Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Visiting a local home
Last Days in Lanzhou
I never realized what an impact on the world Tibet had with all its history of medicine. A whole museum is devoted to the manuscripts which are pictorial as well and the old instruments which I’m so glad to know have improved immensely.
. It also houses a T tanka which was a pictorial scroll measuring something like 160 metres long. It was amazing .It had taken 26 years to plan and about 10years to paint by 4 painters. It was in a glass window that wound around and around like a maze with tiny pictures all telling the history of Tibet.
We travelled back to Lanzhou only stopping for a toilet stop where we parked beside one of the many large trucks that use this wonderful express highway. The tyres leave a lot to the imagination when the middle double tyres were thread bare baring the wire and the other on had great big holes out of the rubber. They were both ready to blow at any time. I’m glad our drive pulled out in front. We visited another museum this afternoon but being a bit museumed out now I can only remember the link to this part of China finding the remains of many dinosaurs which were beautifully displayed.
The next day’s trip was to be a bit more exciting. The Binling Caves were our destination. Our drivers stopped in a village on the side of the road and just asked an elderly woman standing there if we could have a look at here home. Imagine doing this back home with a couple of tourists. The lady was so charming. She said it was an honour to have such rich people visit her poor home. Rich people because I was wearing my wedding ring and my mother of pearl bracelet. I pointed out she also had a wedding ring and a gold bracelet. The home was not what you expect from the mud brick wall exterior. It was lined with ceramic tiles on the front with double glazed windows. One room was the living room and had a fridge, centre pot belly stove for heating some furniture and a TV set. Her bed was in this room as well which now had an electric blanket on. She used to have her bed heated by a small shovel full of embers placed inside the brick base of her bed. The warm bricks would keep her warm for the night. Many housed had small doors the size of a cat flap on one wall which led into the bed box. We don’t know how lucky we are. The kitchen was an amaze of electric wires, no underground cabling here, that led to two small burners. No oven here that I could see. Her two daughters slept off from this room. Once again all rooms led off a courtyard which was being flooded to water the cabbages. Her family were farmers and they grew linseed for oil, rice, corn and beans.
A school was near by so were said hello there as well. The children were practising a small item for children’s day on June 1. I found 8 old computers in a locked room that looked as though they came out of the ark. A box of broom were in the corner so I guess they cleaned the school as well. Broad beans grew where we would have had grasss.
I never realized what an impact on the world Tibet had with all its history of medicine. A whole museum is devoted to the manuscripts which are pictorial as well and the old instruments which I’m so glad to know have improved immensely.
. It also houses a T tanka which was a pictorial scroll measuring something like 160 metres long. It was amazing .It had taken 26 years to plan and about 10years to paint by 4 painters. It was in a glass window that wound around and around like a maze with tiny pictures all telling the history of Tibet.
We travelled back to Lanzhou only stopping for a toilet stop where we parked beside one of the many large trucks that use this wonderful express highway. The tyres leave a lot to the imagination when the middle double tyres were thread bare baring the wire and the other on had great big holes out of the rubber. They were both ready to blow at any time. I’m glad our drive pulled out in front. We visited another museum this afternoon but being a bit museumed out now I can only remember the link to this part of China finding the remains of many dinosaurs which were beautifully displayed.
The next day’s trip was to be a bit more exciting. The Binling Caves were our destination. Our drivers stopped in a village on the side of the road and just asked an elderly woman standing there if we could have a look at here home. Imagine doing this back home with a couple of tourists. The lady was so charming. She said it was an honour to have such rich people visit her poor home. Rich people because I was wearing my wedding ring and my mother of pearl bracelet. I pointed out she also had a wedding ring and a gold bracelet. The home was not what you expect from the mud brick wall exterior. It was lined with ceramic tiles on the front with double glazed windows. One room was the living room and had a fridge, centre pot belly stove for heating some furniture and a TV set. Her bed was in this room as well which now had an electric blanket on. She used to have her bed heated by a small shovel full of embers placed inside the brick base of her bed. The warm bricks would keep her warm for the night. Many housed had small doors the size of a cat flap on one wall which led into the bed box. We don’t know how lucky we are. The kitchen was an amaze of electric wires, no underground cabling here, that led to two small burners. No oven here that I could see. Her two daughters slept off from this room. Once again all rooms led off a courtyard which was being flooded to water the cabbages. Her family were farmers and they grew linseed for oil, rice, corn and beans.
A school was near by so were said hello there as well. The children were practising a small item for children’s day on June 1. I found 8 old computers in a locked room that looked as though they came out of the ark. A box of broom were in the corner so I guess they cleaned the school as well. Broad beans grew where we would have had grasss.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
The second overnight train trip
The second overnight train trip
We found our way to our cabin and were just settling when in came a Chinese man who could speak English. He pointed out his wife and family through the window so we all waved them good bye as the train pulled out. Well blow me down if a few minutes later in walks a youngish lady, who our new friend introduced as his “friend”. Within minutes they seemed so friendly I thought she was going to eat him! And you know these four berth cabins aren’t that large. However, I’ll have to admit to the best of our knowledge they slept in their respective bunks all night – we are also pretty sure the rail tracks were capable of all the “rocking and rolling” of the train.
Any way 11hrs later we arrived in Lanzhou, after getting up at 5.45am not wanting to spend another day on the train. Breakfast and a wash in the hotel and we were off to Xining for the day and night. A 4 hr drive through the lush gardens and smoking factory chimneys from petroleum production kept our eyes on the road. All the farmers here are Chinese, mostly older women and men as the young folk have joined the urban town life. The country side was like a nice tidy patchwork of green. Once again brown Mts line one side of the horizon along with a few snow capped ones.
Xining had a high population of Hui Chinese people and Tibetians.
The Taar Monstary founded in the 15/16 century filled in our afternoon. I’m glad we don’t belong to this religion as prayer time resembled a workout at the gym. Once again we are astounded at the history here and the ever intriguing story behind the Buddhism religion. The restoration and upkeep of these places is huge. Yak butter is used to make flowers for decorations and candles and smells like nothing on earth. There was no shortage of money collection boxes. Today 1000 monks all dressed in burgundy red live and study here.
We bravely took ourselves for a very quick spin of the market. No one bothers to sell you anything… probably can’t speak our language so don’t worry about us.(or knew we were poor farmers) Bill bought a couple of nice shirts. I got a bit worried when 4 very bulky Tibetian men surrounded Bill to practice their English, which wasn’t very good. Generally speaking the Chinese are very curious about where you come from and go out of their way to make conversation, particularly if you are away from the usual tourist places.
Our first meal of fried potatoes since we left home 11 days ago was a nice surprise for dinner along with 2 large bowls of soup, a mushroom stalk and meat dish, noodles and vegs to share, plain rice, and chunks of fried meat. Oh and a desert. Hot rice soup with fresh raisin grapes and pear chunks. Needless to say the guide and driver took home doggy bags as there was enough to feed an army.
Sorry I cant add photos due to slow connection. Taking heaps though.
We found our way to our cabin and were just settling when in came a Chinese man who could speak English. He pointed out his wife and family through the window so we all waved them good bye as the train pulled out. Well blow me down if a few minutes later in walks a youngish lady, who our new friend introduced as his “friend”. Within minutes they seemed so friendly I thought she was going to eat him! And you know these four berth cabins aren’t that large. However, I’ll have to admit to the best of our knowledge they slept in their respective bunks all night – we are also pretty sure the rail tracks were capable of all the “rocking and rolling” of the train.
Any way 11hrs later we arrived in Lanzhou, after getting up at 5.45am not wanting to spend another day on the train. Breakfast and a wash in the hotel and we were off to Xining for the day and night. A 4 hr drive through the lush gardens and smoking factory chimneys from petroleum production kept our eyes on the road. All the farmers here are Chinese, mostly older women and men as the young folk have joined the urban town life. The country side was like a nice tidy patchwork of green. Once again brown Mts line one side of the horizon along with a few snow capped ones.
Xining had a high population of Hui Chinese people and Tibetians.
The Taar Monstary founded in the 15/16 century filled in our afternoon. I’m glad we don’t belong to this religion as prayer time resembled a workout at the gym. Once again we are astounded at the history here and the ever intriguing story behind the Buddhism religion. The restoration and upkeep of these places is huge. Yak butter is used to make flowers for decorations and candles and smells like nothing on earth. There was no shortage of money collection boxes. Today 1000 monks all dressed in burgundy red live and study here.
We bravely took ourselves for a very quick spin of the market. No one bothers to sell you anything… probably can’t speak our language so don’t worry about us.(or knew we were poor farmers) Bill bought a couple of nice shirts. I got a bit worried when 4 very bulky Tibetian men surrounded Bill to practice their English, which wasn’t very good. Generally speaking the Chinese are very curious about where you come from and go out of their way to make conversation, particularly if you are away from the usual tourist places.
Our first meal of fried potatoes since we left home 11 days ago was a nice surprise for dinner along with 2 large bowls of soup, a mushroom stalk and meat dish, noodles and vegs to share, plain rice, and chunks of fried meat. Oh and a desert. Hot rice soup with fresh raisin grapes and pear chunks. Needless to say the guide and driver took home doggy bags as there was enough to feed an army.
Sorry I cant add photos due to slow connection. Taking heaps though.
Our first train ride
First Night Train Trip
We sat in an upstairs waiting room that is reserved for tourists only while we waited for the 10pm train. The man with our tickets was on the train and we had to find him quickly, stay together and get on the train before it blew a whistle and took off. It went as smooth as clock work. We were in Carriage 12 with no other persons as yet, no idea when to get off and couldn’t find anyone who spoke English. Our Guide had assured us he had told the guard about us and they would tell us when to get off, and sure enough at 5.30am a knock told us we had 10mins to get off. We followed the crowd along the platform and out of the station. How’s that for trusting the system!
Our next guide was waiting and off we set for a 2 hr mini bus trip to Dunhuang. There was not one metre of this sealed road in the Gobi Desert that wasn’t bumpy. At 80 kph. we were thrown around like 2 rag dolls and felt battered a bruised by the time we escaped this torture. Surprisingly, we were passed by other vehicles travelling at great speed – they must had springs in their vehicles, or they were plain stupid. (probably both)
Breakfast was in the hotel we were staying at. I asked for salt and pepper for our boiled egg and got brought a granule mix of milk and sugar which the waitress placed in my coffee for me before I had time to say no, she then proceeded to find a bowl of salt. Better than Bills episode of there being no clean tea cups and being told to use a large glass and when we shook our heads we were given a soup bowl!!!
The weather was warm with a nice warm breeze so we headed out to the Lake of the Crescent Moon which is a small Oasis in the desert commercialized with camel rides and sand sliding activities. We were greeted by 100s of tourists wearing big bright orange cloth pull over boots ( 10Yuam or $3nz a pair) There are apparently over 600 camels based here and are all needed on a busy day. In a group of 3 camels with a camel master we set off. What a laugh, I nearly went head over neck when my sprightly filly camel stood up. Bill was riding ahead with no hands and I held on for grim death. It was a 30 min ride and thoroughly enjoyable and when it stopped you could go sand boarding, after climbing a wooden ladder to the top of a hill and sliding down on a wooden sleigh. You are never too old for anything!!! I’m still getting sand out of shoes and hair. We walked around the Lake and caught the camels back to the beginning, not before mine tried to take a short cut around a post and through another tied up camels holding rope. I thought for a horrid second I was going to be dumped by the frisky filly and trodden on by other irate honking camels. These beasts don’t particularly look as though enjoy life and looked about as happy as Helen Clark did after the elections.
After lunch we had one of the highlights of our trip so far. The Magao Caves which are located at the foot hills of the Mingsha Mountains.. They began construction of these in 366AD. Now there are735 caves of various sizes containing paintings and statues of Buddha. People using the Silk Rd created these Grottos to pray in for a safe journey. In some cases the carved out Buddha shape in the cave was over 60ft tall and had taken 10yrs to carve. Being off the beaten track and protected by Cho En Lai’s troops they weren’t destroyed in the Cultural Revolution.
A walk around town and a visit to the markets was a great fill in as we waited for dinner time. I fell in love with a black sugar fried fritter. Great for the tummy… all oily but deliciously crunchy and sweet.
The high way to Jiayuguan was a smooth as silk after yesterdays trip. Four hrs on the Gobi Desert got us there and in time for a hotel lunch and then off to the Great Wall, its museum and a walk to the top. Couldn’t come to China and not do this. Amazing fortress and view from the top. We controlled ourselves not to fire arrows down on the dummies acting as the enemy. The fortress was certainly a work of art and no wonder the soldiers here were able to keep the enemy out with the variety of weapons and fortress they had, consisting of an ingenious “trap” whereby if the enemy did break in, they only found themselves in a high walled arena where once the gates were shut behind them, were able to be just picked off at random by the soldiers up on the surrounding wall!
Chinese takeaways were got for us as the train was leaving at 8.30pm and there was no way I wanted to miss it. As it was we only just caught it.
We sat in an upstairs waiting room that is reserved for tourists only while we waited for the 10pm train. The man with our tickets was on the train and we had to find him quickly, stay together and get on the train before it blew a whistle and took off. It went as smooth as clock work. We were in Carriage 12 with no other persons as yet, no idea when to get off and couldn’t find anyone who spoke English. Our Guide had assured us he had told the guard about us and they would tell us when to get off, and sure enough at 5.30am a knock told us we had 10mins to get off. We followed the crowd along the platform and out of the station. How’s that for trusting the system!
Our next guide was waiting and off we set for a 2 hr mini bus trip to Dunhuang. There was not one metre of this sealed road in the Gobi Desert that wasn’t bumpy. At 80 kph. we were thrown around like 2 rag dolls and felt battered a bruised by the time we escaped this torture. Surprisingly, we were passed by other vehicles travelling at great speed – they must had springs in their vehicles, or they were plain stupid. (probably both)
Breakfast was in the hotel we were staying at. I asked for salt and pepper for our boiled egg and got brought a granule mix of milk and sugar which the waitress placed in my coffee for me before I had time to say no, she then proceeded to find a bowl of salt. Better than Bills episode of there being no clean tea cups and being told to use a large glass and when we shook our heads we were given a soup bowl!!!
The weather was warm with a nice warm breeze so we headed out to the Lake of the Crescent Moon which is a small Oasis in the desert commercialized with camel rides and sand sliding activities. We were greeted by 100s of tourists wearing big bright orange cloth pull over boots ( 10Yuam or $3nz a pair) There are apparently over 600 camels based here and are all needed on a busy day. In a group of 3 camels with a camel master we set off. What a laugh, I nearly went head over neck when my sprightly filly camel stood up. Bill was riding ahead with no hands and I held on for grim death. It was a 30 min ride and thoroughly enjoyable and when it stopped you could go sand boarding, after climbing a wooden ladder to the top of a hill and sliding down on a wooden sleigh. You are never too old for anything!!! I’m still getting sand out of shoes and hair. We walked around the Lake and caught the camels back to the beginning, not before mine tried to take a short cut around a post and through another tied up camels holding rope. I thought for a horrid second I was going to be dumped by the frisky filly and trodden on by other irate honking camels. These beasts don’t particularly look as though enjoy life and looked about as happy as Helen Clark did after the elections.
After lunch we had one of the highlights of our trip so far. The Magao Caves which are located at the foot hills of the Mingsha Mountains.. They began construction of these in 366AD. Now there are735 caves of various sizes containing paintings and statues of Buddha. People using the Silk Rd created these Grottos to pray in for a safe journey. In some cases the carved out Buddha shape in the cave was over 60ft tall and had taken 10yrs to carve. Being off the beaten track and protected by Cho En Lai’s troops they weren’t destroyed in the Cultural Revolution.
A walk around town and a visit to the markets was a great fill in as we waited for dinner time. I fell in love with a black sugar fried fritter. Great for the tummy… all oily but deliciously crunchy and sweet.
The high way to Jiayuguan was a smooth as silk after yesterdays trip. Four hrs on the Gobi Desert got us there and in time for a hotel lunch and then off to the Great Wall, its museum and a walk to the top. Couldn’t come to China and not do this. Amazing fortress and view from the top. We controlled ourselves not to fire arrows down on the dummies acting as the enemy. The fortress was certainly a work of art and no wonder the soldiers here were able to keep the enemy out with the variety of weapons and fortress they had, consisting of an ingenious “trap” whereby if the enemy did break in, they only found themselves in a high walled arena where once the gates were shut behind them, were able to be just picked off at random by the soldiers up on the surrounding wall!
Chinese takeaways were got for us as the train was leaving at 8.30pm and there was no way I wanted to miss it. As it was we only just caught it.
Back in Urumqi.
Back in Urumqi.
It was a good flight back and being met by our guide and chauffeur and back to our same hotel made us feel at home even if it was 1am
Next day we were off to Nan Pasture which was about a couple of hours out to the Tainshan mountains. Its an area of grassland where the local people sleep in Urts and farm around this area. We were on the other side of the mountain from Heavenly Lake but thankfully it was nowhere as cold although there was snow up on the hills. This was another over rated tourist spot. I think we missed a horse show but managed to get a horse ride up into the Mountains for 30mins…well if you call being out of sight and the guide talking on his cell ph then bringing us back while we watched the other group go further up the mountains and then he trotted us back… Ripped off I think. However we did get to see a local yellow coloured mole digging up the ground. The horse responded well to Bills commands As I had been sick overnight I was riding with a local cowboy and felt quite secure trotting round the mountainside.
Our next stop was Turpan a 3 hour drive away. I was looking forward to this city of about 63,000 people who export many tons of raisins from here. Turpan is also known as the hottest place in China. Boy do we believe this. It was a dry heat and quite energy sapping. Small fields of grapes planted in trenches and were supported by a lean-to poles and lined the road every where. Brown brick drying sheds were scattered among them.. The holey patterning on their walls was to let air ciculate, but in this heat a very efficient drying method. It was a pleasant change from the traditional brick or grass/mud homes we had been used to seeing.
We drove along the Flaming mountains named after the colours (they change due to different light reflections), to the ancient Buddhist Caves of Bzlikli, These Caves were home to a Buddhist monastery early AD and were on the edge of a steep river ravine. They had a steep set of steps leading down to their gardens by the river. I guess its a reminder that climate change is not just a modern phenomena as this area, like so many others in this Region, used to support a large population and agricultural system.
We lunched in a typical Ugar home eating a dish of noodles and vegetables (tomatoes, egg and beans). I’m becoming particularly fond of noodles and spent my lunch time watching the women making noodles and serving them up for lunch.
Wandering around this village we saw that all the mulberry trees were in fruit and baskets of white and rich red fruit were lining the village roadways. Surprisingly enough all the trees lining the walkways were stripped, but only to the height of a tall person. A ladder would produce a rich harvest. A walk around the village gave us an insight to the simple village structure these people live in. An irrigation system gave local children the opportunity to cool off with a water fight. We weren’t sure what else the water was used for, but suspect they were actually using this water for domestic (drinking) as well.
Walking round the local bazaar we enjoyed the colourful world of open air butcher shops, not to mention the smell although it wasn’t too bad, carts of local vegetables. Melons are a speciality of this region and we shared a delicious piece of water melon . There doesn’t appear to be any shortage of fresh fruit and vegs. Apricots are coming into season as are peaches, pears and apples.
We also visited the Gaochang ancient city and the tomb of Astana. We think England has the greatest historical records but the Chinese people have certainly been able to retain a lot of its ancient building sites in spite of so much of their historical data being lost. This due largely to the very dry climate where it seldom rains if ever.
The ancient city of Jahohoe was fascinating. It is under the UNESC World Heritage Protection It dates back to 500AD and once again was built high above a river bed which was a fertile growing area A huge temple is to one end and using ones imagination from the remaining ruins a village can be fashioned..
Local dancers put on a cultural show which we all enjoyed. The folk dancers were preformed with a lot of facial gestures, fun and laughter and of course an initiation to join them was extended to me much to everyone’s amusement. (Pauline now has another career path)
Heat and having finished our tours quicker than normal, we ended up at the Karez underwater system created in the 15/16 century enabling desert farm land to be productive by catching water from the mountains in underwater tunnels fed by shafts and digging wells into the tunnels out in the desert to retrieve it. This system was still being expanded until recent times and although originally all done by hand, more lately some machinery was used. The advantage over the more common open ditch system would be that there was less wastage (evaporation etc) and water is kept very clean and cool so suitable for domestic use.
It was a good flight back and being met by our guide and chauffeur and back to our same hotel made us feel at home even if it was 1am
Next day we were off to Nan Pasture which was about a couple of hours out to the Tainshan mountains. Its an area of grassland where the local people sleep in Urts and farm around this area. We were on the other side of the mountain from Heavenly Lake but thankfully it was nowhere as cold although there was snow up on the hills. This was another over rated tourist spot. I think we missed a horse show but managed to get a horse ride up into the Mountains for 30mins…well if you call being out of sight and the guide talking on his cell ph then bringing us back while we watched the other group go further up the mountains and then he trotted us back… Ripped off I think. However we did get to see a local yellow coloured mole digging up the ground. The horse responded well to Bills commands As I had been sick overnight I was riding with a local cowboy and felt quite secure trotting round the mountainside.
Our next stop was Turpan a 3 hour drive away. I was looking forward to this city of about 63,000 people who export many tons of raisins from here. Turpan is also known as the hottest place in China. Boy do we believe this. It was a dry heat and quite energy sapping. Small fields of grapes planted in trenches and were supported by a lean-to poles and lined the road every where. Brown brick drying sheds were scattered among them.. The holey patterning on their walls was to let air ciculate, but in this heat a very efficient drying method. It was a pleasant change from the traditional brick or grass/mud homes we had been used to seeing.
We drove along the Flaming mountains named after the colours (they change due to different light reflections), to the ancient Buddhist Caves of Bzlikli, These Caves were home to a Buddhist monastery early AD and were on the edge of a steep river ravine. They had a steep set of steps leading down to their gardens by the river. I guess its a reminder that climate change is not just a modern phenomena as this area, like so many others in this Region, used to support a large population and agricultural system.
We lunched in a typical Ugar home eating a dish of noodles and vegetables (tomatoes, egg and beans). I’m becoming particularly fond of noodles and spent my lunch time watching the women making noodles and serving them up for lunch.
Wandering around this village we saw that all the mulberry trees were in fruit and baskets of white and rich red fruit were lining the village roadways. Surprisingly enough all the trees lining the walkways were stripped, but only to the height of a tall person. A ladder would produce a rich harvest. A walk around the village gave us an insight to the simple village structure these people live in. An irrigation system gave local children the opportunity to cool off with a water fight. We weren’t sure what else the water was used for, but suspect they were actually using this water for domestic (drinking) as well.
Walking round the local bazaar we enjoyed the colourful world of open air butcher shops, not to mention the smell although it wasn’t too bad, carts of local vegetables. Melons are a speciality of this region and we shared a delicious piece of water melon . There doesn’t appear to be any shortage of fresh fruit and vegs. Apricots are coming into season as are peaches, pears and apples.
We also visited the Gaochang ancient city and the tomb of Astana. We think England has the greatest historical records but the Chinese people have certainly been able to retain a lot of its ancient building sites in spite of so much of their historical data being lost. This due largely to the very dry climate where it seldom rains if ever.
The ancient city of Jahohoe was fascinating. It is under the UNESC World Heritage Protection It dates back to 500AD and once again was built high above a river bed which was a fertile growing area A huge temple is to one end and using ones imagination from the remaining ruins a village can be fashioned..
Local dancers put on a cultural show which we all enjoyed. The folk dancers were preformed with a lot of facial gestures, fun and laughter and of course an initiation to join them was extended to me much to everyone’s amusement. (Pauline now has another career path)
Heat and having finished our tours quicker than normal, we ended up at the Karez underwater system created in the 15/16 century enabling desert farm land to be productive by catching water from the mountains in underwater tunnels fed by shafts and digging wells into the tunnels out in the desert to retrieve it. This system was still being expanded until recent times and although originally all done by hand, more lately some machinery was used. The advantage over the more common open ditch system would be that there was less wastage (evaporation etc) and water is kept very clean and cool so suitable for domestic use.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
We are up and running
The Beginning
It all began when we left Singapore at 1am hardly able to keep our eyes open any longer. We both fell asleep straight away and woke 5 hours later to a Chinese sun shining through the windows.
Beijing airport was my first wow. It appeared to be made of glass which gave it such a sense of openness. All the walls were glass and the roof had huge sky lights allowing in so much natural light. I sure wouldn’t like the job of cleaning those windows.
As we are travelling at the time of swine flu our entry into China documentation was interesting. We went through a temperature reading machine to see if we had a fever or not… passed that one and then had to catch a bus and travel for about 5mins to fetch to our baggage at the baggage claim terminal. (This gives an indication of size.) From every view there were planes and airport for as far as the eye could see. Signage was good and we soon found our Chinese guide, Chrystal.
Driving through Beijing Tiananmen Square was to be our first destination. The city was so clean with the street cleaners out with straw brooms and wheel barrows catching rubbish, leaves and the flowering willow flowers as they fell. As roses, chrysanthemums and peonies are the traditional flowers here I was amazed to see beautiful yellow, orange and purple climbing rose bushes covering the wrought iron road dividers.
The temperature was in its 30s as we walked around Tiananmen Square with at least another 10;000 Chinese people and about 100 Europeans. I didn’t want to loose Bill or our guide and managed to keep them in sight. The square was impressive more for its history and functionality than its beauty. We crossed the river into The Forbidden City which had so much history abounding it that I can’t cover it here. It hasn’t been open to the public for that many years. Mao never lived there. It covers an area of 73 acres and was the home of previous Emperors and their wives. The inside rooms were blocked off and due to huge crowds impossible to view. We walked the length of the city and tried to imagine life within. There was a small garden area with trees and rose bushes.
Lunch was in a restaurant near by and most uninspiring of rice and meat dishes. We ate alone as it’s not proper to eat with your guides and driver.
Bill tried to drive the rickshaw as we spent over an hour touring around the hutongs. This is the old housing area in Beijing. It consisted of numerous small streets with high walls with a fancy door leading into a courtyard where a family group of 9 lived. We were cycled in a rickshaw along narrow ally ways narrowly missing bikes, hand carts and people. The fancier the door the richer the inhabitants. We were invited in for a cup of tea. They have had electricity added on in the last few years and the wires added on tell their own tale. Toilet amenities are communal…. down the street. Too bad if you were in a hurry. They assured me they had running water. Years of family belongings and collected “junk” lay stacked against walls and buildings. Even a wooden gun used for military practise years ago was lying against an old hand cart. The family owner had visited NZ and loved Rotorua.
By now we were ready to hit our hotel and call it a day. Tea was at the hotel where we enjoyed the fancy cream cakes.
A Day in Flight
This morning we were pleased to leave Beijing as neither of us are city dwellers and were looking forward to seeing a different China. So off to Urumqi we headed and arrived at our Hotel about 1.30pm Beijing time or 11.30am local time. They officially use Beijing time which is crazy because it’s dark until about 8.00am. So the locals still work to local time, which of course is all very confusing. Whatever time you use it was an early start for us as we had much to see and do before catching yet another plane that night to Kashgar, which is nearly as far North West as you can go in China and quite close to Pakistan, Kirgizstan …. and about another dozen “Stans” some of which you probably haven’t heard of, well I hadn’t anyway! Stan means an area, so Uzbekistan means the home of the Uzbek people. So now you know!
Any way back to Urumqi, which like most of West China is Muslim so no alcohol, but plenty of Mosques. Now I know alcohol is not particularly good for you but let me tell you, you can get sick of Mosques Strange to that there is an old saying about not taking tea to China – let me assure that is rubbish – if you want a decent cuppa you had better bring your own teabags with you! (coffee as well)
A trip to the museum to sort out the different ethnic groups was first on our list today. A new section in the museum is devoted to the mummies that have been discovered in a geological dig fully preserved.
So after Mosque hunting we were taken see a Muslim cemetery, where our Guides (Ali) family were buried, and then wandered around his home village. We were privileged to get to do this because its not on the Tourist route – he just went out of his way to show us about real life in the part of the world. He is from the predominant tribe around here, the Urgar, and although on the surface they live peacefully beside one another, The Urgar are a happy and friendly bunch – they love to dance, play music and sing, which they do extremely well. You will see them every night dancing in the parks, both old and young, totally free style and with total strangers.
One thing we have had to get used of is being looked at – not rudely, just straight out curiosity. Some of the places we have visited it is quite plain that some of them had not seen many if any white people (this was confirmed by guide Ali) and you could see them out of the corner of your eyes staring at you, particularly I think Pauline with her red hair, and me with a long nose! Historically the Chinese called the white foreigners “long nose’s”. A group of children went scuttling indoors calling out” the foreigners are coming”
Well it was an early morning start to head off to the Heavenly Lakes. This was a small lake compared to ours, and high up in the mountains. We were bordered by the Tainshan Mts on one side which still had a heavy sprinkling of snow. It was very touristy and rather cold. The snow line was down to some beautiful fir trees which looked as though they had been sprinkled with icing sugar. We went for a cold boat ride on the lake which dropped us off at the steps of an ancient monastery. (Without a dictionary these spellings are difficult) It was such a barren place to live as it covers with snow in the winter is unimaginable to think it freezes to 2 Meters of ice for much of the year. Many people burnt huge purple incense sticks and as today was the 10th anniversary of it being open to the public people were allowed to ring the huge bell three consecutive times providing there was a silent gap between each dong.
Food has been spicy with a lot of chillies and pepper flavour. Balsamic vinegar is used like tomato sauce; it can be mixed with a chilli paste to make it more potent. I just love the kebabs we have been having that are mutton inter-dispersed with a chunk of fat cooked over hot coals, until I came across one that had a chunk of liver in it. The traditional dish here is noodles with a vegetable mix and a few pieces of mutton or chicken. Well cooked to the stage of being over cooked. We have tried to eat only hot cooked food but as we have both been sick something has got through. Polif is a traditional dish here which is made from boiled rice, grated yellow carrots a handful of over cooked meat and sprinkled with raisins on top. We are becoming great chop stick handlers and can nearly slurp as loudly as the natives when it comes to noodles.
Our stay in Urumqi was short as we boarded the plane for a 90min night flight to Kashgar, and a new set of guides meet us. A night’s sleep was very welcome.
The Country Side.
Kashgar is a city of 3 million people and all the local ethnic groups are to be found here living side by side. It’s a city of electric motor cycles like you have never seen. Occasionally the power goes off or they forget to charge their cycles and as our guide put it - “they just take a walk”. People drive on the right side of the road and a pedestrian crossing means a place to officially risk your life as you cross the road. With 6 lanes of traffic and numerous cycles I always keep close to our guide. This is also the city of the donkey carts carrying people and their goods in and out of the city and along the roads. I never tire of looking at them and the wares they carry. The people who drive and ride them are an example of the various ethnic groups.
We woke to the sound of rain on the hotel roof. We thought it was a burst water pipe, but no as it never rains in this part of the world we had one out of the box. It wasn’t cold rain but by now we are into out thermals and all the warm clothes we have brought. As the attraction of the animal markets which brought us here were slow to get under way (10am) we went to the Tomb of Abakh Hoja we ran into with a bus load of English speaking tourists. I must admit tourists are few and far between at present. This Tomb also housed a woman who was in the emperor’s concubine and had been brought back here by 150 men taking nearly 3 years to walk from Beijing’s Forbidden City with her body. The ancient architecture is amazing. Blue and yellow are the predominant colours.
We donned on our rain coats and went for a walk through the “old town”. What rabbit warren of streets and homes coming off these narrow ally ways which were slippery due to the rain. Each door lead into a courtyard which had dwellings leading into the courtyard. A curtain gave the family privacy from the street once the door was open. Men and women of all ages were walking to and from the market with the weeks supply of meat and vegs - a cabbage, bundle of yellow carrots, a few large radishes and maybe some spinach or beans. Not to mention the handful of diced meat that the local butcher had cut off the hanging beast .We dodged the puddles and avoided being knocked down by cars, and motorcycles. I would never have found my way out had we got separated. Women were busy sweeping out the rain water which had gathered inside their doors. There were no smells and no flies. Electricity and a good sewerage system along with a daily rubbish collection make this living area very unique. Some people asked our guide where we were from.
Lunch was in a very upmarket restaurant where a band played local music. Being a Sunday families were gathering for lunch.
We had our first experience of local bazaars as our guide took us through the Sunday bazaar. It was huge and people were so laid back about inviting you to see their wares. We just had fun looking and avoiding the puddles. I bought a rabbit’s fur scarf which was to become a life saver as the weather got colder. I was amazed at the lack of local handcraft and I really though there would have been heaps of carpets but there were comparatively few. Kashgar carpets have a very strong yellow colour in them.
Off to the Sunday Market we went again, By this time the place was humming. I do not have the words to describe it. It was a mans domain.. Groups of men gathered round a flock of half a dozen sheep which are a small boned animal almost like a goat. They are a multitude of colours, white, and grey, black, brown and a golden brown. Some were shorn, others just shaggy and others were being shorn with a large pair of scissors to demonstrate their body score. Tied together by a looping piece of string between two trees they waited patiently to be haggled over.. It was a bit of a picnic when they where lifted from the truck until they were secured. They just seem to huddle together bleating. A few Friesian cows were waiting to be sold. Cattle were made to jump off the backs of the trucks, but there was always groups of men to herd them to where they were tethered to a rail. They are excellent stockmen, know their animals, and because are handled so much are very compliant. Today there were no camels but at least a couple of dozen donkeys . How do you choose a donkey… by its long ears, sturdy back, and noisy bray. Sharpest teeth or the strong kick from the hind legs. People trotted them around in a try before you buy exercise. Young boys seemed to accompany their dads. It was a bit of a circus really. Over in the far corner were a couple of horses and a young boy was galloping a pony around presumably trying it out. The seller sells his own stock unless he needs to get an agent to help get the best deal. A sheep would be worth about NZ$150, a donkey NZ $1,000. Underfoot it was muddy and slippery but we managed to escape with dry feet. Thank goodness I’d of hated that mess between my toes!!!
Mothers Day in China
Bill bought me a lovely rabbit fur scarf at the market. Market hawkers had tried hard to sell him a knife so I’m lucky to not have got one of those special prices for you knives. Over dinner there was much discussion on how people spent on Mothers day and we didn’t keep the “boys “out late as they had families to go home to. However our new friends decided to buy me a surprise Mothers Day Cake. He had stopped the van and we waited while he went on this errand after asking the Guide to spell Happy Mothers Day on his cell phone. Our driver is a very gentle sensitive guy with a wife and 3 yr old daughter. He arrived back from the “errand and handed me this red round box with a smaller box on top done up with pink ribbon. Happy Mothers Day he said. We decided to share the cake tomorrow at the Lake. However this beautiful cream sponge had a different fate.
After returning from the lake with this cake that no way could Bill and I manage to eat a nice bell boy came to our rescue. He was practising his English on us so I asked him if he would like to share our cake. You have to remember we aren’t the normal tourists!!! He rang for house keeping to bring a knife. The lady arrived with this huge chopping knife. The small box had contained a candle, a pink tulip that you placed on the cake and its petals fell open to reveal small candles on the points which he lit. After all the lights went out a Musical Happy Birthday played and played and played. He departed grinning from ear to ear with half my beautiful cake. Our musical candle continued to play intermittently each time it was bumped or at random until we eventually pulled it apart. I must look for some to bring home.
A visit to Lake Karakual
This morning we set off to the Mountains 240 km away. The big adventure to stay a night in a local Urt. We put on our warmest clothes but were to discover later even these were not enough. Our first stop was a bonus of another Market . A slightly smaller one than yesterdays Sunday Market and equally as entertaining.
We drove for hours along side of the mountains topped with snow. The stony river bed was kilometres wide with deep gouges running through where the snow melt had rushed past. The scenery for hours was so desolate but beautiful in the changing mountain shapes and shades of brown colouring. At one stage we were looking at a green, red and brown mountain all at the same time. They say they are full of minerals. We were only 96 km from the Turkistan border and could understand the difficulty in finding someone here who didn’t want to be found.
Slips had brought down red mud and rocks with the previous days rain so it had an element of adventure all on its own when going through the slosh wondering who would give way first. Being the main road meant it had a lot of traffic heading for the border, hence we needed to show our passports be checked over and have the van searched.. On arrival at the lake the cold and the altitude hit us Bill in particular. We abandoned a horse or camel ride which I had previously thought would have been a great day round the lake but in fact was a money maker for the locals. The local hairy camels grumbled all afternoon. We had lunch and this toilet stop has beat them all. Slats over a pit. I’ve never had to pee in unison with other women before. A rather humbling experience. The surrounding wall was only chest high and the men’s was beside the ladies. I was more worried about keeping my balance than caring about anything else.
The Urt was about 100 metres off from the dining room and toilet. It had its own 5star toilet the guides informed me - out the back, in the open and on the ground! We settled in to an afternoons rest by putting 4 mattresses on top of one another as the wooden floor looked harder than the beds we have been sleeping in. Bill lay down as by now he was quite headachy from the altitude. I read for a while in the dim light until I was cold under my blanket. I joined the guides in the van for a while to warm up before walking to the loo. The thought of my 5star one in broad daylight was less appealing. On returning Bill was definitely not coping with the altitude and it had begun to snow. We decided to very quickly get him out of there and head back to Kashgar another 4 hours drive.
On the way people were cutting up a yak that had been hit by a car so we joked about yak and mutton parties as many animals were on the road wandering home. We stopped to watch some baby yak running around the field and through the streams like calves just let out of the pen. They then proceeded to cross the road in front of us. Wild life is scarce we did see a few eagles in the distance circling round and a beautiful yellow wild duck. The closer we came to Kashgar the better Bill felt and I must say I was slightly relieved to be in a hotel with people round than the cold draughty Urt placed on the outskirts of the car park, as a tourist money maker. I guess in the middle of summer it would be different.
An extra day in Kashgar
Well due to returning last night instead of today our guide certainly had to think on his feet. I left Bill in the hotel for some quiet time to sort out some things back home and went off to the children’s market. It was full of Chinese type clothing and sold nothing but children’s clothes. No toys. I really haven’t seen any toy shops at all. Children don’t appear to play with toys as ours do. We have seen them riding their dads bike. I managed to find some woollen tights for special little girls back home.
We picked Bill up and went off to the Silk Road Museum. There were live displays of carpet making, cotton carding and spinning. Local music floated out on the street enticing people into this new shopping mall. A drive into the country side was next on our list to do today and we walked among the wheat fields, apricot trees and down country lanes. . It was here an elderly gentleman (67yrs) who invited us in to see his home and garden. His wife was praying and was not at all pleased to have unexpected visitors.. This was another one of those rare moments in travelling. He had fig, apricot, plum apple and mulberry trees. He grew strawberries for the market which I had to sample. Animals were housed inside and dried grass was stored in a loft for these. He proudly showed us his hard muscles due to hard work . We shared a cup of tea at his table which was the floor in the veranda covered in rugs. He wanted to send us some apricots to NZ. I don’t think he knew how far from home we were. He was very emotional when we left and kept hugging Bill and shaking his hand. I guess he had never had a foreigner to his home and we shared a lot in common from two different parts of the world.
Our last stop for the day was dinner in a typical Urgar house. We sat on the carpeted floor of a huge unfurnished room. Food was put in front of us. We began with fresh fruit and bread with rose tea and were followed by noodles and Polif. I had my first lesson on eating polif as the locals do by having a large whole family bowl dipping your 4 fingers in , thumb stays on the underside of the dish, squeezing the rice into a squishy ball and sliding it out of the plate and into your mouth like a scoop with your thumb acting like a pointer on top of your hand. An experience you should all have to try. It was at least quicker than chopsticks. But oh the oily hands afterwards. No wonder we got sick!! The walls of the house were all plastered in designs which gave an expensive feel to the room. Once again buildings surrounded a huge courtyard leading down to a fruit orchard.
We later caught the night flight out to Urumqui.
It all began when we left Singapore at 1am hardly able to keep our eyes open any longer. We both fell asleep straight away and woke 5 hours later to a Chinese sun shining through the windows.
Beijing airport was my first wow. It appeared to be made of glass which gave it such a sense of openness. All the walls were glass and the roof had huge sky lights allowing in so much natural light. I sure wouldn’t like the job of cleaning those windows.
As we are travelling at the time of swine flu our entry into China documentation was interesting. We went through a temperature reading machine to see if we had a fever or not… passed that one and then had to catch a bus and travel for about 5mins to fetch to our baggage at the baggage claim terminal. (This gives an indication of size.) From every view there were planes and airport for as far as the eye could see. Signage was good and we soon found our Chinese guide, Chrystal.
Driving through Beijing Tiananmen Square was to be our first destination. The city was so clean with the street cleaners out with straw brooms and wheel barrows catching rubbish, leaves and the flowering willow flowers as they fell. As roses, chrysanthemums and peonies are the traditional flowers here I was amazed to see beautiful yellow, orange and purple climbing rose bushes covering the wrought iron road dividers.
The temperature was in its 30s as we walked around Tiananmen Square with at least another 10;000 Chinese people and about 100 Europeans. I didn’t want to loose Bill or our guide and managed to keep them in sight. The square was impressive more for its history and functionality than its beauty. We crossed the river into The Forbidden City which had so much history abounding it that I can’t cover it here. It hasn’t been open to the public for that many years. Mao never lived there. It covers an area of 73 acres and was the home of previous Emperors and their wives. The inside rooms were blocked off and due to huge crowds impossible to view. We walked the length of the city and tried to imagine life within. There was a small garden area with trees and rose bushes.
Lunch was in a restaurant near by and most uninspiring of rice and meat dishes. We ate alone as it’s not proper to eat with your guides and driver.
Bill tried to drive the rickshaw as we spent over an hour touring around the hutongs. This is the old housing area in Beijing. It consisted of numerous small streets with high walls with a fancy door leading into a courtyard where a family group of 9 lived. We were cycled in a rickshaw along narrow ally ways narrowly missing bikes, hand carts and people. The fancier the door the richer the inhabitants. We were invited in for a cup of tea. They have had electricity added on in the last few years and the wires added on tell their own tale. Toilet amenities are communal…. down the street. Too bad if you were in a hurry. They assured me they had running water. Years of family belongings and collected “junk” lay stacked against walls and buildings. Even a wooden gun used for military practise years ago was lying against an old hand cart. The family owner had visited NZ and loved Rotorua.
By now we were ready to hit our hotel and call it a day. Tea was at the hotel where we enjoyed the fancy cream cakes.
A Day in Flight
This morning we were pleased to leave Beijing as neither of us are city dwellers and were looking forward to seeing a different China. So off to Urumqi we headed and arrived at our Hotel about 1.30pm Beijing time or 11.30am local time. They officially use Beijing time which is crazy because it’s dark until about 8.00am. So the locals still work to local time, which of course is all very confusing. Whatever time you use it was an early start for us as we had much to see and do before catching yet another plane that night to Kashgar, which is nearly as far North West as you can go in China and quite close to Pakistan, Kirgizstan …. and about another dozen “Stans” some of which you probably haven’t heard of, well I hadn’t anyway! Stan means an area, so Uzbekistan means the home of the Uzbek people. So now you know!
Any way back to Urumqi, which like most of West China is Muslim so no alcohol, but plenty of Mosques. Now I know alcohol is not particularly good for you but let me tell you, you can get sick of Mosques Strange to that there is an old saying about not taking tea to China – let me assure that is rubbish – if you want a decent cuppa you had better bring your own teabags with you! (coffee as well)
A trip to the museum to sort out the different ethnic groups was first on our list today. A new section in the museum is devoted to the mummies that have been discovered in a geological dig fully preserved.
So after Mosque hunting we were taken see a Muslim cemetery, where our Guides (Ali) family were buried, and then wandered around his home village. We were privileged to get to do this because its not on the Tourist route – he just went out of his way to show us about real life in the part of the world. He is from the predominant tribe around here, the Urgar, and although on the surface they live peacefully beside one another, The Urgar are a happy and friendly bunch – they love to dance, play music and sing, which they do extremely well. You will see them every night dancing in the parks, both old and young, totally free style and with total strangers.
One thing we have had to get used of is being looked at – not rudely, just straight out curiosity. Some of the places we have visited it is quite plain that some of them had not seen many if any white people (this was confirmed by guide Ali) and you could see them out of the corner of your eyes staring at you, particularly I think Pauline with her red hair, and me with a long nose! Historically the Chinese called the white foreigners “long nose’s”. A group of children went scuttling indoors calling out” the foreigners are coming”
Well it was an early morning start to head off to the Heavenly Lakes. This was a small lake compared to ours, and high up in the mountains. We were bordered by the Tainshan Mts on one side which still had a heavy sprinkling of snow. It was very touristy and rather cold. The snow line was down to some beautiful fir trees which looked as though they had been sprinkled with icing sugar. We went for a cold boat ride on the lake which dropped us off at the steps of an ancient monastery. (Without a dictionary these spellings are difficult) It was such a barren place to live as it covers with snow in the winter is unimaginable to think it freezes to 2 Meters of ice for much of the year. Many people burnt huge purple incense sticks and as today was the 10th anniversary of it being open to the public people were allowed to ring the huge bell three consecutive times providing there was a silent gap between each dong.
Food has been spicy with a lot of chillies and pepper flavour. Balsamic vinegar is used like tomato sauce; it can be mixed with a chilli paste to make it more potent. I just love the kebabs we have been having that are mutton inter-dispersed with a chunk of fat cooked over hot coals, until I came across one that had a chunk of liver in it. The traditional dish here is noodles with a vegetable mix and a few pieces of mutton or chicken. Well cooked to the stage of being over cooked. We have tried to eat only hot cooked food but as we have both been sick something has got through. Polif is a traditional dish here which is made from boiled rice, grated yellow carrots a handful of over cooked meat and sprinkled with raisins on top. We are becoming great chop stick handlers and can nearly slurp as loudly as the natives when it comes to noodles.
Our stay in Urumqi was short as we boarded the plane for a 90min night flight to Kashgar, and a new set of guides meet us. A night’s sleep was very welcome.
The Country Side.
Kashgar is a city of 3 million people and all the local ethnic groups are to be found here living side by side. It’s a city of electric motor cycles like you have never seen. Occasionally the power goes off or they forget to charge their cycles and as our guide put it - “they just take a walk”. People drive on the right side of the road and a pedestrian crossing means a place to officially risk your life as you cross the road. With 6 lanes of traffic and numerous cycles I always keep close to our guide. This is also the city of the donkey carts carrying people and their goods in and out of the city and along the roads. I never tire of looking at them and the wares they carry. The people who drive and ride them are an example of the various ethnic groups.
We woke to the sound of rain on the hotel roof. We thought it was a burst water pipe, but no as it never rains in this part of the world we had one out of the box. It wasn’t cold rain but by now we are into out thermals and all the warm clothes we have brought. As the attraction of the animal markets which brought us here were slow to get under way (10am) we went to the Tomb of Abakh Hoja we ran into with a bus load of English speaking tourists. I must admit tourists are few and far between at present. This Tomb also housed a woman who was in the emperor’s concubine and had been brought back here by 150 men taking nearly 3 years to walk from Beijing’s Forbidden City with her body. The ancient architecture is amazing. Blue and yellow are the predominant colours.
We donned on our rain coats and went for a walk through the “old town”. What rabbit warren of streets and homes coming off these narrow ally ways which were slippery due to the rain. Each door lead into a courtyard which had dwellings leading into the courtyard. A curtain gave the family privacy from the street once the door was open. Men and women of all ages were walking to and from the market with the weeks supply of meat and vegs - a cabbage, bundle of yellow carrots, a few large radishes and maybe some spinach or beans. Not to mention the handful of diced meat that the local butcher had cut off the hanging beast .We dodged the puddles and avoided being knocked down by cars, and motorcycles. I would never have found my way out had we got separated. Women were busy sweeping out the rain water which had gathered inside their doors. There were no smells and no flies. Electricity and a good sewerage system along with a daily rubbish collection make this living area very unique. Some people asked our guide where we were from.
Lunch was in a very upmarket restaurant where a band played local music. Being a Sunday families were gathering for lunch.
We had our first experience of local bazaars as our guide took us through the Sunday bazaar. It was huge and people were so laid back about inviting you to see their wares. We just had fun looking and avoiding the puddles. I bought a rabbit’s fur scarf which was to become a life saver as the weather got colder. I was amazed at the lack of local handcraft and I really though there would have been heaps of carpets but there were comparatively few. Kashgar carpets have a very strong yellow colour in them.
Off to the Sunday Market we went again, By this time the place was humming. I do not have the words to describe it. It was a mans domain.. Groups of men gathered round a flock of half a dozen sheep which are a small boned animal almost like a goat. They are a multitude of colours, white, and grey, black, brown and a golden brown. Some were shorn, others just shaggy and others were being shorn with a large pair of scissors to demonstrate their body score. Tied together by a looping piece of string between two trees they waited patiently to be haggled over.. It was a bit of a picnic when they where lifted from the truck until they were secured. They just seem to huddle together bleating. A few Friesian cows were waiting to be sold. Cattle were made to jump off the backs of the trucks, but there was always groups of men to herd them to where they were tethered to a rail. They are excellent stockmen, know their animals, and because are handled so much are very compliant. Today there were no camels but at least a couple of dozen donkeys . How do you choose a donkey… by its long ears, sturdy back, and noisy bray. Sharpest teeth or the strong kick from the hind legs. People trotted them around in a try before you buy exercise. Young boys seemed to accompany their dads. It was a bit of a circus really. Over in the far corner were a couple of horses and a young boy was galloping a pony around presumably trying it out. The seller sells his own stock unless he needs to get an agent to help get the best deal. A sheep would be worth about NZ$150, a donkey NZ $1,000. Underfoot it was muddy and slippery but we managed to escape with dry feet. Thank goodness I’d of hated that mess between my toes!!!
Mothers Day in China
Bill bought me a lovely rabbit fur scarf at the market. Market hawkers had tried hard to sell him a knife so I’m lucky to not have got one of those special prices for you knives. Over dinner there was much discussion on how people spent on Mothers day and we didn’t keep the “boys “out late as they had families to go home to. However our new friends decided to buy me a surprise Mothers Day Cake. He had stopped the van and we waited while he went on this errand after asking the Guide to spell Happy Mothers Day on his cell phone. Our driver is a very gentle sensitive guy with a wife and 3 yr old daughter. He arrived back from the “errand and handed me this red round box with a smaller box on top done up with pink ribbon. Happy Mothers Day he said. We decided to share the cake tomorrow at the Lake. However this beautiful cream sponge had a different fate.
After returning from the lake with this cake that no way could Bill and I manage to eat a nice bell boy came to our rescue. He was practising his English on us so I asked him if he would like to share our cake. You have to remember we aren’t the normal tourists!!! He rang for house keeping to bring a knife. The lady arrived with this huge chopping knife. The small box had contained a candle, a pink tulip that you placed on the cake and its petals fell open to reveal small candles on the points which he lit. After all the lights went out a Musical Happy Birthday played and played and played. He departed grinning from ear to ear with half my beautiful cake. Our musical candle continued to play intermittently each time it was bumped or at random until we eventually pulled it apart. I must look for some to bring home.
A visit to Lake Karakual
This morning we set off to the Mountains 240 km away. The big adventure to stay a night in a local Urt. We put on our warmest clothes but were to discover later even these were not enough. Our first stop was a bonus of another Market . A slightly smaller one than yesterdays Sunday Market and equally as entertaining.
We drove for hours along side of the mountains topped with snow. The stony river bed was kilometres wide with deep gouges running through where the snow melt had rushed past. The scenery for hours was so desolate but beautiful in the changing mountain shapes and shades of brown colouring. At one stage we were looking at a green, red and brown mountain all at the same time. They say they are full of minerals. We were only 96 km from the Turkistan border and could understand the difficulty in finding someone here who didn’t want to be found.
Slips had brought down red mud and rocks with the previous days rain so it had an element of adventure all on its own when going through the slosh wondering who would give way first. Being the main road meant it had a lot of traffic heading for the border, hence we needed to show our passports be checked over and have the van searched.. On arrival at the lake the cold and the altitude hit us Bill in particular. We abandoned a horse or camel ride which I had previously thought would have been a great day round the lake but in fact was a money maker for the locals. The local hairy camels grumbled all afternoon. We had lunch and this toilet stop has beat them all. Slats over a pit. I’ve never had to pee in unison with other women before. A rather humbling experience. The surrounding wall was only chest high and the men’s was beside the ladies. I was more worried about keeping my balance than caring about anything else.
The Urt was about 100 metres off from the dining room and toilet. It had its own 5star toilet the guides informed me - out the back, in the open and on the ground! We settled in to an afternoons rest by putting 4 mattresses on top of one another as the wooden floor looked harder than the beds we have been sleeping in. Bill lay down as by now he was quite headachy from the altitude. I read for a while in the dim light until I was cold under my blanket. I joined the guides in the van for a while to warm up before walking to the loo. The thought of my 5star one in broad daylight was less appealing. On returning Bill was definitely not coping with the altitude and it had begun to snow. We decided to very quickly get him out of there and head back to Kashgar another 4 hours drive.
On the way people were cutting up a yak that had been hit by a car so we joked about yak and mutton parties as many animals were on the road wandering home. We stopped to watch some baby yak running around the field and through the streams like calves just let out of the pen. They then proceeded to cross the road in front of us. Wild life is scarce we did see a few eagles in the distance circling round and a beautiful yellow wild duck. The closer we came to Kashgar the better Bill felt and I must say I was slightly relieved to be in a hotel with people round than the cold draughty Urt placed on the outskirts of the car park, as a tourist money maker. I guess in the middle of summer it would be different.
An extra day in Kashgar
Well due to returning last night instead of today our guide certainly had to think on his feet. I left Bill in the hotel for some quiet time to sort out some things back home and went off to the children’s market. It was full of Chinese type clothing and sold nothing but children’s clothes. No toys. I really haven’t seen any toy shops at all. Children don’t appear to play with toys as ours do. We have seen them riding their dads bike. I managed to find some woollen tights for special little girls back home.
We picked Bill up and went off to the Silk Road Museum. There were live displays of carpet making, cotton carding and spinning. Local music floated out on the street enticing people into this new shopping mall. A drive into the country side was next on our list to do today and we walked among the wheat fields, apricot trees and down country lanes. . It was here an elderly gentleman (67yrs) who invited us in to see his home and garden. His wife was praying and was not at all pleased to have unexpected visitors.. This was another one of those rare moments in travelling. He had fig, apricot, plum apple and mulberry trees. He grew strawberries for the market which I had to sample. Animals were housed inside and dried grass was stored in a loft for these. He proudly showed us his hard muscles due to hard work . We shared a cup of tea at his table which was the floor in the veranda covered in rugs. He wanted to send us some apricots to NZ. I don’t think he knew how far from home we were. He was very emotional when we left and kept hugging Bill and shaking his hand. I guess he had never had a foreigner to his home and we shared a lot in common from two different parts of the world.
Our last stop for the day was dinner in a typical Urgar house. We sat on the carpeted floor of a huge unfurnished room. Food was put in front of us. We began with fresh fruit and bread with rose tea and were followed by noodles and Polif. I had my first lesson on eating polif as the locals do by having a large whole family bowl dipping your 4 fingers in , thumb stays on the underside of the dish, squeezing the rice into a squishy ball and sliding it out of the plate and into your mouth like a scoop with your thumb acting like a pointer on top of your hand. An experience you should all have to try. It was at least quicker than chopsticks. But oh the oily hands afterwards. No wonder we got sick!! The walls of the house were all plastered in designs which gave an expensive feel to the room. Once again buildings surrounded a huge courtyard leading down to a fruit orchard.
We later caught the night flight out to Urumqui.
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