Hello. This is an opportunistic postcard, having just found an internet connection. I'm now in a little town called Kara Kol which is at the foot of the Tien Shan mountains in Kyrgystan. The range used to form the border between the Soviet Union and China. Since the last postcard I've mostly been camping at various places high in the mountains; counting marmots, building yurts and drinking bloody marys* - sometimes simultansously. Tonight is a night of luxury in a town (a chance to catch up on laundry and to stock up on supplies) before heading back into the hills tomorrow for a couple of days trekking. In about a week (not sure what day it is) we'll be arriving in Bishkek, which is the capital. Hopefully I'll have a chance to upload my many mountain photos then. After Bishkek we'll be crossing the Tien Shan mountains via the Tougart Pass (3700m) and then heading down to Kashgar, which is in China on the edge of the Taklimakan Desert. This will be the start of my two months in China. * We are now in vodka country and bloody marys are the most palatable way of drinking the stuff.