China, Nepal and Hello from India! Hoping to find ye well, just a quick hello to everyone and a quick update on an incredible 7 weeks in China and Nepal... I arrived into the NW of China to the Xinjiang province from Kazakhstan bound for the city of Urumqi. I had a highlighted Urumqi as an entry point to China for many months as an arrival point from Central Asia to use for onwards travel to the rest of the country. I was of the opinion that Urumqi was simply a dusty, desert border town used for travel between two continents, I was half expecting the tumbleweed to roll across the street in front of me but I really hadn't got a clue. I couldn't believe the sight of the city when I first arrived to be honest. It's a city of some 2.7 million people living amongst, skyscrapers, city centre dual carriageways, fashion boutiques and more banks in one place than I'd ever seen in my #life. The only thing lacking was an underground metro system but it's still short of the 3 million people population for the Chinese government to justify such an arrangement. Urumqi and the Xinjiang province is very much the new economic tiger and business hub of western China and greater Central Asia, I even encountered a CNN Asia news team (in an Oirish Pub...where else?!) who were documenting the rise of this city. It was a real awakening as to what modern day China is all about and a real insight of what yet was to come. While in Xinjiang and missing some aspects of country #life at this point, I got the notion to travel on a 24 hour bus ride to the city of Kashgar in the south western reaches of Xinjiang for a Sunday animal market. This bus being the cheapest form of travel in China, consisted of a row of bunk beds along each window of the bus with another row in the central aisle. If you like a bit of dirt and cramped, sickly conditions its the thing for you.  Attracting buyers and sellers of the finest examples of Central Asian sheep, goats, camels, horses and whitehead cattle to the market, it's supposed to be the biggest animal market in Asia . I don't know what I was expecting though but it was a little underwhelming. Situated in a car park to the east of the city, it was hardly the biggest animal market in Kashgar that day - I think I'd seen bigger days out on a 15th of August in Kenmare some years back! A couple of laps of the market sussing out the going was enough for me, prices were bad, bad, bad so I left still with the few pound in my pocket and headed east! Cattle fairs aside though, a visit to Kashagar was a real treat. The capital and central seat of control for the autonomous Xinjiang province and the home province to some 20 million Uighur people; it's resisting strongly the the generations of Han Chinese migration from eastern China while trying to retain much of it's own independence. Tensions arose throughout the region some years ago with street clashes between Uighur, Han and police taking place with scores killed and injured. This has resulted in tensions still high with the military effectively ruling this police state with deep suspicions of locals and visitors alike. Finding accommodation was difficult and spin-off of this trouble. Many hotels even of the grandest class were unable to accept foreigners without a 'special' permit which often left the last resort being the septic tank like hostelry next to the filthy buses parked beside the filthy bus station - 'it's only for one night, i'll be gone first thing in the morning ' I told myself as I put my head down on a filthy pillow case one more time...!. Though resisted by locals, the Han Chinese will argue that for decades now they have brought enterprise, commerce, jobs and wealth to this formerly poor and underdeveloped Xinjiang province in far North Western China. Millions of Han Chinese have migrated from the overflowing eastern cities to to this modern day 'Klondike' of China. There is a rich natural resource boom in oil, gas and minerals that is proving the driving force of modern day China. All the trappings of wealth are very visible on the streets of Urumqi, Kashgar and Turpan from fashion to fast cars to sky high high apartments which lie next door and in sharp contrast to the old city Uighur neighborhoods. The single storey, mud brick houses and streets of the Uighur districts are being slowly squeezed out and with it all the traditions and #lifestyles that may have successfully existed for the Uighur's up until now. A similar story is common throughout the rest of China as villages are transformed in cities of glass and steel overnight and there's not a thing the locals can do to stop it. The bulldozers come in, the transformation begins and that's the end of the matter really... This reality of fast paced change is not just confined to western China but it's easily visible throughout China. China is a vast country through which I spent much time in long distance buses and trains. Traveling between cities and regions it's not hard to notice to rate of development and the aggressive appetite for all commodities to maintain this drive. Being transported in trains along river valleys, it's easy notice quarries, foundries, factories, roadways and workshops of all sizes lining the river sides to supply the destination cities I traveled to. Cities so large that one can travel for an hour on a train to get from the outer reaches of the city suburbs to the city centre train station. Valleys and landscapes that we'd consider places of beauty are being dissected with large concrete couluns and pillars to provide support for new motorways to make those mountain towns accessible. Noticeable too is the transformation in landscapes over distances from farmland to industrial centers to large cities often in the space of a few short miles. Journeying through the farmland in all of China really, it was evident that every field and morsel of land, every grass verge and available space was being utilized in food production of some sort - nothing went to waste. And this farmland despite the modernity of China was all being worked on by families with their pair of oxes and hand tools. This mass food production was staggering all to feed a population of 1.6 billion people created largely on a a one child policy and yet food is till being imported into China. The population climb of the country is immense and the demand for western style modern living was incredible and very visible in every Chinese city. I recently listened to an RTE radio podcast documentary on China first broadcast in 2008. The documentary stated that at the time of broadcast that car ownership in China was on the rise where in 2008 24 people per 1000 had a car compared to 500 people per 1000 having a car in Europe. The impact on the environment, cost and supply of fossil fuels was highlighted and with numbers only having to increase since one can only wonder at the future impact on the PLANET by the country of China...crazy stuff! Of the cities I visited many of which I'd not heard of some months ago from Lanzhou to Chengdu to Kunming with populations in the millions, the atmosphere of business, development and opportunities for growth was simply raucous. Everywhere these cities teemed with a 'can achieve' attitude that we once associated with the US. I think anyone from a bin cleaner to high class property developer could make things work here. In contrast to the west, China makes Europe look like some weekend, old town holiday destination which may not be too far from the truth I think. I concluded an all too brief month in China in the beautiful Yunnan province in south west China. The country is just to huge and varied that if I were to return again for a holiday I'd confine myself to this most beautiful of regions. Close to Tibet, rural and very traditional it's a province home to nearly 100 ethnic groups all of which seem to live side by side without any sign of trouble. Traditions amongst all the groups are strong it seems with the young people are as fervently proud of what they stand for that the old people who still retain what is a true to them.  A region colourful in crop terraces, twisting, winding roads and mountain villages it's a place of wonders. Lijiang, one of the main cities of the province retains in near perfect condition one of the most beautiful, Old Towns to challenge any old town anywhere in the world I think. A great place to conclude China this time and a starting point the next time for sure. Following on from China, I spent 3 weeks in mountainous Nepal. The trekking is the main draw here for tourism where it's the number one industry and revenue source and it's easy see why.  It was simply overwhelming - breathtaking, snow capped mountain scenery, coloured crop terraces as far as the eye can see and lovely, lovely people. The tourist infrastructure for trekkers is solid with the few working villages having plenty of lodges and guesthouses to stay in whilst many more stops along the route were simply a cluster of 3 or 4 guesthouses right on the trail to services the trekkers. These guesthouses were situated right up to base camps at 4650m where all the commodities everything from eggs to drums of gas are ferried upwards on the backs of porters. It's insane what these guys have too carry to stock these guesthouses while whats worse is what trekking tourists give these porters to ferry on the trek.  I often met porters carrying 3 rucksacks weighing a total of 50kg up the steepest of rocky inclines! The porters needless to say were incensed with the nonsensical amount of gear to be carried. There's no way on earth anyone needs upwards of 20kg of clothing for a 10 day trek, shocking. But in many cases the porters were willing as the more they'd ferry, the better the pay (0.15 GBP/0.17euro per kg I was told). These porters many young men took up these jobs in villages where there were no other form of employment available. Imagine leaving school at 14 and facing a #lifetime of carrying the expensive goods of tourists that you'll never dream of having... The Helambu/Guzin Kund trek close to Kathmandu was a real highlight of Nepal. Part of the greater Himalayan Langtang trail, it was sparse with tourists with much more the working villages with ethnically diverse parts of the trail from village to village. Groups from the Sherpa people to the Yomo people alternated from place to place and so different in dress and facial features. The scenery was a lot more varied to other treks with low scrub initially to crop terraces to pine forests, almost Alaskan like landscapes to wide rockey valleys, cliffs overhanging frozen lakes to Rhododendron/Oak tree forests towards the end. Many species of flora and fauna are endangered up there from the red panda on the critical list to birds of prey. It's easy to see why with amount of deforestation and extension of farming being all too visible. 'Ah, those trees were dead' was the reply when I asked one guide as to why hundreds of acres of forest around a guesthouse were burned and cleared. Clearly, the trees had not been0 not... Kathmandu itself I liked, the hustle and chaos of the city streets as well as the rubbish strewn streets were a good introduction of what what was to come in India. The tourist centre of the city was  'The Thamel' district, it was where everything tourists needed was located - from trekking/tour shops to Irish Pubs and all that goes with it. You could arrive there in a tuxedo and be kitted out in all the fake North Face gear you could poke a walking stick at! Nepal though and outer Kathmandu is poor and poverty stricken. Despite Nepal having the second highest volume of water available for HEP, Kathmandu still goes without electricity for 8 hours a day - ridiculous. The locals speak of the need to develop HEP to power their cities, sell the excess to India and fund greater development. Though I thought too that if for HEP they had to flood whole Himalayan valleys as a result, there would be an outcry from the International community to 'preserve' these beautiful mountain valleys that we use for our holidays. Many older Nepalese talk of hope for this better educated current generation to drive the country forward and go beyond the levels of corruption that currently drag the country down to being the third poorest in the world (difficult to see this in The Thamel). There are many NGO's operating in Nepal to counter the poverty, poor health and poor education. But the country is so corrupt the NGO's when not driving 'round in their UN emblazoned 4x4's have to pay exorbitant amounts of money to local governments to operate while the volunteers themselves also must pay a fee to simply 'work for free'. The NGO game is big business. Sighing off from Varanasi, India. I'm bound for Agra and the Tag Mahal this afternoon weather permitting if this fog that's blanketed the city for the past few days continues to lift. I hope ye all enjoy a fantastic Christmas and wishing ye all the very best for 2012.