Journey to China: Unexpected Discoveries and Culinary Delights

On the first day we left our house with our bags packed and our minds open. An hour after leaving the house and saying our final goodbyes we hopped on our first plane, destination: Kazakhstan with Air Astana.

Our first time flying Air Astana

After a three hour flight we landed in the capital, Almaty, and after a short layover we quickly got on the next plane to our first stop in China: Urumqi. After a long flight we finally made it, although tired and hungry we persevered. However, as we were leaving we encountered our first obstacle: security. We put our bags through and all of them went through smoothly until the blue one. We were all confused until the officer pulled out a knife from the side pocket, which we all had thought Guy had lost a year ago at scout camp. It was obviously confiscated.

After a brief moment of skelling (Afrikaans word for scolding that we use in our family) and then laughing, we exited the airport.

First official photo in China

We then jumped into two taxis. Unlike Indian taxi wallahs, Chinese taxi drivers will not take more than four passengers. Upon arrival to the hotel, Four Points by Sheraton (fancy, but mom says she got it at a steal), we were served an amazing meal and from then on we welcomed Chinese cuisine with open arms.

Nevertheless, a long day of traveling left us tired and stuffed, so we decided to have a nap. Later that day, after a well-deserved rest we went to the International Grand Bazaar where we saw many shops, exquisite fruit and had a delicious dinner of pilaf rice and barbecued meat.

When you live in Delhi and starved of meat