niniane

10/23 – Kashgar

Got up bright and early in Kashgar and went hunting for a travel agent that would take us along the Karakorum highway. It took us a bit to find him, but he was in a lovely hotel that used to be the Russian embassy in Kashgar dating back from the 1950s. We arranged the tour and managed to get by without a guide since I speak a sufficient amount of Mandarin that he thought it safe to leave us with a Mandarin only speaking driver. (He could not go as only ethnic Han Chinese are allowed permits to leave Kashgar.) He arranged all the visas for our trip (...why do we need a visa? We're not leaving the country...but such is the deal with travel in Xinjiang) and made some remarks about security being tighter, supposedly because of ISIS, etc.

Then we want exploring around the city. We prowled a bit through Old City (quite pretty, if a bit of a tourist trap. It's essentially the old city reconstructed so that Uighers can sell tchotkies and food. Most of it was closed as it's off season, but we did find a little hole in the wall that sold the best lamb dumpling and spicy tomato soup imaginable. So good! Then we made it off to the main mosque which was...a bit of a disappointment. Like, it was pretty outside, but there was mostly just a big green room inside and the grounds were just pretty. It felt like a bit of a rip off at 45 RMB, especially as all you could really do was take a picture of the outside and go, "Well...I guess it's pretty." It took maybe all of 15 minutes. The one in Xi'An was much lovelier.

A picturesque corner in the old city of Kashgar.

I like the architecture of this tea house as well as its clear advertisement of age. (It says the same thing in Chinese, in case you were wondering. I cannot read Uigher, but am assuming it's also the same.)

A gate.

A camel near the Great Mosque, waiting for someone to pose for pictures with it. It is China, after all...

The Great Mosque of Kashgar is at the center of the town.

I take back anything negative I said about the Great Mosque. The ceiling alone is worth the price of admission!

The interior of the Great Mosque. There wasn't much else there other than a really fancy rug that was given to China by Iran when a dignitary came to visit.

We also made it to the tomb of a famous philosopher, which was a bit more exciting, in that the architecture was slightly prettier...but again, it wasn't really much other than a building that you could walk inside, take a picture of, then leave. (Like, there were a few books with his writing, but modern ones and just...okay...so it's a big building that we were charged 30 RMB to see...)

The philosopher (Yusuf Khass Hajib)'s tomb. It's really pretty!

More of the tomb.

Front of the tomb.

Or another front...with a bust of the philosopher which seems...strange for Islamic memorials, just saying...

We wandered around the city a bit more, but mostly it was just a lot of windy roads.

As we were heading back to our hotel (around 5), though, we did get to see the weekly parade. In it, they shut down the streets (blocking them with buses) to parade perhaps a dozen strikers, another dozen military convoys, heavily armored police vehicles, chanting soliders, etc. around the center of town for about an hour. It was...something.

10/24 – Tashkurgan

Got out bright and early to meet with our driver, who was a half hour late due to police check points. *sigh* Got in the car and promptly went through a half dozen (at least) of them on the way up to TashKurham city. Three required a permit. One required us to get out our car with our luggage to have it x-rayed. All required our passports and a metal detector scan and pat down. The TSA could learn some things...

Weirdly, all seemed to be for people heading *out* of Kashgar vs. in, which is interesting considering that the threat is supposedly coming from Islamic terrorists fleeing *into* China...go figure.

Anyhow, after the first check point, got into Opal, a tiny way station with a few convenience stores, nice nang (naan like bread), and one of the most disgusting toilets I've ever encountered. (Ugh, the ammonia!)

We got out of there and went through spectacularly beautiful mountain passes. There were deep red mountains, dark black mountains, etc.

The Karakorum highway from the car.

This goat (at White Sand Lake) aggressively wanted my nang. Screw you goat, it's mine.

I feel like if you changed the flag, this would fit in perfectly in 'Murica. I loved this car for that.

The most beautiful spots were:

A turquoise lake surrounded by crystal white sand dunes. It seriously looked photoshopped. Like, sand dunes should not surround a lake, far less be crystal white (or water be that BLUE!)

White sand lake looks photoshopped...

I have no idea what geographic anomaly created this. Srsly.

I'd call "photoshop" if I hadn't been there.

Karakul lake, which was surrounded by dark black mountains and was almost purple in color. (And surrounded by camels and yaks, most of the camels seem to be primarily props for photos. The yaks and goats were wandering freely.)

DRAMATIC!

Chinese tourists braving the cold (it was close to freezing if not slightly below) and wind to ride camels. Tourists have to tourist.

Truckers getting in their last deliveries of the season (the pass closes shortly) in phenomenal splendor.

The gate to Muztagh Ata viewing (and probably climbing and whatnot) was closed for the season. But it's still impressive. The border checkpoints were also closing down for the season, which was kind of crazy. (Yet understandable. SNOW!)

Muztagh Ata, an enormous (second highest on this part of the Himalayean platuea) glacier capped mountain, along with nearby it, a gorgeous grassland (all yellow in the fall) covered in turquoise rivers and with yaks peacefully grazing about it.

The plains by the mountain. You can see why this was such a powerful place. It's really the only way to get between Europe and Asia without sumiting an even higher mountain (note that it's *already* 14,000 feet around here). But at least there's water, the ability to grow food, graze animals, etc. around here. That's a MASSIVE advantage. (Also, look at the mountains around here. If you want to get from Europe to Asia, or vice versa, YOU ARE GOING THROUGH THIS VALLEY.)

Also towering mountains with fantastic glaciers. It is mind bogglingly beautiful, but pictures will do a far better job than words.

After about an 8 hour drive (done verrrrry slowly and with many check points and picture stops) we got out at Tashkurgan, the home of the Tajik people. (Who have an eagle as their emblem as a boy fell in love with a girl, then an eagle gave up its life so that he could use the bones to make a flute to play to the girl, which made her dance and I guess fall in love with him, go figure). It's a rather pretty city, nestled between stupendous mountains. They also light up the trees at night, which is quite pretty. :) There was one small almost Stryker like vehicle which had its own solitary parade, but rather than shut down traffic, it stopped respectfully at the stop lights, which was quite nice. It was kind of...adorable. Like a mini military parade!

The eagle in the center of the town.

We also stayed at a wonderful Singaporean hotel and ate at a lovely Pakistani restaurant (owned by a Tajik who lives in Pakistan and can journey to this part of the world as he is an ethnic minority for which neither country requires a visa) and had a wonderful meal of yak curry, vegetables, bread, rice, and lentils. Yum! After I wandered about the town a bit as it's small and pretty and ended up buying milk beer (accidentally) at a store as well as a mysterious liquor that the shop keeper said was very delicious. The milk beer is...interesting. It tastes vaguely yogurty, quite sweet, and kind of creamy. It hated it at first sip, but it's kind of grown on me as I drink it while writing. Not sure how to describe it other than like drinking a sweet yogurt with a weird aftertaste that also tastes kind of buttery. I could see getting to like it, maybe...

Off to sleep and descend the highway tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!

Time for a break.