doubt in good faith.

Disappointed? Yes. I’d pushed hard to reach the border, made compromises ordinarily I’d not have even considered. Down-hearted? No. Which surprised me at first. But, fact was that given the scale of the project, information on the road ahead often scant or confused, significant language barriers to overcome, the odd blow to morale was always going to happen. Just a question of when. Suppose I felt pleased I’d got this far without any major dramas. And I was still going to cross China. Just not today.

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Catch the pigeon

June 14th, 2010

Pigeon

Didn’t exactly look the long-haul variety, but pigeons unexpectedly thin on the ground in Almaty. Still, hopeful my feathered friend will be able to bring news from Western China, currently devoid of any internet connection. Eventually. Or perhaps best to pack some stuffing mix, just in case I have a change of heart…. or simply get a bit peckish.

[Author’s note: For those of you following me on Facebook please note I’m getting mixed messages about whether or not I can access the site from anywhere in China. However, blog posts will continue to appear there automatically, even if I can’t see my own page!]

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Tough choices

May 18th, 2010

Tough choices from Ken Roberts on Vimeo.

Still no ship to Kazakhstan, visa clock ticking, Ken describes the tough choices he faces.

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