A stranger land as we travel south

1. First and foremost something on a practical level. Please go ahead and use my washing machine You have the keys and everything is there. Do not get involved in the intricacies of the laundrette.

2. A big first, an internet cafe. I have never seen the like before. 200 screens in banks of 11. They play and key all night according to our minder. The room is vast and dark. In the relative earliness of the morning, the place is quiet with just a few people. The place smells of cigarettes and ashtrays which have not been cleaned.

3. Fortunately I was able to obtain a Chinese sim card and I have been in touch with Kaaren every day. She usually sends a text and I reply and every so often we have a chat. The baby is getting bigger and heavier but as yet has no inclination to emerge.

4. The comments about James in the unity room were lost on me and perhaps I have forgotten what the talk was about being so far removed from anything European. We are certainly in the back of beyond now and travelling further into the depth of Eastern ways.

5. A Chinese joke we were told. The chinese eat anything that flies except planes and eats anything with four legs except a table. That was certainly true when I experienced locals eating locusts and donkey at a barbecue yesterday. We are definitely among local life which we requested, but I am mostly sticking to vegetables. No more Tofou, no more tofou. Breakfast was the wierdest today.

6. I had no idea this was such a large tobacco growing area. We visited a Mongolian village yesterday where women in their late 70s were threading the tobacco leaves onto poles, and another was hammering rocky earth to break down the particles. They were not keen on having their photos taken. The people smoke everywhere at tables and all over.

7. Most towns have been recently built and generally modern, though perhaps not modern conveniences. The shops and markets are interesting. The stuff they sell is amazing.

8. Keep in touch and send a text now and again. We are looking forward to getting on some bikes but no opportunity yet.

The oriental