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Asia » China » Xinjiang » Kashgar
September 15th 2007
Published: September 18th 2007
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The Traffic Hotel in Tashkurgan loomed high and soviet-esque above us. It looks a bit posh and expensive I say to Robin, so does this whole place he replies. It was true China looked amazingly different to Pakistan. We noticed it immediately on crossing the border at the top of the Khunjerab Pass, even close to 5000m the Chinese have managed to build a super wide and smooth perfect new road. We watched the miles slide by effortlessly and we lamented the fact that Chinese regulations meant we were on the bus at all, but we were together with our soldier guard. We passed through customs in Tashkurgan and cycled away on perfect tarmac into the wide and clean streets of the town.

Many people had warned us about unsmiling, unhelpful Chinese people who would not give us any time since we can not speak chinese. I am really happy to say that this has all been untrue so far. At the border a stern tall officer had shouted out "Hello Lady, what country?" and every one in customs had helped us get through speedily. The receptionist in the hotel had spoken perfect english and we were feeling ready to
Chok Guzel!Chok Guzel!Chok Guzel!

Beautiful Uighur Girls in traditional costumes
explore. This was when we realised we could not speak to anyone. After around a year in Indo-Pak, we were not used to there not being an english speaker close by. But we did OK managing to remember a few words of turkish, which the local Uighur and Kyrgyz population could understand. I had to confirm all prices on calculators, since we had not yet learnt the chinese custom of showing numbers all on one hand, not just simply counting fingers like the rest of the world. Despite these communication difficulties everyone was more than happy to spend time trying to help us understand and doing hillarious animal impressions as they told us what meat was in the kebabs!

That night we were treated to our first nice beers in months, by an australian cyclist who was heading to Pakistan. We had a great time getting tips about language and China and eating endless stick food. It was great; you get a basket and choose from loads of different veggies, tofu and meat on sticks for grilling on the barbeque outside. The food was cheap and I could defintiely agree with our Ozzie friend who said, "I think you're going to enjoy China; the Chinese really know how to have fun." It was all sounding good and so we happily set off on a new road the next day up in to the masssively wide valleys and huge landscape of the Pamir.

The road was fantastic - we have not had roads so good since Iran. It made for easy cycling and even though we were climbing over 1000m that day up to a 4000m pass the kms flew by with ease. I found myself trying to guess at how far ahead we could see and this kept my mind from dwelling on the fact that we just never seemed to get to the edge of the valleys. The enormous Muztagh Ata (7500m) appeared beside us crowned with loads of huge glaciers which cut massive chasms into its sides. We cycled passed loads of shepherd villages and saw our first yurts complete with Bactrian Camels (the first time we have ever seen two-humped camels in their native region). The camels really are magnificent beasts, smaller than their arabian cousins they seem better natured and were all growing thick woolly coats ready for winter.

Crossing the high pass below Muztagh Ata we looked forward to an easy downhill, but powerful and freezing cold headwinds rushing up the valley had a different idea. That night we spent by Karakul Lake (at 3600m) sleeping in a yurt owned by a local Kyrgyz family. We had passed a huge meadow chock full of yaks and dzoh's and then found a yurt set up by the lake for tourists rather than in the middle of the valley near the grazing animals. The family did live there however and we were treated to a hearty rice dish washed down with yak milk salty tea. The yurt was surprisingly spacious inside. It was made from felt and had an iron stove burning animal dung inside to keep us toasty. We fell alseep trapped under very heavy and warm handmade quilts, lying on lovely geometric and brightly designed kyrgyz carpets.

The morning saw clear skies and two huge giants appeared reflected in the lake; the 7500m+ ice covered mountains of Kongur and Muztagh Ata. The setting was beautiful and we were in no hurry to eat our breakfast, whilst admiring these beauties and spotting the water birds. We were promised a downhill all the
Border BusBorder BusBorder Bus

Crossing the Khunjerab Pass from Pakistan
way to Kashgar and it pretty much did not disappoint. We sped along following a river down through massive valleys backed by glistening white sand dunes until we turned into a steep sided rocky canyon and the descent got faster. My speed was aided by a huge 4 kilo melon that the Uighur solider at a check point had given us, true to turkish hospitaility, we had obviously impressed him so much by the fact that we were speaking a little turkish and knew no words of Chinese! We thought to camp on the desert flats once out of the canyon but it was almost dark before we finally found a bit of empty desert to set up camp. People had warned us that it was tough in the desert, but so far there had been water and people all along the road and we were beginning to wonder if these people had warped perceptions. Loads of friendly Uighur people would have happily given us water had we not been carrying kilos and kilos of it extra due to these warnings from others.

The cycle into Kashgar was really easy, just a little dry and hot through the desert.
Wide Open SpaceWide Open SpaceWide Open Space

Leaving Tashkorgan and entering the Pamir
The night before the Tarim basin of the Taklamaklan desert had stretched out before us with the Tian Shen mountains visible to the north on the border with Kazakstan, the Pamir looming behind us and the also defining the border with Kyrgystan and Tajikistan to our west. In the morning however all was lost in haze. We were accomapanied along the brilliant tarmac by a whole mix of people, everyone was heading our way and we soon realised by the number of animals perched on three wheeler vehicles that it must be market day. Fat bottomed sheep joined goats and cows at the market in the small town. There was a festive atmosphere and we thought to stop to soak it up. Robin soon became an attraction himself as he turned round to find a small crowd had formed behind him to pull at his dreads. One particularly large Uighur woman found him completely hysterical and he just had to be good natured and put up with all the pulling and baffled rapid fire questioning he was getting. None of the local men had long hair, many now looked extremely Turkish complete with flat caps and dodgy moustaches. Into this
The Road Goes On and OnThe Road Goes On and OnThe Road Goes On and On

Towards Muztagh Ata and the Pamir pass
mix were lovely slim old chinese guys wearing long flowing beards and muslim prayer caps.

The Uighur women certainly have their own style! Most older women are large and busty and wear full power sequinned glitzy nylon numbers dazzling in the sunshine over lacy underskirts. All topped off by thick nylon leg warmers, ankle or pop socks and clumpy 1940's style pointy high heels. Many women wore headscaves, but often had just knee length skirts or dresses on. If hairdos were visible though they were big and backcombed! Still everyone smiled broadly at us and the younger women who had not yet grown to the large sizes of their mothers and grandmothers were really stunning. The odd Han Chinese women there really stood out, one glided by on an electric scooter, perfectly made up and looking exactly like a barbie doll in her petite prettyness.

Kashgar is a fun city, most of it now is ultra modern, the ancient silk route trading post has well and truly been buried by the massive Chinese development machine. Kashgar is the the old capital of East Turkestan which now forms the state of XinJian in the People's Republic of China. It
Snug as a BugSnug as a BugSnug as a Bug

Erika buried under half a ton of sheeps wool quilts inside our yurt at Karakol.
is certainly not quite the China of my imagination. Xinjian is not the crowded and polluted plains of the east. We are about 6000km away from Beijing and the local time here is 2 hours different. That does not stop The Government however religiously sticking to Beijing time, which means that offically the sun rises here at 8am and sets at 10pm - confusing!

China so far to us seems to be a really developed country. It is so modern and clean (at least on the surface). Highrise buildings are everywhere and the streets are huge, wide and flat. Loads of cyclists zoom about and silent ultra modern electric motorbikes glide past loaded with entire families. There is loads of red neon in chinese characters everywhere. Everything has adverts on it for the upcoming Omlypic Games, which from what we have seen out here should be a massive success. What a difference to the sub-continent. Everything is loads easier here than in Indo-Pak. There is a strange mix of modern and traditional, for example there are funky gadgets everywhere; our temperatures were taken at the border by a tall post that we just had to stand next to and it read if we were fevered or not. The bathrooms have lights that you say hello to and they go on, however the toilets themselves are really not very pleasant, they are very dirty and it seems to be a chinese custom to flush before you go and so leave a present for the next person! Amongst the hi-tech electric motorbikes the odd donkey cart can still be seen trundling though town. And of course the Old Kashgar is still well alive at the Sunday animal market.

I felt like a litttle kid again at the animal market. It reminded me of going around the agricultural shows with my Granddad when I was little and I am still able to get pleasure at looking the horses all dressed up for the occasion, just like he showed me back then. This time however the harnesses were defintiley different from those on the clydesdales of my youth; the beautuiful black horses had handmade carpets for saddle blankets in wonderfully contrasting intricate designs in bright red colours and brass bells jingled madly as prospective buyers cantered around in the dusty arena. There were loads of mules and donkeys for sale and hundreds of sheep and goats. The only camel we saw however was working sedately to pull a wooden cart loaded with a huge bull who was being brought for sale. The market is not really what it once was, in the past 100 000 people came to bargain over animals and camels were plentiful. Now the market has been moved out from the centre of town and the place is full of tourists (like us). However it is still a very interesting place. We watched the animated and noisy disucssions surrounding every sale; it seems that buyer and seller can not possibly strike a deal without a group of guys shouting the case on both sides! We went around happy to photograph the many different hats sported by the men, from flat caps and small embroidered prayer skull caps to huge "kazak" style fur lined back ones.

We also enjoyed wandering around the Famous Kashgar Sunday Market. It is now housed in a modern covered and clean bazaar area, but tradtional carpets are still abundant together with every convievable good that might be needed in this ethinicaly diverse and modern city. We were a bit shocked though when we found
Beast of BurdenBeast of BurdenBeast of Burden

Bactrian Camel at Karakol, and young Krgyz girl in background.
the fur stalls and reallised that some of the skins were cat, or well at least 10 cats stiched together. We had to literaly run away from the salesmen who kept plonking more and more dead animals on my head. Fox skins and ermine scarves were plentiful and so were whole dog skins and even a wolf. We next ran into the traditonal medicine stalls and here dried snakes and frogs were hanging up with beautiful star fish and sea horses. At lunch time we found ourselves at a "pa mien" stall ( I think that is what it is called). We wathced as the guy just kept making loads and loads of long round noodles as he pulled and twisted and shook the dough it as if by magic turned into spagetti! It definitely is quite a skill and takes some practise i think. Oh yeah we have really noticed that most of the food here has Italian similarities and are reminded that Marco Polo took back pasta and ravioli to Italy from China all those years ago.

We have spent a week here getting this blog updated and having some bike repairs done in a big fancy
The PamirThe PamirThe Pamir

The road north of Karakol towards Kashgar. The mountains on the left mark the border between Tajikstan and China, though culturally we are in Kyrgyzstan.
bike shop. We have chatted to the loads of other cyclsits here who have converged from all directions in this crossroads city. We have really enjoyed the beer and the fantastic chinese food and our chopsticks skills are improving with every meal .We have however found ourselves in an Uighur restaurant that mostly served bones and sheep's feet!!! Oh yeah and we have seen donkey meat for sale in the supermarket and now the sight of chicken's heads and feet grilling on sticks has become normal.

The supermarket put us into a state of shock, it has been years since we were in anything so alien and we lost each other for at least half an hour wandering around miles and miles of plastic wrapped weirdness, we can only guess at what most of the packages are since it is all in chinese characters, but there were very nice sales staff there very keen to help and with our homemade phrase notes we have been doing ok.

We have had a good time wandering in the shopping malls and one evening were delighted to find a massive communal line dance and freestyle going on the forecourt of one mall. All these older and middle aged women were dancing to electronic pop in complete syncronisation. Families took their children to watch the fun as some couples posed with waltzes and disco. It was certainly a place to pose and check everyone's style. Trendy young chinese sport Sonic style spiky eighties hairdos that somehow manage to look cool. At night the streets come alive with food stalls grilling stick food and selling lager from big kegs for about 20 pence a half litre! Even though I find some of the fashions here quite awful ( Uighur women actually pencil in a mono-brow!) it is so good to see individual style after a year of Shalwar Kamise.

We have not really noticed much yet about the well publicised Chinese communist restrictions on expression or human rights. Only that a few websites are blocked but it seems that these are chosen at random, Robin can't get at his digital banking for example. Some Uighur guys have complained to us that all the bosses and the top jobs are reserved for Han Chinese and that apparently no Uighur is being taught in school anymore. It seems on the surface that it is a friendly and well integrated place but it is difficult to really get to know a place as a tourist and perhaps more will become apparent as we cycle on, especially as our route is through Tibet. Our visas are ticking and it is a long, hard cycle to Lhasa. Mountains here we come again!









Additional photos below
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DesertscapeDesertscape
Desertscape

Descending from the Pamir into the Tarim Basin and Taklimaklan Desert
Uighur MenUighur Men
Uighur Men

At a chai and bagel stop on the ride to Kashagr through the desert. Yes, bagels seem to be a traditional Uighur food - a nice change from roti anyway.
Modern Kashgar, Modern ChinaModern Kashgar, Modern China
Modern Kashgar, Modern China

Super clean, super functional and the most developed place we have been for some time.
The Chair ManThe Chair Man
The Chair Man

Apparently he was a big man in the furniture trade or something....
BusinessBusiness
Business

Some fierce bartering at the Sunday livestock bazaar, Kashgar. Uighur men in traditional fur hats and long coats, tied at the waist with a colourful sash.
Stick ManStick Man
Stick Man

Foodstall in the night bazaar, Kashgar.


20th September 2007

It's a long way from Jaipur
This does nothing to help me deal with my wanderlust! Glad to hear you're finding it a little more salubrious than Jaipur, and I trust it'll continue. Be great to catch up with you some day, somewhere. Pete
22nd September 2007

Top stuff
Great blog guys... we are currently in China also... Xi'an... We would love to go over your side of the country but no time unfortunately... Tibet next for us... happy travelling and keep up those blogs. Sniffandsnore
22nd January 2008


Thanks for your positive comments on my home city Kashgar. But the reality is very different from what you understood. The modern Kashgar cannot benifit much to indegenous Uyghurs. In actuality, Kashgar's water, air and soil are polluted severely. I give you an example. Just 20 years ago, the Tuman River was very clean and we we used to drink its water. It was very wide and there were plenty of trees and other plants on bothsides, there were birds singing... Then, the two sides were filled with rubbish given to built houses and buildings. Just 20 years ago, there were clean water used to flow in small streams, there were big orchids. Fruits were abundant, no chemicals, not many deseases. Since the last 20 years, Ughur lands were taken and the city modernized for Han Chinese immigrant. The envoronment has been destroyed. Many types animals and pants were exticted. Indigenous Uyghurs, native animals, native plants have been suffering. The Uyghurs' life expectency dropped significantly. Uyghurs have lost a lot in this Modern Xinjiang. Hundred thousands of Uyghur were killed, imprisoned and even tortured to death just for political reasons. Big waters were diverted for immigrant Han Chinese, Uyghur houses, orchids, pastures, forests... are destroyed to build good roads, big buidings for those immigrants. Atomic bomb test: 46 times the result? Forceful Aborted Uyghurs: 3 million Executed Uyghur for Political Reasons: Forfully occupied land and water: Uyghur life expectency dropped: exticted animal and plant species: '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' all need to be researched!
18th June 2009

Rolf! Big Man in furniture trade....He just might be related to the Furniturewala furniture tycoon family of India.

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