Maxichamp

57 posts
Maxichamp is a law-talking guy, an unorthodox traveler, and an aficionado of oddball cars.

The Road to Karakul Lake

We are heading south. A surprisingly well-paved, two lane road connects us from Kashgar all the way to our final destination. Ever since 9/11, China has made a point of making sure its borders with Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, all within a few hours’ drive from here, are secure. To that end, this road has been paved and regularly cleared of falling rocks. On the way to Karakul, I see about a half dozen army trucks filled to the brim with stone faced, young People’s Liberation Army soldiers.

A few minutes out of Kashgar, the landscape opens up. Near the horizon stands the Pamir range, my destination. The road is lined with pencil thin poplar trees on either side. Parallel to the southbound lane is a narrow canal used for irrigation. It runs for miles. Continue reading →

Kashgar Bazaar and the Karakoram Highway

Kashgar is an ancient oasis town on the western tip of China. The area is home to Uyghurs, a Turkic speaking, Muslim community. It is in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. The region is by no means autonomous and is quickly filling up with Han (China’s dominant ethnicity). Through a combination of modernization, repression, and flooding the area with Han immigrants, the Uyghur people and culture are slowly being snuffed out.

I am a huge Silk Road buff. And Kashgar is Silk Road Central. My plan is to visit the Sunday Bazaar– the largest in Central Asia– and to travel the Chinese section of the Karakoram Highway. The highway crosses the Pamir Mountains and connects Pakistan with China. Bin Laden’s hideout, in Abbottabad, is along the Karakoram. A few miles to the west of the highway are the borders with Tajikistan and Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor. Continue reading →

My List of the Top 10 Travel TV Show Hosts

If you’re into travel, then you’re probably into travel TV shows. Which hosts make the top 10? Here are my favorites:

10. Rick Steves. He’s got that awkward uncle vibe going, but his shows and books are chock-full of useful information about Europe and beyond. His support of NORML definitely gives him more street cred with the PBS crowd.

9. Karl Pilkington. An Idiot Abroad is brilliant. For the life of me, I can’t figure out if his dislike of travel is an act. Continue reading →

Fly Fishing In Tierra del Fuego

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Yesterday, we visited penguins. Today, we go trout fishing! Marge (not my wife’s real name) booked a guide to take us out. When I found out the price for the day trip (equivalent to what I spent over eight days during my solo bus trip), I was pretty peeved, to say the least. While we waited for our guide to pick us up at the hotel, I sarcastically said– For that price, he better pick us up in a Land Rover Defender 110.

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China – Japan Dispute Over Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands Explained

With American embassies all over the Middle East and North Africa under attack, the Western media has for the most part ignored a potentially greater geopolitical flashpoint. Though an outright conventional (or nuclear) war between China and Japan is very unlikely, their fight over some tiny islands will certainly escalate.

The Senkaku Islands (as the Japanese call them; the Chinese call them the Diaoyu Islands) are a group of five small uninhabited islands and three rocks in the East China Sea between China and Japan. The area surrounding the islands may have oil and commercial fishing fleets also ply the waters there. Fundamentally, the dispute is not about oil or fish.  It’s really about power, history, and not losing face. Continue reading →

An Unsuccessful Attempt at Crossing the Strait of Magellan

The 8 1/2 hours of sleep on a horizontal hotel mattress was pure bliss. You see, I just spent the last four days riding one bus after another for 5,000 kilometers– down the entire length of Chile. I planned on waking up early so that I could walk around the town of Punta Arenas and take pictures of cars, but I am still tired and it’s windy outside.

On my hotel room TV, CNN is doing a story about how Unilever is profiting in Kenya by selling consumer goods like soap in single servings. This reminds me of my friend’s parents’ liquor store in Los Angeles, which sells individual cigarettes to the poor because they don’t have the money to buy an entire pack.

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Touring the Chuquicamata Copper Mining Pit

Though Lonely Planet describes Calama as a “shithole”, the Chilean mining town is one of my favorite stops in all of South America. I arrived late last night and unnecessarily walked briskly to my hotel. I say unnecessarily because the town was perfectly safe, orderly, and pleasant.

There’s a lot of money here because of the copper mine. Like any boom town based on oil or minerals, you’ve got lots of overpriced yet austere looking hotels, and a skewed male to female population ratio. Continue reading →

A Visit to Humberstone, a Nitrate Mining Ghost Town in the Atacama Desert

3:13 p.m. What a day. I can finally relax. I’m sitting in an open air restaurant and eating the most amazing fish caldillo. It’s a simple soup served in a giant cast iron bowl. Huge, tender chunks of fish (too hungry to ask what kind), potatoes, tomatoes, and onions are cooked with lemon, cilantro, peppers, and garlic. The soup base is not thick, but is substantial enough to be a meal in itself. I’m eating a scalding hot soup on a scorching day, surrounded by cheesy Christmas decorations. And I’m lovin’ it. Continue reading →