hungree

  dinner and dessert. delivered to your room. 

nearly orgasmic.

chain hotel big city

back in possibly my favorite city in the east. in a nice holiday inn express. 

where the girl at the hotel reception is confidently reassuring and delightfully helpful. and no smoking means just that. and the washer comes pre-loaded with detergent. and the dryer lint catcher is lint-less. and the meituan options are (possibly) legion.

oh shanghai, how i have missed you!

onward bound

camping out in the airport lounge waiting for the next leg and being thankful for HOM's frivolous foresight in planning a convalescent second half to the vacation.

at last

final dinner in urumqi, sans logistic imperatives sans innumerable photo takes sans time keeping sans stress.

thank you for organizing! everyone tells HOM. thanks for everything!

we need to start planning the next trip, i hear someone say, all proactive-like. yikes.

general tso's chicken

what i learn today from the cotton tour is that the guy behind the dish was a real person and he was a military hero who won back xinjiang's western borders!

imagine proving your great prowess and being rewarded as a foreign fast food item! if you ask me, colonel sanders had the better deal.

thoughts on xinjiang

• the VIP tour bus has in-seat lumbar massage and a fast charging pod that works 
• AAAAA attractions live up to their classification. the toilets there are a sight better than the hoi polloi variety. TP provided!
• the local milk popsicles you find at pit stop stands are really to-die-for
• amazing how they get 4G and 5G coverage at the most remote locations high up deep in and everywhere in between. what did people do before data?
• xinjiang is enormous. its size expands your spirit and makes you realize how small you are
• the smoke, as with pretty much everywhere else in china, seeps into your bones thru your nose

last stop

lovely view* that HOM hauls me up hundreds of steps to enjoy. 

quads weeping but heart sang gloriously for a bit.

and THAT'S IT!

*tianshan tianchi