the forgotten west

after 3 days without a full-body shower, a test to both my sanity and buttocks, i have finally reached kashgar - the final frontier of china. kashgar, is a city in the autonomous region of xinjiang. this place is nothing like china - the people, way of life, infrastructure. if not for the chinese signs that are put in place by the government, one would think that you are in central asia. historically, kashgar was the home of a minority group called uyghurs. however, they are still under the indirect administration of the chinese government today. the vast desert lands and undulating terrains make xinjiang useless to china, but no. apparently they have alot of oil reserves and minerals that encourages the chinese government to hold on to xinjiang.

enough politics lessons, more on our experience here in kashgar. when we arrived at the train station, we opted for the local bus (like always). the bus was filled to the brim (literally). fortunately we got a seat with our backpacks. we looked up a place recommanded by lonelyplanet, but the building doesnt exist anymore. we chanced upon another hotel that has dorms for 30Y(S$6)/night. in the dorm rooms, there was two japanese guys and a chinese girl. apparently this is where all the travellers come to. since it was sunday, we had to visit the famous Kashgar Sunday Market. This market has been around since the days of Marco Polo. uyghurs, russians, indians and chinese used to travel great distances just to barter goods at the market. although not completely the same as before, the sunday market and the livestock market gives you an impression that you are back in the 16-17th century.

hordes of sheeps, donkeys, cows and horses are traded and sold at the livestock market. the ground was not only dusty but covered in animal dung. drinks were sold from big tubs instead of dispensers. meat is not refrigerated but hung out in the open on a scorching day. this place is not for the fainthearted (read: big culture shock). after having enough of the heat and the smell, we rode on a donkey cart to get to the sunday market. one horse power was enough to ferry 8 grown adults and 2 kids. the bumpy yet fun ride took about 10 minutes to cover 2km. the sunday market is huge, but not as big as chatuchak market in bangkok so i wasnt that impressed.

exhausted both from the day's events and the amount of travelling we have done in the past day, we retired back to our dorms for the day at 6pm. in front of the courtyard, we had a few beers with a group of pakistanis that really impressed us with their grasp of english and general knowledge. although blistering heat in the day, the cool wind that sweeps across kashgar at night ensures a solace rest.

here're some pictures!

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