Originally Posted by Peter N-H
This assumes anyone's been back up there for the last few 'updates', that that person knew what he or she was doing, and that the maps and phone numbers are correct. I might grudgingly admit that carrying the book was better than nothing at all, but only if carried with a sceptical attitude.
Thanks for all of your advice. The guy I was going to travel with just pulled himself out of contention so now, if I go, I will need to hook up with 3 different friends that went out there today and attach myself to their itin (bold as I am, I've been advised not to do Xinjiang solo). They are currently in Kashgar and plan to start the Karakorum Highway (sp) tomorrow night, but are willing to wait till Monday afternoon for me to get there, if need be. Otherwise, I can meet them on Thursday somewhere else (thankfully, they actually planned things out and have a reasonable idea of where they'll be).
But, here's a question. A large part of my desire to travel has to do with the fact that Beijing's air quality is torturous right now (imagine if the world outside your house was equivalent to the inside of a poorly ventilated dive bar). The current pollution has been caused by sand/dust (as opposed to factories and cars). TMK, Xinjiang is even sandier and dustier than BJ. So, would going there merely prolong my agony? (If "yes", you will have given me all the added motivation needed to push me to use up my open C ticket to BKK so I can laze away in Samui; otherwise, I will probably bite the bullet and go west.)
Edited to add: If I go, Kanas is now no longer in the cards because the guys that are out there couldn't work it in to their itin.