Advertisement
Published: October 6th 2007
Edit Blog Post
We headed out from the hotel at 7:30 am Xinjiang time and the sun was just starting to rise. The streets were very quiet and had a particular smell. Kashgar smells different. I can't describe it. A little musty, a little smelly. Kashgar is probably one of the most major stops in the ancient Silk Road, since it is so far West and convenient entry from neighboring countries.
We first visited Id Kah Mosque (built in 1442). This is Xinjiang and Central Asia's largest mosque. Despite being the largest, the size did not impress me. However, this is the first time I've been in a mosque. I didn't bring a head covering, so just lifted up the hood of my hoodie sweatshirt. We missed the sunrise prayer, so didn't get to see all the men praying, but apparently about 1,000 men come 5x's a day to this mosque. In Kashgar, times of prayer are called out throughout the day. During festivals and holidays, over 100,000 people come. Wow. Afterall, Kashgar is 90% Uigher Muslim. I learned that the crescent moon which tops the Muslim buildings and mosques is the sign of the Muslim religion because the moon is used to
time prayer.
After our visit to the mosque, we went to Apakah Hoja Tomb. This tomb holds the family of a famous religious leader. I wasn't too interested in this, but the tomb was pretty, and the nearby cemetery was interesting.
My favorite part of Kashgar city was visiting the old town. This is part of the city that has not been rebuilt. Some of these houses are over 500 years old. We walked down the street and there are blacksmiths, butchers, bread (naan) bakers, carpenters, horse-shoe makers, people making pottery, selling spices, etc. Very old town feeling. The children on the street saw us and asked us to "take photo!" of them and then they squealed with glee after seeing their picture on the lcd screen of the digital camera. Very cute. Many local women walk around with brown mesh veils. I couldn't take pictures of them without being totally obvious and rude.
We had typical Uighur lunch - naan, turnip salad, skewers, lamb, Xinjaing noodle, Xinjaing rice, egg with tomato, etc. The food is nice, but gets a little repetitive.
After a short rest at the hotel, we headed to the Sunday Bazaar, even
though it wasn't Sunday. The market is busier on Sundays - and livestock is sold too, but only on Sunday. There are over 5,000 stalls at the bazaar. Everything from fresh fruit, spices, dried fruit, scarves, carpets, bicycle tires, faucets, fabric, etc. They say you can find everything you can imagine except for the milk of a chicken at the Kashgar Bazaar. After two hours of browsing, I ended up with a bag of delicious raisins, some peanuts, and some pistachios. Yep, that's it.
The tour with CCC has so far been great. The people on the tour are nice and interesting. I got to know the other singles on the trip, but also some really friendly couples. I enjoyed talking to everyone. It is so interesting to me that all these foreigners choose to come to China to live. It's been good because since we all live in China, we are tourists, but not. People on the tour already understand Chinese habits - like the food, smells, sanitation, a little of the language, etc. It makes the tour a little bit more efficient - so the tour guide can talk about the particular city, and not so much
Our local guide, Mamatjan
He's explaining the different minority costumes in Kashgar. His English was really, really good. about general novelty of "China". The local tour guides are knowledgeable, there are no shopping stops, tips to local drivers and guides included, and no extra out of pocket activities. Everything is included in the cost, even bottled drinking water! Well, the cost of the tour is quite $$ to begin with, but I like that everything was paid upfront. I've literally have only spent $30 USD on this trip.
We had dinner at a "local Uigher family's house". I put that in quotes because the family has been approved to receive tourists. Basically a restaurant where you are the only patrons and at someone's large home. It was actually quite nice. The Uighur host comes out with a tea kettle and basin to wash your hands. In Uighur culture, hands have to be washed in odd number of times... so the woman poured water for me three times so I could wash three times. The food was nice and we enjoyed the Xinjiang fruit. Delicious melons, pears, apples, grapes, raisins, etc. YUM. Some Uigher men and women came to dance and play music for us too. The music and dance is very Turkish/Middle Eastern sounding.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.177s; Tpl: 0.02s; cc: 13; qc: 78; dbt: 0.0968s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
tf
non-member comment
yummmm! those peanuts look good!!!!