The host city for the 2012 ‘Racing the Planet’ Gobi March was Kashi (aka Kashgar), China.  http://www.4deserts.com/gobimarch/    If you consult your handy maptlas, you’ll find Kashi on the far Western ( metric for left ) side of the country wedged between the friendly nations of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Here’s a link with all the boring history:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashgar

Kashi is one of the places the Chinese media doesn’t always like to discuss.  It seems the people of Kashi ( mostly Islamic folks called Uighurs ) don’t really like being part of China and would like some more religious freedom.  For some strange reason China has a problem with that, so let’s just say there are some ‘tensions’ in the region and the occasional ‘incident’. 

Arriving in Kashi a day early allowed me the opportunity to wander the city with three other American racers I had met in the Beijing airport.  We went pretty much anywhere we wanted and NEVER felt threatened.  Whatever issues exist in the region, none of it is directed toward foreigners.  Seriously, no kidding at all.

At the center of Kashi is a statue of Mao.  You’ll probably remember him from the middle little Stockdale’s ‘communist in training’ t-shirt.  The further away from Beijing you get, the bigger the statues of Mao become.  The biggest Mao statue is in Tibet.  ( hmmmmmm ?  ? ? ? ? )

Parts of Kashi are fairly well developed, although you’d never be able to forget where you were.

There is also the old city of Kashi which is being re-developed / re-habbed.  This part of town is literally a thousand years old.  There was a huge amount of construction going on in the old city.  However, that begs the question as to whether this development is being done to make the Uighurs happy or to turn the place into a giant tourist town.  Regardless, this was the fascinating part that I’ll never forget.

There were also some parts of Kashi that looked/felt pretty darn normal.

Overall Kashi was a very cool place, however there is very little reason for anyone to come here, unless you’re clueless enough to run around the desert for seven days.

Since there is no easy way to drop this Gobi thing into a single post, I’ll split it up into a bunch of smaller ones. 

However, if I were to reduce it to a single entry, here it is:

Before the race, this is all the stuff I took.

And all the stuff I took in my pack.

At the start.

During the race, this is the blister under my big toenail being drained each day.

After the race, this is me with a beer and a medal, or a medal and a beer.  It just depends on your priorities.

More to follow in the next few days (week). 

That said, the general question I keep getting is whether or not I would do it again.  The answer is,  without hesitation –  YES.  Probably the Sahara or Atacama race in 2014.  Let me know if you’re interested in joining me.  (Not kidding, anyone can do these things.  It’s just a matter of preparation, stupidity, and a reasonable amount of stubbornness to carry you through to the finish.  A little support from your Mrs. Stockdale doesn’t hurt either.)

Better late than never, but here are some pictures of Seoul taken from a park on a big hill in the center of town.

As always, you can click on the photos to embiggen.

The population of Seoul is 10,000,000.  If you include the area surrounding the city, this number swells to about 23,000,000.   That means that approximately half the population of Korea lives in or around Seoul and is within artillery range of our whacky neighbor to the north.

Traffic can be pretty bad, but you just learn when to do things.  While there are times when things become totally gridlocked, those situations are reasonably rare.

Urban living in Seoul is basically the same as it would be in Chicago or New York or any other big city.  There are numerous little grocery stores around our apartment.  90% of what we need can be found within walking distance.

Also, I can’t begin to describe the convenience and INEFFICIENCY of the subway system.  Yes it works, but it’s barely an improvement on searching for a parking spot.  Listen to me America, never fall for this public transportation boondoggle.  Everything I said in my old post about public transportation in Singapore still holds in Korea.

https://adventuresofdalestockdale.com/2010/10/17/public-transportation/

Few more weeks and then we’re back in KC for the Summer.

The big little Stockdale had her 3rd grade concert this week.  The concert itself was great.  However, the actions of the crowd were much more entertaining.

Why should I bother straining my neck to see my child when I can just watch on the tiny screen obstructing my view?

Because folks spend most of their day staring at their phones anyway, it’s just normal that we watch our children that way. 

This guy had two cameras, one camera on a tripod and also his phone.  My guess is that as soon as he got home he was going to edit them together and watch his son/daughter perform from the comfort of his couch.

In this shot, you can count ELEVEN people using cameras or about to use a camera.

Not to mention this person, who obstructed the view of the people behind them for the ENTIRE SHOW.  Please note, she was in the front row.

Now, I fully understand wanting to capture the moment.  I’m sure the folks behind me weren’t too happy that I was obstructing their views by taking random pictures of the crowd watching their children through their phones.  However, when do we all realize that it’s much more enjoyable to watch our children live for thirty minutes than it is to record them in a blurry video that no one will ever watch again?

Due to some previous and future logistical constraints, the middle little Stockdale’s 8th birthday and Mrs. Stockdale’s 40th birthday were celebrated today.

Happy birthday to a cute little girl and an old lady!

Mrs. Stockdale’s company picnic was on Saturday.  In true company picnic style, it was held at ‘Seoul Land’.  I would like to compare ‘Seoul Land’ with ‘Disneyworld’, ‘Disneyland’, ‘Kings Island’, or ‘Worlds of Fun’, but that would be like comparing ‘Burger King’ to ‘Mortons’ because both are establishments that serve food.

When you enter ‘Seoul Land’ you are greeted by a ‘sphere’.  You’d think the folks at ‘Disneyworld’ could be more original and stop copying things from Asia.

‘Seoul Land’ is organized in a manner much like other theme parks.  They had various ‘lands’ named after various ‘things’ based on a set of ‘characters’.

The little Stockdales chose to start in ‘Adventureland’.   We found it with the help of the politically correct statue.

As seems to be the tradition throughout Asia, random car batteries were easy to locate.

Unlike Cambodia, I couldn’t locate any fully automatic weapons left in a canoe, but since South Korea is constantly vigilant of the impending attack from our wacky northern neighbor it’s good to keep the kids prepared with ‘Dragnon Tank’.

But remember, battle readiness isn’t just for kids, it’s fun for the whole family.

Should you choose to ride the log flume,

remember than anyone over 50 is considered ‘ELDERLY’.

While I’m fairly certain ‘log flume’ is a generic term, I’m not sure how ‘Seoul Land’ properly licensed the use of these images.

I’m sure Midway is just as pleased with  the use of Pac-Man on the trash bin as some other company might be about this.

There were many culinary options available should the little Stockdales become brave enough to get hungry.

After lunch, the little Stockdales begged for a souvenir from ‘Seoul Land’ as we continued our journey around the park.  They couldn’t decide between the strangely familiar dotted giant bows for their heads

and the pointy objects.

As part of the ‘World Plaza’ section of ‘Seoul Land’ our less southerly neighbor had erected a booth.  ( It was probably co-sponsored by the UN. )

All kidding aside, ‘Seoul Land’ wasn’t that bad.  They did have some pretty flowers.

Please note that all violations were serious enough to post in Korean and English.

No, it’s not pronounced like that!

For the second year in a row, the Stockdales spent their spring break in Thailand.  Thankfully, this time, Mrs. Stockdale was not bitten by the rabid puppy of death.

This vacation was basically the same as others. 

There was circus school once again, although the last time they did this was our lovely trip to Bintan when Mrs. Stockdale refused to abide by the many warning signs and got the black eye. 

The trapeze was as popular as ever.

As was the moon bounce, for some unknown reason.

Plus, I even tried the trapeze myself.

As you can see, I was a good father and actually went DOWN to the circus school to take LOTS of close up pictures of the little Stockdales performing at circus school, as well as the other various pieces of scenery located around the moon bounce.  Strangely, I wasn’t alone and many fathers waited patiently with their children around the moon bounce.  Mrs. Stockdale couldn’t be persuaded to leave the bar, so my bald head is a tad hard to identify in my trapeze photo.  For some reason, she wasn’t interested in the moon bounce or taking pictures around the moon bounce.

I must have been the only one with a goofy website, because no one else took a picture of the guy making balloon animals.

The little stockdales got their hair beaded.

The extra children are friends of the little Stockdales. The girl who towers over all the little Stockdales is in the middle little Stockdale’s class. Her little sister is a year younger than the crazy little Stockdale. Plus they have a fifteen month old daughter.  Having no friend for the big little Stockdale was NEVER EVER an issue and all the kids got along great and NEVER fought or yelled or anything remotely close to that. No yelling or bickering at all. I PROMISE. They were just all little princesses. That said, it’s always fun to vacation with another family. While the little Stockdales can occasionally not drive us nuts, it’s good to spend time with other adults who know how ‘rewarding’ it is to have three daughters.  

We also went out on the same boat as last year. ( Mrs. Stockdale is on look out duty in the right side of the photo. )

Here, Mrs. Stockdale is also actively participating in the vacation.

She did manage to get up long enough to snap a picture of the middle little Stockdale floating away.

Granted, I was in the water prior to when she floated away, but was it really my responsibility to keep an eye on her?

The captain also couldn’t be expected to keep track of where everyone was.

And I’m sure you don’t think Mrs. Stockdale was in the galley ( that’s metric for kitchen ) making lunch as this happened.

Regardless, we did manage to retrieve her and it does appear she emerged from the water unharmed.

As an added bonus on this trip, we even expanded the tote bag collection.

Luckily, all the flights from Phuket to Seoul are red-eyes and leave at 2:45 am.   It gave the middle little Stockdale a chance to catch up on her sleep.

And the crazy little Stockdale a chance to watch some quality television.

Mrs. Stockdale didn’t really need to sleep on the way home, she was well rested.

Overall, another excellent Stockdale outing.  However, we’re all pretty excited about spending the summer back in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.  Let me say those words again – UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.  Well, not all of us.  Mrs. Stockdale will be staying in Seoul to work.  I guess she did deserve a little rest and relaxation.

Happy 6th birthday to the crazy little Stockdale!

First this in Singapore:

https://adventuresofdalestockdale.com/2010/09/15/eat-more-chicken/

Now this in Seoul, only 200 meters ( that’s metric for two football fields + one end zone ) from our apartment.

Why is it that no matter what urban city sprawl I live in, there are always chickens?  Please note the lovely pile of garbage behind the chicken.

The crazy thing is that I first saw this chicken about four months ago sleeping in an old tire.  I would have thought it would have been fried or kim chi’d a long time ago.  I guess this is that urban farming stuff I’ve been reading about.