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.