Southern Silk Road
During our last week in China, we traveled to the very western-most part of China to Kashgar. It is about 60 kilometers from Kyrgystan and close to the neighboring countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. We were closer to Tehran, Iran than we were to Beijing. One of the best things about our trip to Kashgar was meeting Paty, our guide. He is a Uighur, which the Chinese government classifies as a minority population. He is a devote Muslim and one of the most, thoughtful, calm people I met in China. He took us out of Kashgar throughYensigar and Yarkand to the Taklamakan Desert. You can see pictures at the left that illustrate the local architecture, a cemetery, Mosques, prayer time, the interior of a restaurant, and a mule cart. |
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Taklamakan Desert
Paty brought us to a place on the edge of the Taklamakan Desert where we were paired with camels. Paty lead us into the desert, the world's second largest shifting sand desert We rode for hours, very slowly, with Paty and the camel owners walking beside us. We stopped at all the police checkpoints along our route home, where we had to show our passports. Usually the police glanced at us and Paty did all the talking. One time, we were detained for about 25 minutes. The police underlings were interested in Lydia and were looking in the van, so I suggested that we take a picture. They were happy, and soon after we left happy too. My camel had a nice crop of blond hair on its head. I am told that Mohammed had this color camel. |
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Kashgar Kashgar was an important oasis on the Silk Road, between Istanbul and Beijing. We went to the Animal Bazaar, which has been almost unchanged for the past two thousand years. People bring their animals to sell. There were goats, sheep, chickens, horses, camels. It is an ancient tradition that continues today. |
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The city of Kashgar is currently being destroyed and rebuilt by the Chinese government. A traditional Uyghur home has three stories: a shop on the first floor, living quarters on the second floor, and an elaborately decorated third floor covered balcony where people could meet. These buildings are made of mud and straw, which keep the people cool in the summer and warm in the winter. The Chinese government is replacing these traditional homes with high-rise, cement apartment buildings. You can see the dramatic change in the skyline. I was told that this is a new transition, and that five years ago, we would not see any high rise buildings.
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We visited beautiful mosques in the city. |
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Our hotel had police security outside and additional security inside. There was a screening machine just inside the front door. THere was barbed wire around the hotel grounds. On the last day of our stay the hotel we experienced an earthquake. We were on the seventh floor, the ceiling lights started swinging violently, and I could feel the floor swaying back and forth. It turned out to be a 6.4 earthquake that didn't phase the locals, but the guests were a bit shaken. Shaken..haha. |
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