Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Zed]

I think I'd really like to go check the place out. Maybe not in the winter though. Perhaps I could make it a Silk Road journey and start (or finish) the trip in China.

Has anyone ever been there? Travelled the Silk Road? What did you think? Would you recommend it?

[kiwiboy_nz_99]

No ...

[Dazed and Confused]

I'd love to go to Uzbekistan and keep trying to get hubby interested to go. He always does this horrifying Korean scream when I say the word "Uzbekistan". Don't know why?????
anyway, I've been to Xian, the begining of the Silk Road, and I've always wanted to follow it out. Xian is interesting and definitly worth a visit on it's own.

[VanIslander]

Travelling the silk road is one of the options I'm considering for that Big Life Trip I want to make in 2005. I've been fascinated with doing either it or, among other possibilities, following the Ob River up Western Siberia to the Arctic Ocean. In the summertime of course.

Just yesterday I read about the old Silk road town of Korla in the Tarim basin, just south of the Tianshan Mountains. It's a haven of archeological interest as is the entire historical trail. And I'd be most interested in researching the anthropological literature on the present lives of central Asian peoples prior to making the journey.

If I do it I will write and photograph a book about it. (I am an experienced journalist with too many articles and nothing in a binding - yet.)

The problem is I would only make the journey with at least two or three committed others, given the risks.

Here's an idea:

How about forming an expedition of Korean ESLers? Maybe for the spring of 2005. If there's enough interest, we could have an organizational meeting to banter about ideas, set some concrete plans and gain enough info to decide whether we want to commit ourselves to the expedition. At that time we could nominate someone to hold onto deposits (if we all agree to that) to assure ourselves that others are serious and won't bail after they commit themselves, especially when we are going to make and forgo work commitments in order to free up the time.

We could even co-author that book afterwards.

IF YOU SERIOUSLY WANT TO DO THE SILK ROAD, YOU CAN. THINK ABOUT IT. HOW MANY CHANCES WILL YOU GET?

Or is it just a nice idea?

[Zed]

Yes, I've been to Xian D&C. Had a great time there but turned in the other direction. I think, if I were to travel the Silk Road i would want to start there (rather than the opposite I mean. Since I've been there it wouldn't hold the sense of anticipation that say Tashkent or Samarkand would.)
VanIslander: I'm in with the qualifier that I won't be able to make a commitment financially for a few months since I have to wait to see how a couple of financial situations turn out for me here. When exactly do you want to go? I think May or June 2005 would be ideal for me. And how far do you want to go with it? Uzbekistan? Istanbul?

[peppermint]

I've met some people from Uzbekistan, never been there though. A tip, avoid what they call vodka, unless you've got nothing planned for the rest of the week.

[VanIslander]

Zed, it's a great idea to set off from Xi'an.

How far to go? Well, if the expedition went only as far as Tashkent or Samarkand, then over 80% of the journey would be only in China AND we wouldn't see much of Uzbekistan.

If we decide to go further than Tashkent we can take either the south route through Iran (unlikely) or the north route through MUCH of Uzbekistan.

How far on the northern route?

Well, the next major city on the route is the European city of Odessa, Ukraine on the northern coast of the Black Sea. (It would be easy to get a connecting flight from there.) Taking the silk road from China to Europe, Xi'an to Odessa, would take the expedition through Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the Urals and southern Russia. That way, only about 50% of the journey would be through China.

We could go THROUGH Uzbekistan only to Guryev, Kazakhstan on the Caspian Sea, but that would be just short of the European continent.

The shortest possible trip down the silk road from China to Europe I think would be to Volgograd, Russia (a connecting flight via Moscow would be likely).

I tried finding some pictures of the beautiful sights of Volgograd and I was googled to the so-called "Romance Tour" of Volgograd.
http://www.loveme.com/tour/volgograd/

So, we could follow the silk road as far as Tashkent, all the way to Venice or to places inbetween (Guryev, Volgograd, Odessa).

I suggest at least to Volgograd to make the expedition down the silk road "from China to Europe".

Everything is negotiable.

However, the expedition needs at least three people, hopefully four (If someone breaks a leg on a hillside hike then someone can stay and and someone can go get help. Plus overall security).

The idea of a deposit is to assure ourselves that we are serious. Someone we end up agreeing to be treasurer could hold some money so that everybody can count on going. I was going to suggest a couple of hundred thousand Korean Won.

Or BETTER: we could just all buy non-refundable airline tickets to Xian and from our final destination. But we don't have to figure that out until the SUMMER at least. (By next fall I will have to decide whether to renew my contract, return to grad school in January or what?)

I wanted to mention a deposit or financial commitment of some sort to make everyone think about whether they'd be serious about it and deter the sort of initial support that slowly deflates. It's a good idea but it takes a commitment to make it happen. Too many of my friends have suggested plans that have gone nowhere. You know?

So right now it's an idea generating interest. If there's enough interest we can hold an organizational meeting in the spring to get to know everyone and to help get all that info one needs to make the big decision whether to commit oneself to the expedition.

As for when to go: May or June 2005 sounds good. I was thinking April or May. So let's tentatively say May 2005? I would want to collect some weather stats for the areas along the silk road to present to the expedition members to help inform our final decision.

Taking the silk road from China to Europe through Uzbekistan! How cool is that?!

The 2005 Silk Road Expedition of Korean ESLers (SREKE!)(pronounced shrek or shriek?)

Who's bringing their camcorder?

[Zed]

Another option for the end of the trip would be perhaps to connect with something else i have long wanted to do: going up the Volga from Astrakhan to Moscow. This being an alternative to flying (wherever) from Volgograd via Moscow.

I'll admit that the southern route doesn't really seem like the best idea at the moment but I have been reading about some who have done it recently on the Lonelyplanet website. I'm a bit of a russophile anyway so the northern route suits me fine and if we were to continue on to Odessa or perhaps end up in the Caucasus I wouldn't be disappointed either. We've got some time to think about it though.

Anyone else interested?

[tokki]

Id be sooo in if I was single... Ive been as far East as Kharkov and Donetsk and Ive been to the Azov sea a couple of times coming down the Dniepr via Kiev.. Been to Odessa as well. So if you guys needed a guide I could have been useful.

[travellingwilly]

I got stuck in Xian for 6 days i think it was(Ratslash can confirm the number of days)and after the second day,I was totally bored and couldnt wait to leave.Sure,the Terracotta Warriors are fantastic.Even the Muslim quater was worth a visit,but apart from that,we ran out of ideas.I think the highlight of the rest of the time there was the regular Friday night Dumpling Party at the YHA(you have to be there to understand)!
Of course,I just blame the Chinese Railway for it all,if they had put on more than one train a day form Xian to Kunming,I might have enjoyed it more.

travellingwilly.

[canuckistan]

Traveling the entire length of the Silk Road has always been something I'd like to do.

[Zed]

TW - I didn't spend very much time in Xian (2 Days) but I had a good time there. I could understand that it may get a little dull there if you were there for a longer period of time. The market over past the drum tower in the muslim quarter was kind of cool. So much variety.

Canuckistan: Care to join a group for a Silk Road journey? (May 2005 approx.)

[Zyzyfer]

Although I've got no vested interest in it, I would consider going if my current job plan fell through, since I need to get my ass on up into that part of the world anyways. I wouldn't know for a few months, though...

[camel96]

I love Xian. It's a really fun city with a pile of interesting crap to do.
The silk road idea might be a cool trip. From what I remember Uzbek visas are a headache to get. I may be wrong though.

[waterbaby]

Hey! There's a doco on Discovery right now about the Silk Route