That bus we were supposed to take was the weekly sleeper bus from Osh. The driver wanted $100 per person. WHAT! Amazing how they pull these nice round numbers out if the air. There is no set price list for various kinds of transport. No, the price is just what the driver feels like charging depending on what you look like and I guess his mood. We bargained with him and thank God he relatively quickly dropped the price to 100 yuan ( about $15 ). Great!
There was no room for the bikes in the cargo compartments so they came on the bus with us. It was a fun trip. We met Patrick, a Swiss-American researcher specialized in earthquake engineering and social conflicts. Very interesting guy and chatting with him made the time fly by.
THANKS FOR THE NOODLE LUNCH,PATRICK. HOPEFULLY YOU AND JUNJUN ARE ENJOYING WARMER CLIMES RIGHT NOW.
In Ulugqat we finally got stamped into China. The officials were most professional, polite and helpful. A nice change after somewhat chaotic Central Asia, especially Uzbekistan.
We treated ourselves to a $15 hotel room for one night and then walked over to the big square and celebrated our arrival in China with a chocolate bar and a Chinese milky drink in the pagoda. Then we explored the local supermarket and marveled at the strange products. See next post.
Great posts guys and great to have you in LA! Will be excited to follow rest of your progress across USA and into Canada and home! Keep on rockin! Stephen
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