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Friday 2004-07-02 - Turpan, Xinjiang (China)
Fast Internet
I go to the Internet service across the road (a few houses from John’s) to catch up with my site. I’d asked the lady about the price yesterday: only 5 Yuan per hour (it’s 10 per hour in the hotel). In fact, the shop is a small business center, offering photocopies, fax, phone, and Internet access (from a single machine), apparently competing successfully with the business center in the hotel.
When I arrive this morning, there’s only a young boy in sight, 10 years at most. “Internet?” I ask him. No problem, he turns on the modem, the monitor and the machine and waits until the connection is live: I can now work with Windows XP on a modern machine with a 100Mb ADSL connection. Half an hour later mum returns, switches on the airco for me, and asks if I want to drink something. I end up typing for more than three hours in a nice, cool room, with a large glass of hot green tea beside me — and paying only 19 Yuan (less than 2 EUR) for the privilege. “Tired?” she asks, when I get up to leave. Yes, but I’m not finished yet, I merely need a break; I’ll probably be back in the afternoon, I promise her. I still have a lot of catching up to do!
First a little walk to check out the grand “Tour and Culture Square”: I see not much changed here in Turpan since my last visit: I can find back all the shops I remember and buy some snacks for tomorrow on the train. Then after a short siesta in the hotel, I go back to the Internet service for another batch of items in my travel blog. Three more hours of typing takes care of all of Kyrgyzstan. Then back to John’s cafe for a cool beer. I feel I’ve earned it.
