Dear Emma,

Please forgive me for sending you this note so late, but I want to tell you about our experience in China in August. Thank you for working so closing with me to plan our tour on the Silk Road. My son and I had a wonderful time in China. Everything you scheduled for us went well and I would like to share our experience with you.


Urumqi/Turpan Guide: "Richard"
Richard was very prompt in meeting us at the designated times at our hotel and very knowledgeable in the history and government of the places we visited and China as a whole. He had very good English, and was the best English-speaker of our three tour guides. Richard had a very good sense of humor and was easy to talk to. He gave us plenty of free time to do things on our own, which we liked and was very flexible with the day's touring schedule. He even gave us options at the beginning of each day for us to plan our own itinerary. The city of Urumqi was a great place for us to start our vacation because it bridged the western environment we came from with the developing regions of Xinjiang that we saw later in the trip. The Southern Pasture waterfall was a nice scenic location, but it was a long drive to see it. Heavenly Lake was beautiful, but perhaps we should have arrived earlier to avoid the throngs of domestic tourists who arrive in the late morning. Turpan was very hot, with temperatures reaching up to 48C. Some of the scenic attractions like the ancient cities and caves were difficult to appreciate because it was just too hot.


Kashgar Guide: Muhammad
Kashgar is by far our favorite city of our vacation. The friendly and approachable people, the Uyghur culture, and the hustle and bustle of everyday life in Kashgar is a fascinating eye-opener for any Westerner who has never been to Central Asia. Because it was so different from our home in New York City, we found every single aspect of life very interesting. Kashgar is a photographer's heaven for capturing images that are glimpses into the past. While the rest of the Western world is wired up and interconnected, Kashgar remains, for the most part, unchanged for centuries. Farmers may have mobile phones, but they still count the teeth of donkeys to check their age at the Sunday Market. Muhammad was a superior tour guide for Kashgar and is the perfect person for the job. He is young, energetic, knowledgeable, forthcoming, and honest. Without needing us to ask many questions, Muhammad often told us all he knew about where we were going, what we were seeing along the way, and other facts about Kashgar and Uyghur life that we did not know. Muhammad went out of his way to make sure we had a pleasant stay at the hotel. On the first night, our hotel room's lock did not work and he came to our room to help resolve the problem with the hotel staff even after 12am midnight. We did not ask him to come, but he did so on his own volition and we really appreciated it. I accidentally deleted my pictures in my digital camera from the Sunday Market, so on the way to and from Karakul Lake, Muhammad made a stop at a Monday Market in a village called Usp southwest of Kashgar so I can take some more pictures. This was another example of Muhammed going beyond what was required of him as our guide to accommodate us. Throughout the tour, Muhammad was very attentive to our needs and gave us the best opportunity to experience Kashgar.


Urumqi-Dunhuang Transit
The overnight train was a lot more comfortable than what we had expected. We had an entire berth (2 bunk beds) to ourselves and the beds themselves were very clean and comfortable. The train had a smooth ride and was fairly quiet for the overnight journey across the desert. Having traveled on many airplanes all across China, taking a train was a welcome change.


Dunhuang Guide: "Richard" Dunhuang was also a very hot and dry city, but we were still able to enjoy the sights. By far our favorite destination was the Echoing Sands Mountain and riding the camels up to watch the spectacular sunrise. The view was amazing and the experience of being we've only seen on photos and movies was worth getting up before dawn to see. The Magao Grottoes were breathtaking, as it was difficult to imagine how the Buddhas were built so large, so long ago.


Xian and Shanghai
We did not hire a tour guide for these two cities, but it was easy to get around with taxis. The hotels you booked for us were wonderful. We stayed in the Hyatt at Xian. Hyatt has the best food among all the hotels we had stayed in. They had a large food selection and were prepared well. Ramanda at Shanghai was in a very convenience location for shopping and sightseeing. Chinese language music CDs in Shanghai were very inexpensive and my son brought several.


We had such a good time in China and would like to return someday to visit other parts of your country. We will let our friends know about your services.

Johanna Choy