Blogs from Kashgar, Xinjiang, China, Asia
November 21st 2011
SILK ROAD TRIP 2010 URUMQI, KASHGAR AND WESTERN BORDER AREA URUMQI Arrived at Urumqi in middle of night in terminal that was like enclosed bus shelter without seats, so sleeping there not option. only paid about 20% more than expected in hotel with clean sterile white walls ,so next morning with help of the same taxi driver, moved to a youth hostel style hotel with writing all over walls. There were no other westerners here, very westernised young Chinese traveller-backpackers from all over China. This is the first time I had seen so many Chinese travellers outside the tour group setup. It was very encouraging to see. URUMQI This is the most inland city in the world, (It’s a long way to the beach) URUMQI, the capital of Xinjiang, is a typical ethnic Han Chines city, ... read more
November 21st 2011
SILK ROAD TRIP 2010 TULUFAN-East Xinjiang. Another highlight of the silk Road is the old area of Tulufan, which is the third lowest depression in the world and below sea level. It has very little snow or rain, but plenty of underground rivers from the snow mountains a long way away for growing lots of food. Grapes and melons from the Mediterranean area especially grow well here. The area is also very Islamic and cosmopolitan also, with many of the older woman dressing like Italian movie stars out of the 1950s with lots of, scarfs, eye makeup and sequins. There was a lot to see in this area, so spent a few days here; deserted ancient ruins, coloured stony desserts, villages, orchards, markets, tombs, Mosques, Buddhist stupas all in the one area. The pictures show the ... read more
August 31st 2011
When I arrived in Kashgar first, before I went up the Old Silk Road, I had a good look aorund the fabulous Youth Hostel. I saw on the notice board a request from a Uyghur young woman saying something like, “I would like to take you on a free tour of my home town of Kashgar. I will improve my English while I tell you about Uyghur culture and customs.” I had noted her number and called her that evening. When there was no answer I sent her a text message. As luck would have it, just when I was groaning to myself about 2 ½ more days in Kashgar Sofia rang and arranged to meet me! Sofia is Uyghur, 30 years of age and does not look Chinese. Her features reflect the deep central Asian ... read more
August 27th 2011
Before I began this trip I had bought my flight tickets from Moscow to Urumqi and from Xinjiang Province back to Beijing, so it was handy to have that sorted. My next step was to fly to Kashgar. The day after my trip to Turpan I got to Urumqi airport early and had time to look around. In fact I was far too laid back and ended up missing my noon flight to Kashgar – gr-r-r. It wasn’t a tragedy though because the next one was in two hours. It took all of that two hours to reschedule my flight, get my luggage back and check it in again. Each of these steps were very difficult because none of the airport staff spoke English. It was obvious that they were Han Chinese and this supported what ... read more
Long Drives and Desert Camping
Published: February 21st 2012Asia » China » Xinjiang » Kashgar » Taklamakan Desert
October 5th 2010
After a last shower for four days, we set off towards our first stop through the Taklamaken desert. Bush camping for me, is what the overlanding experience is all about, it's a very communal, basic and sociable way to travel. Once we find a good spot to set up camp, everyone attends to their previously assigned tasks to unpack everything you need to cook, wash up and camp comfortably. You're also assigned a partner for cookgroup duty, which rotates daily, when you need to buy food, and cook lunch, dinner and breakfast for everybody. After things are vaguely set up, most people drag a tent off to a spot they like and set up for the night, we'd sit in t-shirts until food is ready, then eat and pile on sweaters after another beautiful sunset, playing ... read more
October 3rd 2010
We had a great time in Kashgar. It was our first experience with a Chinese city and was a welcome change from Central Asia. We’ve immediately taken a liking to the food. Our local guide is from Chengdu and he introduced us to some tasty Sichuan dishes. The street food is also quite good. So far we’ve tried meat buns, kebabs, and spicy cold noodles. It’s always a bit of an adventure trying to order food in a restaurant as you never quite know what you’re going to get. Luckily we found a restaurant with pictures on the menu and English translation (sort of). We’re doing our best to learn some Mandarin. We can say three words: hello, thank you, and toilet. It’s a start anyways. We plan to spend about 3 to 4 months in ... read more
October 2nd 2010
We’ve been spoiled with some beautiful mountain drives on this trip. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better after the Touragat pass from Kyrgyzstan to China, we hired a minibus and local driver to take us up the Karakoram Highway. This is the traditional Silk Road highway that connects Kashgar in China to Pakistan. Gorgeous snow mountains through passes at over 4000 metres elevation, how boring. One of the highlights was when we stopped at Karakol lake with Mushitage Shan (mountain summit at 7546 metres) and its huge glacier overlooking the lake. We spent the night in the town of Tashkurgan (only 60km from the Pakistan border) and went back to Kashgar the next day. There is supposed to be a speed limit through the pass (presumably to prevent accidents on the winding roads) ... read more
October 2nd 2010
When we got back to Kashgar, we found the previously tourist free town swamped with tourists, our dumplings sold out, restaurant dotted with designer hiking gear... Why? The following day was a Sunday, and this was Kashgar, it was animal Market day, (one of the main reasons I wanted to do this trip) I looked around at the crowds in their hiking boots, windbreakers, zip-off travel pants & Northface gear (why is it people who travel feel the need to have a uniform?) and started to worry a little. "It'll be fine", I told myself "It's Kashgar, not Covent Garden, how many tourists can there be?" When I was first told about Kashgar's animal Market, the way it was described, I pictured a massive place with every animal you can think of. Inside ... read more
July 13th 2010
Time is moving forward, and I am moving with it, and that is where I will write from today. Specifically, from Kashgar city, China. That's right, your very own, Kyrgy Carl has returned to the Middle Kingdom, his once and former stomping grounds. This time, however, with my Chinese hiding deep in the recesses of my mind, my Kyrgyz is coming out in full force. See, the people of Kashgar are ethnically Uighur, and there language is in the same family as Kyrgyz. Imagine a Frenchman and a Spaniard trying to carry on a conversation. But I'm getting ahead of myself. See, my father and my brother and my best friend, Matt came out to Kyrgyzstan, timed just right for the parliamentary referendum at the end of June. We toured the country. I showed them the ... read more
November 28th 2009
These days you don't have to be an adventurer like Marco Polo to travel China's Silk Road. It is a chain of cities and towns linked by road, rail and sometimes air services. But it is still and adventure to travel it. I spent two weeks on just one of its many routes, from Xi'an in the east, to Kashgar in the west. The plan was simple: from Hong Kong take a bus to Shenzhen, fly to Xi'an, take a train to Tianshui, Lanzhou, Zhangye, Jiayuguan, and Turpan, take a bus to Urumqi, and then fly to Kashgar, and after Kashgar fly to Beijing to play with the Hong Kong Dragons in the Aussie Rules China Cup. Like all good adventures, it was a journey away from the familiar. Western food and English language basically ended ... read more
