6 hours.360 minutes.21600 seconds. Walla Walla -> Xi'an

Ready to go!

In approximately six hours, I will be on my way to the land of China for the field trip for my class, History and Ethnobiology of the Silk Roads, with two Whitman Professors and 9 other students. Though the trip is so near, it still feels so surreal that I am going to be going to China; it will probably not sink in that I will actually be in China until I get back to Walla Walla.

I am so grateful and so blessed to be able to go on this trip. It is truly a dream come true. Whitman has made some of my greatest dreams come true - and that is to travel the world. This trip is also a much, much needed break from the chaos of this semester.

Anyhow, I will not have very much internet access, so the next time you hear from me may actually be in two weeks from now. When I come back, I expect to have my mind blown by the different culture and experiences I will have there. I will be sure to post about my experiences and upload several photos of my journey and what I learned there.

Below is a map of the future journey ahead. I will be starting in Walla Walla, taking a bus to Pasco and flying from Pasco -> Seattle and Seattle -> Beijing and Beijing -> Xi'an. We are in Xi'an at night on Sunday, so that is almost a whole 2 days travel, including the time change. Xi'an is the the one dominantly Han Chinese city that we will be going to. The others are made up mostly of Uighur, who are people of Turkish descent.  We will then be going from Xi'an to Dunhuang, Turpan, Kucha, and Khotan by trains/car (mostly overnight sleepers). All of these cities are and were major trade centers along the Silk Road. We are driving across the Taklamakan Desert from Kucha to Khotan. I expect to see lots and lots of.. sand. and dirt. The scenery will be amazing, no joke. It will be so desolate that it will be simply amazing. Then we will be flying from Khotan to Urumqi and then Urumqi ti Beijing and then back home. Unfortunately, we will only be experiencing Beijing through its airport, but since the trip is two weeks, we don't have time to see everything.