[originaltext]Woman: Well, it seems quite common actually. Lots of people in Au

Woman: Well, it seems quite common actually. Lots of people in Australia now are traveling and taking time off. And when I was actually traveling I met so many people doing the same thing.
Man: Yeah, Yeah, so where did you start off?
Woman: Well, I went to New Zealand first, urn, and got a job in a computer company as a secretary. And I worked there for four months.
Man: Really? you can do that, can you? I mean, it’s possible for anyone to get a job in New Zealand without being a New Zealander?
Woman: No, not everybody, only Australians and New Zealanders can exchange either— you know you can work in either country.
Man: Right, yeah.
Woman: So that was easy. So I worked there for four months and raised enough money for the rest of the travels really. So from there I went to Indonesia and traveled around the different islands of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, China, Nepal and India.
Man: What about in Indonesia, what did you do? Did you fly mostly between the islands?
Woman: Er, I did a bit of that and boats, mainly local boats, between the islands.
Man: And what about, er, Singapore? People say it, j,? very, very modem but because it’s so modem it’s rather boring. Did you find that?
Woman: Um, well, it’s difficult to say, really. It has different attractions; you know the Chinese, Malay and Hindu communities there. Each has its own culture and custom, very different from the others. And it’s a great big shopping centre, and I really enjoyed it from that point of view. And, urn, it was very clean.
Man: And after, you said you went what, to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and then China7 That’s a great country to travel in, isn’t it?
Woman: Er, it was, yeah. And it was fabulous, it really was. You haven’t been there then?
Man: No, I haven’t, no. I mean, it’s very big, isn’t it— did you... ?
Woman: Yeah, well, I only had one month traveling in China and that was too short for such a vast country as China. I felt I didn’t have enough time, so I sacrificed a lot of places and did the main tourist mutes really.  I went to Beijing, the capital, Kaifeng, Yinchuan, and Tibet.
Man: Wow, how exciting] You said after Beijing you went to … ?
Woman: That was Kaifeng, in Central China’s Henan Province. It’s a charming city and has got a lot to look around, like temples and pagodas. Very traditional.
Man: Urn, urn.
Woman: What fascinated me when I was there was that some Jews went to live in Kaifeng many years ago. As early as the 16th century, there were Jewish families there. They had their synagogue and the five books of Moses. Even today several hundred descendants of the original Jews still live in Kaifeng.
Man: Really? I’ve never heard of that! And, eh, where did you go after Kaifeng?
Woman: I went northwest to Yinchuan, the provincial city of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
Man: Is this the place, eh, where there has always been a shortage of water?
Woman: No, no. On the contrary, it has got an abundant supply of water, because it is near the Yellow River. In this sense, Yinehuan has a favored geographical position in otherwise harsh surroundings.
Man: What did you see there, then?
Woman: Ningxia was once the capital of tile Western Xia during the l l th century, so outside Yinchuan you can still see the Western Xia Mausoleum, where the kings of that kingdom were buried. The tombs are scattered in a pretty big area at the foot of the Helan Mountain. And, inside the city, there is a famous mosque in the architectural style of the Middle East. It’s really a place worth visiting, you get to know something about Chinese Muslims.
Man: Eh, that sounds real interesting. Where did you travel after that?
Woman: I was lucky enough to get into Tibet, and that was brilliant.
Man: Yeah. What was the most interesting place you visited, do you think.’?
Woman:  Well, I think actually Tibet was the most fascinating and exciting — I’ve never been anywhere so different. The people there are wonderful—clothes they wear, the food they eat.
Man: And you said you went to Nepal as well.
Woman: Yeah, um, that was sort of an easier version of Tibet really, and there are a lot of Tibetans there as well as other tribes and Nepal is. So that was good because I went trekking in Nepal. You should do that.
Man: How long did you trek for?
Woman: Oh, I only did a short one, only for a week, I was lazy.
Man: Was it very tiring’?
Woman: No, it wasn’t actually. I mean you just set your own pace and don’t push yourself too hard— that would be a stupid thing to do. Urn, you don’t have to walk very far. Er, so that was great.
Man: So how did you feel after all this traveling—how did it feel to stop traveling.? I mean, you were on the move alone for months and months and suddenly you’re here and, not traveling any more. How does it feel?
Woman: Oh, I was ready to stop anyway. You get pretty sick of wearing the same clothes and washing them in different hotels,  and never staying in the same place for longer than two days and things. I was ready to stop. I don’t think I could keep doing it. I mean I’ve met people who’ve been traveling for two, three years — I couldn’t do it.
Man: Yeah, yeah. Well maybe it’s something I should try after this.
Woman: Oh, I think you really should