A Golden Journey update - ready to go!
At long last the key planning elements for this little Silk Road adventure are complete, bureaucrats, licenses, and Visas dealt with, gear purchased, and tickets acquired. I depart from Vancouver for China on 6th September 2024. It has been wonderful to see family and Canada again (more on Canada below), so it is strangely bittersweet to once again be heading out, and of course, to leave behind so many friends and more in London.
I've made a short Instagram update video (Insta handle is: a_golden_journey_ts and here's a direct link: https://www.instagram.com/p/C_cVDfguugn/) and a separate YouTube clip to provide a quick status update, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaQ8RwiFckc
As the video above indicates, the itinerary is effectively set and is outlined in more detail in the table below. This may change but I suspect that it will not do so materially, particularly given vehicle rentals. Unfortunately, British Columbia’s driver’s license renewal system had an upgrade and physical licenses are delayed for many months… this has meant that I will sadly be unable to obtain a Chinese temporary driver’s license (they will not accept a paper copy), and mean I will require a driver and guide throughout China (at least from Lanzhou, where the drive will commence). I suppose this is somewhat helpful as I will have a translator, albeit a far cry from the baggage train of camels and support (maybe even a few Sepoys) I’d vastly prefer…
Day # | Date | Country | Notes |
1 | 06/09/2024 | China | Arrive in Xi’an |
2 | 07/09/2024 | China | Explore Xi’an |
3 | 08/09/2024 | China | Explore Xi’an |
4 | 09/09/2024 | China | Train to Tianshui, Explore Tianshui |
5 | 10/09/2024 | China | Train to Lanzhou |
6 | 11/09/2024 | China | Explore Lanzhou |
7 | 12/09/2024 | China | Get car, drive Lanzhou to Tongren |
8 | 13/09/2024 | China | Explore Tongren, drive to Zhangye |
9 | 14/09/2024 | China | Drive Zhangye to Jiayuguan |
10 | 15/09/2024 | China | Drive Jiayuguan to Khara Khoto |
11 | 16/09/2024 | China | Drive Ejin Banner to Jiayuguan |
12 | 17/09/2024 | China | Drive Jiayuguan to Dunhuang |
13 | 18/09/2024 | China | Explore Dunhuang (Mogao Caves etc.) |
14 | 19/09/2024 | China | Drive Dunghuang to Hami |
15 | 20/09/2024 | China | Drive Hami to Turpan |
16 | 21/09/2024 | China | Explore Turpan, Jiaohe and Bezeklik 1k |
17 | 22/09/2024 | China | Turpan to Korla |
18 | 23/09/2024 | China | Korla to Kuqa |
19 | 24/09/2024 | China | Kuqa to Kashgar (D1) |
20 | 25/09/2024 | China | Kuqa to Kashgar (D2) |
21 | 26/09/2024 | China | Explore Kashgar |
22 | 27/09/2024 | China | Kashgar, get provisions for Tajikistan |
23 | 28/09/2024 | China/Kyrgyzstan | Kashgar to Irkeshtam Pass (meet Kyrgyz car) |
24 | 29/09/2024 | Kyrgyzstan | Drive to Sary Tash |
25 | 30/09/2024 | Kyrgyzstan | Explore Sary Tash, Peak Lenin BCamp |
26 | 01/10/2024 | Kyrgyzstan/Tajikistan | Sary Tash to Kyzl-Art Pass (Tajikistan) |
27 | 02/10/2024 | Tajikistan | Pamir Highway – Kyzl-Art to Karakul Lake |
28 | 03/10/2024 | Tajikistan | Pamir Hwy. – Karakul to Murghab |
29 | 04/10/2024 | Tajikistan | Pamir Hwy. – Murghab to Zoogvand |
30 | 05/10/2024 | Tajikistan | Pamir Hwy. – Zoogvand to Khakha Fort |
31 | 06/10/2024 | Tajikistan | Pamir Hwy. – Khakha Fort - Khorog |
32 | 07/10/2024 | Tajikistan | Pamir Hwy. – Khorog to Campsite (TBC) |
33 | 08/10/2024 | Tajikistan | Pamir Hwy. – Campsite to Daraiob |
34 | 09/10/2024 | Tajikistan | Pamir Hwy. – Daraiob to Dushanbe |
35 | 10/10/2024 | Tajikistan | Dushanbe / or Stay longer in Pamirs |
36 | 11/10/2024 | Tajikistan | Dushanbe / or Stay longer in Pamirs |
37 | 12/10/2024 | Tajikistan | Dushanbe / or Stay longer in Pamirs |
38 | 14/10/2024 | Tajikistan/Uzbekistan | Dushanbe to Jartepa (Uzbek Border / return Tajik. car.) |
39 | 15/10/2024 | Uzbekistan | Jartepa to Samarkand (meet Uzbek car) |
40 | 16/10/2024 | Uzbekistan | Explore Samarkand |
41 | 17/10/2024 | Uzbekistan | Explore Samarkand |
42 | 18/10/2024 | Uzbekistan | Explore Samarkand |
43 | 19/10/2024 | Uzbekistan | Drive Samarkand to Yangikazgan (Yurt Camp) |
44 | 20/10/2024 | Uzbekistan | Drive Yangikazgan to Bukhara |
45 | 21/10/2024 | Uzbekistan | Explore Bukhara |
46 | 22/10/2024 | Uzbekistan | Explore Bukhara |
47 | 23/10/2024 | Uzbekistan | Bukhara to Khiva |
48 | 24/10/2024 | Uzbekistan | Explore Khiva |
49 | 25/10/2024 | Uzbekistan | Drive Khiva to Urgench airport |
In other news, have done some thinking and planning about the quality of the media I wish to share during the trip, and my view is that given my sub-par (read: laughable) technical abilities, fully edited videos will very likely wait until long after the end of the trip. I will focus on getting as best quality RAW video and photos as I can, and then leaving editing to a professional. As my video above will indicate, my efforts to learn Adobe Premier Pro are going slow, and I simply do not want to distract from the relaxation of the trip whilst focusing on truly tedious IT issues. I will try to focus more on short Instagram clips (here) and on blog posts with quality narrative and photos, thank you to my lovely sister Leah who gave me an Instagram 101 lesson for Neanderthals.
I will try to acquire a better mic for the GoPro (strangely, the DJI mic I purchased will not work with the GoPro, but it does with the Nikon Z5), and a Drone for some aerial shots.
In any case, I have been trying to get some practice on the camera, so here’s a few shots from the West Coast of Canada.
I hope you all enjoy.
A few photos from Canada's West Coast:
A fun little test video ;)
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