The Silk Route & SEA 2012 The Johnsons

In 2012 I crossed from Kyrgyzstan in the the Western corner of north China, along my one month journey across China, I stopped at many places and this is a quick snapshot of one of my favourite Chinese Cities, Ürümqi. A very big city that has managed to keep hold of it's historical architecture and modern buildings in an eclective mix. Along with three amazing and beautifully landscaped parks along with their own historical buildings which have been made central features to value them and where they can be appreciated by many.

Hotan Sunday Market Hotan’ s bazaar is also called The Sunday market. Local people call it Chukubaza (meaning is low location market) located in the north-eastern corner of Hotan city. It is one of the biggest markets in southern Xinjiang. It has many special sections for the market. The Bazaar in Hotan is active every day, but the Sunday is special day, when it gets flooded by hundreds and thousands of people on Sunday. The kind of people who come to the market are people from seven counties of Hotan and some other prefecture of Xinjiang. They sell all kinds of special local Hotan such as beautiful styled dresses can be seen or bought and many sweet fruits and delicious dishes as well as snacks can be tasted. Minority Products and Souvenirs local made carpets and roll jade. local people say that it is possible to find everything accept Chicken milk, cows egg in Europeans style. While you are in the market, please remember the word “posh” that means get out of the way in Uyghur language, as soon as you hear this word, please watch yourself. The best time to go to the market is after 8:30 AM Xinjian time.

During my trip across Central Asia I journeyed to this amazing area of Northern Tajikistan. I will let the images speak for themselves. Yes the sky is that blue and yes the lakes are that colour! and glacial cold too! The Zeravshan Valley (also Zarafshan or Zarafshon) is situated in northern Tajikistan, embedded between the impressive mountain ranges of the western Pamir-Alai massive.“Zeravshan” – which means “Golden River” in Tajik –is the main stream which crosses the valley and which supplies its inhabitants with a most precious resource: water. The area is famous for its unique mountain landscapes and its beautiful lakes: the Alauddin lakes, the Kulikalon lakes, Iskanderkul Lake, the seven lakes of Shing among many others. While being an important tourism and recreation destination during the Soviet era of dispatch tourism, it is now an insiders' tip among those interested in mountain trekking, alpinism and the little travelled branches of the silk road

Historical Walk Round Ipoh
The amazing Heritage walk round one of my favourite Malay towns of Ipoh where the food is amazing too! The heritage walk is about 4 miles long covering most of the historically important places and might take approx. 2 hours to complete all the places. In fact I am so keen for you to find out about Ipoh, I am attaching links for free heritage walk maps and info on Ipoh. Yep FREE!! Below the Video

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After having travelled through Turkey, Iran, and Turkmenistan, we entered our fourth country on our journey along the Silk Route, Uzbekistan. I recall it being a very dry and dusty country, or maybe that’s because most of my destinations in Uzbekistan were like this. It just seemed that Tashkent (the capitol) was the only place to have full and free flowing water and grass and trees. Outside of Tashkent it seemed like time had stood still and you could still get a feel of the days of the Caravansary that used to dot the country along the Silk route. Here a slide show of one of the most beautiful and iconic places in Uzbekistan, The Registan, in Samarkand. Yes it really is that blue. Thankfully the Russians although supressing any kind of Religion during their occupation, did have the foresight of restoring after many earthquakes much of the Registan as you see it today. Working as recently as 1987, twenty years of hard work and money and people with patience and the eye for the historical detail have made The Registan great again!

During my visit in Vietnam I 2013 , Like many visitors I sought sanctuary from the heat in a the wonderful Hill town of Dalat. During my stay I visit I walked around the beautiful Dalat Lake to the very comprehensive Flower Garden. Whilst there and towards the end of the Garden I spotted these wonderful and unique garden ornaments/sculptures. It makes fr a great visit if your ever there, showing there is a whole lot more to Dalat apart from Dalat Crazy House

In 2013, I visited Malaysia for two months, here in Perak one of my favourite provinces, on being so close to Ipoh , I visited kellies Castle. An amazing concept that never quite got finished, a shame as I suspect it would have been stunning even today! Overlooking the picturesque view of Batu Gajah, Perak, is the unfinished castle of William Kellie Smith, better known as Kellie’s Castle. The brainchild of the Scottish rubber plantation owner to celebrate his child’s birth, the castle and surrounding ruins bear signs of Smith’s grand vision for his family home. Originally, the castle would have boasted a 6-storey tower, an indoor tennis court, an entertainment area on the rooftop, a wine cellar, plus what would have been Malaya’s (later Malaysia) first elevator. It was designed in a Moorish and Indo-Saracenic Revival style with top quality craftsmanship in mind. To realise his dream home, Smith brought in 70 workers and imported bricks and marbles from India as well as exquisite tiles from Italy. Besides its beautiful exterior, Smith had also instructed the construction of secret exit tunnels speculated to be utilised in case of emergencies. There is also a small secluded room near the wine cellar which people have dubbed as a secret room though it was reportedly planned to be a photography room. Construction was halted however when Smith suddenly passed away at the age of 56 from pneumonia while he was on his way to Lisbon to pick up his elevator. His grief stricken wife, Agnes, sold the castle to Harrisons and Crosfield and the castle was left abandoned before being made into a tourist attraction years later

During my journey across the Silk route into China, we travelled to the ancient city of Wuwei, here we visited the Wenmaio Temple . Beautifully ornate and spread over a large area. The ancient Bell tower Dayun Si built during the Ming dynasty, also in the city of Wuwei . Houses a Tang dynasty bronze bell, which I had the pleasure of striking! The pictures speak better for themselves. Info taken from:https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/gansu/wuwei/confucian-temple.htm The Confucius Temple is known also as the Wenmiao Temple in Chinese, and is situated in the southeast of Wuwei City. This ancient complex dates from the Ming Dynasty having been established in 1439 on instructions from the reigning emperor and with the strong backing of public subscription. The construction of the original temple took just two years but various extensions have been added over succeeding centuries. The complex covers an area of a little over 1,500 square meters and is the largest and best-preserved temple dedicated to Confucius in Gansu Province

Matisi The Hanging Temple

In 2012 near the end of my Silk route journey, I crossed the border from Kyrgyzstan to China. Once deep in the heart of the Chinese state of Gansu , on the outskirts of Zhangye are the Amazing Matisi Cave Temples. Carved out of solid rock face a group of 7 grottos hold holy relics and wonderful wall paintings and beautiful sculptures of the Buddha. Surrounding the Mati Temple are beautiful hills, peculiar caves, unusual peaks and green waters. Tourists can get the chance to interact with the people of Yhugur Minority tribe, try the authentic stewed lamb and learn more about their cultural characteristics and their unique lifestyle as true nomads.

Yarkand
Country no. 6 on the Silk Route is Yarkand in China. Mind you the distances are so great you would think the region that Yarkand sits in was a country in itself! Yarkand was a great trade centers on the Great Silk Road, and was famous for its markets, where goods from all over the world could be bought. In modern times it is still a major transport hub for this region of China. The Bazaar unlike other Bazaars is not within city walls but streets on and around Mausoleum of Ammnaishan and the Altun Mosque