Life in Cambodia

On the edge of the Middle Kingdom

From Urumqi we hopped a nice train to Kashgar, the farthest city west you can get and still be in China proper. It was our last train ride in China (woo-hoo!) and it was a nice double decker train with only 4 bunks per room instead of the usual 6! Even better, we lucked out with some decently cool locals who never drank, smoked, played cards, or hooted and hollered all night. Its the little things that make the rides go smoothly. We had assumed the terrain outside would be forbidding and arid because we were skirting the Taklamakan Desert, but it was actually beautiful countryside full of valleys and mountain streams. Kashgar is an ancient staging point on the Silk Road and despite the influx of Chinese, has managed to keep a bit of the town locked in the past. Much of the town is newish and of little interest, but right in the middle of the city is the Old City, anchored by the Id Khah Mosque, which has been calling the faithful since the 1400s. The old town is bustling, not unlike other Chinese cities, but decidedly not Chinese. It felt as if we were in central Asia or the middle east already: bread bakers at every turn, mosques, long bearded men, women covered from head to toe and nary a sight of typical Chinese food or the sound of Chinese being spoken. It was a strange combination of cultures I had not expected but also loved that we still had access to both. Rugs for sale, scarves, skull caps, Kyrgyz kolpaks (traditional Kyrgyz hats), Kazakh and Tajik traditional head-wear and knives...yes, knives, everywhere. Knives are a staple of Uygher life--practically every man we saw in the old town had one strapped to his belt. Never being one for weapons of any kind (yes, this has been Maggie writing), I thought to accompany our friend Ben to the market for his knife search on our last day in town. My goal was to search for last minute trinkets and souvenirs...but during that 3 hours I became somehow transformed, ahem, a little obsessed with finding a knife...there were so many to choose from and with such alarmingly beautiful carved handles, engraved with traditional designs and the maker's name written in Arabic script--the handles and blades are expertly crafted and come in a variety of curved shapes: extremely small, small, medium, large and yes, extra large...it was a bit infectious. I bought one, a small to medium sized with a black goat horn carved handle, with small blue and red stone dots inlaid at the base of the blade. Sharp. Very sharp, but small, with a slight upturn at the end of blade that makes it look a little more ornate. I have no idea what I'm going to do with this knife, but it was something I had to have. At least I snapped out of my momentary obsession, whereas Ben couldn't seem to stop: he purchased 5 all together and returned later thinking he might use 4 of the 5 as steak knives. Maybe you'll see ours as a nice (super sharp) cheese knife...



Kashgar is also famous for its Sunday Market, one of the biggest and liveliest in Central Asia, so we just had to check that out. The market again, was a mix of old and new and East and West; everybody and their brother, and sister, and mom and dad were out for the big day and we also made it out. Matt and I arrived from the Animal Market with our Canadian friend Thang (the one we met in Beijing--we found each other again in Kashgar) and a French cyclist, Sebastian. I quickly stated that there was no way I was going to do the market with 3 guys in tow, so we made a plan to split up and meet back at the hotel. That was a good idea since the best part of the market was just wandering the aisles people watching and sort of "window shopping". I did however buy several scarves, which just couldn't be helped because well, if you know me, it just couldn't be helped...especially because they were so darn cheap! Anyway, I found myself wandering behind the market, laughing and bargaining for a new ski hat with an old woman who knitted it herself. The old clothes market was fun and if we were headed home anytime early than 3 months from now, I would have stocked up on a number of things...but alas, it was good to know that I had to carry all of my crap, thus I refrained from going crazy on the silk road. After street snacks and a trip back through the old market, I headed back with my scarves and our group met up to share stories of the day.



One of the other highlights of Kashgar though is the oft-overlooked Animal Market also held on Sunday outside of town. We woke up early to head out there and arrived just as things were getting started. We knew we were going to see some good stuff before we even arrived. The road leading up to the market was filled with donkey carts carrying goats and huge trucks overflowing with sheep, donkeys, and cows. The market was actually just a huge empty field filled with thousands of animals and ringed with food stalls and locals selling anything from lengths of rope to traditional Uygher knives. We then ran into some of our friends we had been hanging out with from our trip to Tian Chi--James and Graihagh, an English couple traveling around China who had been living in Thailand, had a plan; James really wanted to buy and sell a sheep during the market, to, you know, get the feel for the age-old, silk road reality in Kashgar. We met up with them just after James had successfully sold his sheep, a cute little bushy brown one that sadly, was sold to the butcher of a food stall...although he sold the sheep for a loss, he gained a nice new title on his CV: 'Sheep Trader' which to him was definitely worth it...pictures to come.

That weekend, a group of us wanted to head out of town. This group included Ben, an American, and Graihagh & James. It worked out that all of us were interested in a side trip down to Karakul Lake on the Karakorum Highway towards the Pakistan border. As we planned our trip, we also picked up Thang and Dee, a Dutch woman. Together with David, the Brit traveling with us (and a few other folks) we rented a mini-van, which we christened "The Fun Bus" and took off for Tashkorgan, the farthest we could get down the Karakorum Highway without having an onward visa. The Karakorum, which winds its way through soaring mountain passes (bringing with it the danger of altitude sickness, since we reached over 4,000meters), is famous for its scenery; it did not disappoint. Soon after we left Kashgar behind, we quickly dipped into the passes, stopping only at Upal to eat the fattiest samsa we've ever had. The mutton fat congealed on the roofs of our mouths and left a thin film that would accompany us for some time on our tongues. Since the scenery (snow capped mountains and streams) was new for us, we stopped every 30 minutes to get out and snap some photos (as seen on Flickr). By the time we got to Tashkorgan, we were driving past snow caps without even batting an eye and barely a yawn. I, personally, had expected a bit more out of Tashkorgan, though admittedly I should have known better (it was just a regular little city.) After an absurdly large meal and a quick tour (and dropping Rishi, an Irish guy biking down into Pakistan), we retraced our steps back to Karakul Lake, which we had passed along the way to Tashkorgan. We arrived as the sun was setting, and with it, any sense of heat or warmth. Luckily, we had been warned by an Australian guy that things got a bit nippy out there on the lake, so were remotely prepared. After a bit of accommodation price gouging and haggling, we secured ourselves a nice warm yurt to call home. We all piled in the yurt with the firing heating the place up, got settled and started talking and laughing until we all slid into sleep. The morning brought some altitude sickness for me (Maggie) but with movement, some breakfast, lots more water and a hike through the mountainous area near the lake, I felt better. Thang, Matt and I hiked around near a stream and up around some lower mountain bases while the others tried to hike toward the snow line opposite Muztagh Ata (one of the highest mountains on the highway). We got stuck around a little stream though and had to de-sock to wade our way through the extremely cold and ice-like water. We all met back at the road where the driver got us safely back to Kashgar, tired, but ready for more types of trips. We all met that night to wish Ben a happy (early) birthday and to tell tales of our plans for the next part of our trips. It was a fantastic group to travel with and sad to part ways, but such is the way of the traveler; Ben and David were off to Shanghai with separate plans, James and Graihagh were off to Tibet with a new car load of folks, Thang to Kyrgyzstan a day earlier than us and Dee back to Xi'an to get into Mongolia and onto the trans-Siberian railway. Lots of beers and well wishes were said (including an insanely huge meal at a local shmansy Uygher restaurant, replete with singers and musicians) and we all headed on our way, safe travels for all! Reunion Kashgar 2010!

posted by Life in Cambodia @ 11:11 AM