Forget Dubai. Forget it unless you are swimming in money. Or you have some uncontrollable urge to throw cash around. Everything one would come to Dubai for is horribly expensive. All that remains for the commoner is a common average desert town and the bitter taste of 'failure'. But let's start from the beginning. Because getting into the United Arab Emirates is not as easy as it seems. Even though I won't spend more than a single day here passport control insis...

I hate it! I hate it! I hate this stupid National Day s***! Why does all of China have to be on the move all at the same time? Never heard of a mobile phone? Ugh. Continuing from Tuesday night I force myself on the train. Luckily it is a bit less crowded than on the way here, but still far from comfortable. I stay at the end of the wagon, right next to the entrance - not that I could go anywhere - and patiently wait until the conductor closes the door and we s...

The hard sleeper to Dàtóng is surprisingly empty. Perhaps the craze of the masses has let off after the first day of holidays. There isn't much to do though. Just waiting out the six hour train ride to finally arrive around three in the city. After leaving my suitcase behind at 'left luggage' I look for a hotel and check into the first one I find. Can't be bothered traversing the city searching for a place to sleep with the suitcase whose third wheel is about...

Friday has been a complete waste of time, but today seems better. The skies are clear, the sun's out. I get up early to go to the "desert". Resonant Sand Gorge is not really a desert, more like Mui Né's sand dunes but a bit bigger, both in size and height. We are on a budget - and adventure! - so no tour, no taxi, I'm going on my own. After finally finding the bus to Dáqí - bus 17 - south of the city I get on, but only to be ushered off fifteen minutes later...

Hohhot. Cold, dark, miserable and wet. It is about 7°C when my train arrives around midnight and as I get off at the station it starts raining. What joy. In the dark I scramble from hotel to hotel to find a place to sleep. Most are full as 1.38bln Chinese are travelling this week, others are way too expensive and the places listed in the guide book either don't exist anymore or are unfindable. Finally a helpful local points me to a place a bit further down the...