Category: travel
“Excuse me, do you have the swine flu?”
We took the 11:58pm train from Urumqi to Almaty, a 36 hour adventure across the Chinese border to Kazakhstan. Arriving early (as is my...
Kashgar to Urumqi: The World’s Longest Backtrack
Having decided months ago to avoid going through Kyrgyzstan because of reported troubles foreigners were having at the Chinese-Kyrgyz...
Tashkurgan’s Stone Village and the Epic Glacier Adventure
At the end of a tree-lined street, we stopped at an old clay fortress. We discovered that it was over 1300 years old. Middle Eastern /...
Kashgar’s Sunday Market and Bazaars
This morning, after a bout of food poisoning which rendered us useless and hostel-bound yesterday, we decided to check out the famous...
Into the Mosque
In central Old Town there rests an ancient mosque (build in 1442) that has been repaired countless times and currently remains one of the...
Kashgar to Lake Karakul
Lake Karakul, situated along the breathtaking Tian Shan Tajik-China border, is one of the most stunning and awe-inspiring spots on the...
Kashgar and the Silk Road
As our night train rolled in from Urumqi today (24 hour sleeper train), we came upon a very Chinese station platform. Although I had not...
Arrived Safely In Urumqi
We arrived in Urumqi, Xinjiang,at exactly 4:10pm today (right on time) after a 48 hour train ride across China. From here we have purchased...
Getting a visa for Kazakhstan from China
We applied for Kazakh transit visas and found the process amazingly easy (perhaps because we are comparing it to the process of getting an...
Shopping for Outdoor Gear in Shanghai
We ventured to every travel gear store in Shanghai. For those seeking camping, climbing, trekking or other outdoor wear and gear we fully...
Poll Results are in and Vietnam Wins
We conducted an online poll to see where our readers thought we should travel next. 37% of our voters thought we should go to Vietnam....
Getting a Visa for Uzbekistan in Shanghai
This is apparently what a visa to Uzbekistan looks like, but I wouldn’t know. It has officially been 3 weeks since we began our...
Cycling for Adventure Travel
As every good adventurer knows, a good companion makes all the difference. At AbandonTheCube we revere those who have gone before us and...
A Visa-Related Snag
Having completed all the necessary paperwork, acquired mini photos of myself and located my passport I set off to the Uzbek consulate in...
Yellow Mountain Fever
We returned today from a four day trip to HuangShan, Yellow Mountain, in Anhui province, China. Nine Dragon Waterfall On Friday the 13th we...
International Visas
As the trip planning progresses I find myself at the stage of applying for international visas, a process wrought with vagueness and...
The Problem of the Borders
In planning the trip from Shanghai to Ashgabat, I’m encountering some chatter online about difficulties previous travelers have faced...
Shanghai to Ashgabat, the Plan
As many of you know, I was laid off from my financial job on New Year’s Eve (classy timing). But this upsetting twist has been an...
How Much Would it Cost to Travel for a Year?
How much would it cost to travel in Asia for a year? This thought crossed my mind today as I was sitting in my office. Like being back...
Pineapple Paradise Park
On the third day- we rested. The next morning we were itching to get out of the cabin after having watched an entire season of The Office....
Moving to Shanghai: ATC Relocates to the Middle Kingdom
Abandon the Cube moves full-time to China, and settles in Shanghai.
