Kashgar to Narryn in Kyrgystan 7.10.13

Goodbye to Kashgar at 9.45 am Beijing time and accompanied by Abdul and 3 soldiers drove to the FIRST checkpoint stopping at a fairly miserable fruit stall along the way for fruit, if anyone wanted it.  Arrived at the first checkpoint at 10.45am.  Because today was the last day of the Autumn Moon Holiday the checkpoint was closed.  We waited and waited on a bare concrete fore court with no one around until eventually an officer arrived and we all lined up, strictly in order and the first part of the process was gone through, though taking quite some time. Then a 104km drive to the old border post. Along the way another check, another 1/2 hour and another check and eventually we finally arrived at the iron gates to finally leave China and enter Kyrgystan.  This 104km drive took us through the Torugart Pass  (3752 metres high) and some truly spectacular scenery. The pass is mgnificent, through harsh, stunning, barren mountains.     Sadly, the road didn't match the scenery.  It is very bad, rough, broken up, and very slow. 

Torugart Pass mountains

Kyrgystan village mountains and grassland across river bed

Lunch on the road side

Guest house Naryn

Sheep flock

 

We left our bus, said goodbye to Abdul, and walked through the gate into Kyrgystan.   The Immigration checkpoint here is a huge cold bare concrete shed and the toilet  is in a rough shed and is a hole in the concrete floor.  Careful, you don't make a misstep and fall down!  After all that we climbed, thankfully, into a much more luxurious bus and made the acquaintance of our new guide, Katya.  Katya has good English (married an Australian and spent some time in Perth) and seems very competent.  Another security check in another hour down the road.  6 altogether! to go from China to Kyrgystan. Waiting at the Kyrgystan border post was an enormous log jam of empty trucks waiting for the border to opened so that they could go into China to bring goods back for sale.  Literally hundreds packed in two rows waiting for the border to open and blocking the road for kilometres. Our bus was forced to take to a track through the rough ground near the road until eventually we had to rejoin the road.  Trucks then had to moved to let us through.  The scenery was most interesting once we cleared the mountain pass and the valley opened up.  Lovely grasslands backed by the Tian Shan mountains with a surprising number of animals in flocks/herds.  Sheep,  goats, yaks, horses, cows, with their shepherds on horseback.  One of the most remote high altitude roads in the world.  Once we had cleared the last checkpoint the bus stopped and Katya handed out very welcome and substantial lunch boxes.  We picnicked beside the road with a lake nearby.  The 8 hour drive to Narryn was along more ordinary roads although by far the worst section (appalling) was the last hour down a very steep gorge into Naryn in the dark. It became obvious that we  had an excellent driver as we crept down.  Naryn appeared to be little more than a very modest town but the guest house was good and fairly recently finished.  However, there was no electricity when we arrived so a mad scramble to find our torches.  The rooms were nice and pleasant and the power was on and off.   Dinner was excellent, great variety of foods, in the restaurant which is in a separate building in a quite elegant room. 
Kyrgystan gained independence from Russia in 1991 and has become much poorer since and this is obvious.

Kashgar Markets 6.10.13

Kashgar is a bustling market town which is prominent on the Silk Route and is at the junction of two main north south arteries.  Sundays are market days.  We first visited the Animal Markets.  Traders had come from all over to sell their livestock, sheep, goats, horses, camels, donkeys etc.  Animals arriving in donkey carts, cattle and sheep etc standing quite calmly in open carts as they were towed along by motor bikes .A huge frenetic crowd, dust and  noise as business carried on.  There were stalls selling food of all sorts, men cutting up huge quantities of meat and fat and vegetables in the open air.  Hygiene pretty much nil.  Containers full of filthy water to wash stuff in. Women with gold teeth.  Fascinating place.  A microcosm of this society.  As the population here is almost all Uighur it looks nothing like China.
After the market we went to a Uighur (Weegur) restaurant for a light lunch of yoghurt and flat bread, noodles and a kebab.  Nice.
Then it was on to the Sunday markets.  Huge colourful with everything imaginable for sale and more thronging noisy crowds.  The market is divided into different sections, eg, hats, spices (so fragrant in huge containers), kitchenware, carpets, musical instruments, scarves, clothing, knick knacks and so much more.  I bargained and bought 3 compacts with mirrors and a tablecloth for the family room table.  Later in town Abdul took us for a walk down Craftsmans Street where we could watch craftsmen making copper and tin artifacts by hand.  So beautifully and painstakingly made. Copper pans and pots and kettles of all sizes and so much more. Fiinished our walk with a quick visit to a fairly plain and ordinary mosque (Idkah Mosque) where we were shown the Fragrant Concubines tomb among others. 
Tonight we had a farewell dinner for Frank in the old British Consulate building.  Frank has been a tremendous guide, always patient, good humoured and knowledgeable, and alert to our needs.  So sad to lose him.

Animal Market scenes.  A carcase showing the huge amount of fat they prefer

 

Uighur men

 

Cutting up meat

 

Washing water

 

Uighur man

 

Bull for sale

 

Waiting to take his newly bought sheep home

 

Very smart horse and cart

 

Knife sharpener

Spice stall in the Sunday Market

 

More spices

 

Interior of restaurant where we had lunch

 

 

Craftsman at work

 

Frank, Judy and John at Frank's farewell

 

Sunday market with musical instruments hanging up

 

Typical method of carting goods

Urumqi 5.10.13 to Heaven's Lake and to Kashgar

Urumqi is the capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.  With the opening of the Silk Route, Urumqi became a junction for cultural exchange between east and west.  Today it is an interesting insight into communist architecture.
Today we went up to the Heaven's Lake high in the Celestial Mountains.  First an hour in the bus to the foot of the Tian Shan mountains, then another hour in a shuttle bus to the lake up an incredibly steep narrow road.  We walked on up the hill to the lake which is at 2000 metres.  The lake is nestled in amongst the mountains with the highest peak, Bogda Peak,  5445 metres, in the background.  The deep blue lake is framed by fir trees and mountains and is very picturesque.  Judy, John, Bill and I, had a picnic lunch on a grassy knoll overlooking the lake and that was a most pleasant interlude.  We wandered further uphill and around the lake to take photos.  The scenery is very traditionally Chinese.  Repeated the bus trip in reverse then went to the airport to catch a plane to Kashgar.  We arrived at 10pm and were met by Abdul, our guide for this last section in China.  A nice hotel and bed about midnight. 

Bill at Heaven's Lake, Celestial Mountains

In the Celestial Mountains

Bill and Jenny

Judy and John

Heaven's Lake

 

Turpan. Karez Irrigation System 4.10.13 and to Urumqi

Today we had a fascinating visit to the 1000 year old Karez Irrigation System.  One of China's most remarkable public works.  Water from snow on the Bogdashan Mountains is collected and brought about 80 miles to Turpan.  The 1000 wells that make up the system were began to be sunk in the 4th Century and work continued until the 14 Century approx.  The wells were sunk to collect ground water from the melting snows and passes through underground channels to prevent evaporation and irrigates farms in the Turpan region.  The water is fed entirely by gravity and the system is still in use today.  This water turns the area into a fertile valley producing flowers, fruit, trees and vegetables.  One of the most amazing sights we saw during our entire trip. 
We had lunch in a "western" style café.  I had Indonesian Rice with a nice soft egg on top.  The egg was delicious after so many like boot leather.
Then onto the bus again and another 3 hour drive through the Celestial Mountains to Urumqi.  Stark forbidding mountains with heavily eroded rocks.  The stone looks like compressed clay and is all this greyish yellow.  A stream was running through the gorge and we saw the occasional shepherd with his animals in the herbage growing near the water. Mostly scrawny looking sheep. 
Once we arrived in Urumqi we visited the local museum which was excellent.  There were great displays of the costumes of the 13 minority tribes of the area and some truly beautifully done yurts.  There are also a number of 600 year old mummies which had been found in the desert.  Mummies that are so well preserved because of the very dry air in the desert. 
Not a wonderful dinner tonight so treated ourselves to an ice cream afterwards.  There is very little meat in Chinese food. 

My Indonesian Rice with soft egg on top!

 

600 year old mummy in museum in Urumqi

 

Costumes in museum of the 13 minority tribes in the area

 

 

 

Another view of ruins in Jiaohe. City was constructed from local soil and sacked by Genghis Khan

 

A heavily embroidered coat in the museum at Urumqi

 

Another mummy in the museum

 

Turpan 3.10.13

After a somewhat uncomfortable night on the train we lined up at the door ready to rush off in the 6 minutes allowed as soon as the train stopped.  All decamped safely.   We dragged our cases up the street until a nice bus arrived to take us for an hour's drive to Turpan city and our hotel. Breakfast at last, then we all got changed as it gets rather hot here and we were waiting for tickets.  This was followed by a very busy hot day.  We went in the bus to visit the Thousand Buddha caves, the Atsana Tombs and the ruins of Jiaohe.  The caves are not at all in the same league as the Mogao caves but on the way there we passed spectacular scenery of high very eroded barren hills of yellowish/grey material.  We stopped and looked over the edge of a high cliff down into a valley through which a small stream meandered and provided irrigation for green areas.  Shows what water can do.  At the caves Judy and I joined an elderly man playing a musical instrument and had a bit of fun.  Later we visited a Grape Village, a small oasis of vineyards in the desert and mud brick buildings used for drying.  We all had a pleasant short stroll through the sheltered avenues of vines.  Back in town Bill and I took a stroll and bought a new padlock for my suitcase.  A nice town with a population that looks quite different as they are Turkish/Chinese.  The ladies are very colouful in their bright sparkly clothes often made in velvet.  Quite a different race of people here.  One almost wouldn't know that one was in China.  Tonight we had a great dinner at a Uighur (Weegur) restaurant.
Turpan is in the province of Xinjiang in the heart of the Eurasian continent bordered by the Gobi desert and the Taklamakan desert.  In the province are snow capped mountains, endless grasslands, lakes, and primitive forests. The town itself is broad and flat with low slung mud brick houses and open channels from which the Uighurs draw their water.  An interesting place.

A view of the eroded barren hills in the area

 

A young Weegur lady in the Grape Village making handmade embroidered bags.

 

Having fun at the caves

 

 

A statue at the Atsana tombs

 

A view across the Jiaohe ruins, now crumbling, but in the long ago past a thriving town

 

Steps down into a tomb

 

Line up of scooters in Turpan

jiaguyuan to Dunhuan 1.10.13

Today we had another long bus ride of about 6 hours through arid country along the Hexi corridor. With Gobi desert to the north and the Qilin mountains to the south. A rather desolate landscape mostly. We passed at least three humungous wind farms seen through the murky atmosphere off in the desert.  Many thousands of turbines in rows disappearing off into the distance.  There seemed to be many big roads and rail lines traversing this area but very little habitation. Eventually we cane to Dunhuan, a very nice town that suddenly appeared out of the landscape as a green lush oasis.  Such a contrast to the surrounding area.  Green and pleasant and the population looks better dressed than in Jiaguyuan. The four of us were desperate for some western food and meat. Frank told us of a restaurant known as Dicos which is a MacDonalds take off.  Found it upstairs and it was full of young people.  Ordered chicken breast wraps.  Juicy tender  chicken breast and fresh lettuce with sweet chilli sauce in a wrap.  So delicious. Afterwards we took a walk around the town to see as much as possible.  Before dinner we were taken on the bus to the outskirts of town to "view the sunset" over the sand hills.  Many many people doing the same thing so quite a long walk from where we left the bus to the edge of town and across the sand to a low sand hill where we parked ourselves to watch.  The Crescent Moon spring, which is a small lake (pond)t hat never dries upwas directly in front of us. The sandhills of the singing Sand Mountains behind the lake are enormously high and steep.  There were people like ants swarming up the sandhills. Also vast numbers of camels carrying people to the summit.  It was very pleasant sitting on the sand watching it all happening around us.  We waited and waited for the sunset but the sun disappeared and that was it!  No colours at all in the sky!  Very strange but that apparently is how it is.  Once we left our spot we had a very long walk of several kms to find our bus.  So it was a very late dinner in the hotel.  Nice hotel and a good shower but not a good nights rest as the bed seemed to be harder than ever and it was a bit hot. 
Wednesday  2.10.13
Today we visited the Mogao Caves. A mind blowing experience. The caves are magnificent Buddhist Grottoes dating from the 4th centuryto the 14th .  The more than 500 caves are over an area of 1,000 metres set in a cliff in the desert and are filled with superb magnificent Budhist art and frescoes. One of the great sights of China.  The paintings are phenomenal and the we saw the two enormous Buddhas, one sitting and one reclining.  The colours and condition of the paintings are amazing after so many centuries.  Still appear to be as bright as when they were done. Each cave is completely covered in frescoes and statues.  Caves varying from very large to quite small.  45,000 square metres of paintings. A real highlight of our trip along the Silk Road.  Sadly, but easy to understand no photos are allowed of the caves.
After lunch we visited the excellent Dunhuan Museum.  Then the four of us went for a walk to get snacks, bananas, biscuits etc. for the long drive later and the train trip.  Called into Dicos again and Bill and I had two ice creams each and an orange drink. 
Later we left the hotel for the drive to Liuyuan where we caught a train at 11pm for Turpan.  A 2 1/2 hour drive in a rickety old uncomfortable bus over the bumpiest road you can imagine.  Through barren desert country.  Just as well this is an "adventure" trip.  We passed another huge wind farm that covered many kilometres.  We arrived in a most unprepossessing town and went into a very basic railway station.  Frank says, "it is China of the 1920s".  A 3 hour wait for the train.  The toilets are a long drain that one squats over!  A banana and a biscuit for dinner. 
Eventually told the train was coming and dragged our cases up stairs and down stairs and over platforms in the dark to get to the correct spot.  Only 8 minutes allowed to get us all boarded so crucial to be standing in the right spot.  All piled on and found our "soft sleeper".  The train was very dirty and the washroom was filthy.  Judy's pillowcase had holes and was very dirty as was her doona.  Very grubby all round and a most unhelpful staff.  We sort of slept.

Sitting in the sand overlooking the Crescent Moon Spring waiting for the sunset.

 

People like ants along the crest of the sandhills

 

Camels setting off and up

 

Statue in the town of Dunhuang

 

People climbing the very high steep sandhills