The Next Big Trip

One of the best parts of teaching in China is that every year the winter break is really long giving me enough time to take a big trip. Two years ago it was to Harbin in the North of China and then to Vietnam and Laos. Last year it was to Thailand, with a little stop over in Cambodia, then to India. This year I've finally made all my plans, and boy it's a dozy. Starting in about a week I won't be in any one country for more than two weeks until school starts again. I'm traveling with Sarah and Sean, who taught last year in Changzhou and are still there, I traveled with them a little before and it went great. First on the 4th I'm flying from Aksu, the city near where I live, to Urumqi, the capitol of Xinjiang. I have about two days there, I'm really hoping to see a Chinese basketball game as Urumqi has a team. On the 6th I'm flying from Urumqi to Hangzhou, a big ancient city a little south of Shanghai where I'll be meeting up with Sean and Sarah.

Since I'll still have all my winter cloths there I'm planning on mailing them to someone in Beijing, and picking them up once I get back into China. On the 7th me, Sean, and Sarah are all flying to Kuala Lumpur, the capitol of Malaysia. I'll be in Malaysia until 19the When I fly to Jakarta, the capitol of Indonesia. I'll then travel around Indonesia until February 2nd when I have a flight from Bali to Singapore. I'm then in Singapore until the 7th when I fly to Hong Kong and then on to Beijing. From Beijing I'm probably flying back to the US on the 8th of February and I'll be home until around the 18th when I go back to China. From there I still have to fly back to Urumqi and Aksu. It's a lot of countries, and a lot of flights, but it should be fun. Unfortunately it's the rainy season in Malaysia and Indonesia but I hope that only means you get a few hours of downpour a day and then it clears up. At least when it's off season the prices are usually cheaper.