Urumqi, China | 13 October, 2006 | $12.36
This is the same hotel I stayed in the first time I was in Urumqi and I thought it was easiest to go there since I knew where it was and what the rooms went for. After the rough travel I put myself through in Central Asia I was ready for a bed with sheets and my own shower before heading into Tibet. I got in touch with David, who I met through this site and had dinner with in Mongolia in June, about couchsurfing while I was in town then hit up KFC for a chicken sandwich and was once again able to access the internet. It was nice to be back in Urumqi, a place where I had figured out the bus routes and where the best internet shops were. I did run into some more difficulty this time with the internet girl asking for my passport before giving me access. I don’t carry my passport around (although you’re supposed to by law in China) so I just feigned ignorance and managed to get on after giving a fake name. I had no reason to conceal my identity but there’s something that bothers me about it and I derived great pleasure from giving them the name of a common American celebrity.
