Silk Road - Xinjiang Karakul III, Karakul it is!

As our journey goes, I was happy even I felt sick.  After dinner, with me laying, we were around the little stove, getting warm and chit-chating.  That was when we heard the auto-vehicles sound.  The time should be closed to mid-night.

A Chinese showed up with 4-5 people who dressed like army.  They screamed at our host, then turned to us and said - you are not allowed to overnight at a local stay, you must stay at the "hotel".  That was very clear to us right there, he is the "hotel" manager. I raised and asked - according to?  One of the man in the army dress who looks like the leader said - according to the law and regulation at the border.

We were forced to leave, put in a van, drove us to a place look like a military station.  I asked them to show me the border law and regulation.  They were pestering around and gave me a little booklet and pointed to a page.  Then, I read, nothing in there related to the matter.  The I turned and said - I speak and read perfect Mandarin, I need your Batch # and your military post position.  They were shocked and angry and asked - why you need it.  I said - to report to the China Central Tourism Department on what happen here when I am back to Shanghai.  They were really upset and screamed at me again. That was when that "hotel" manager quickly said - never mind, just drive them to my place.  He then mumbled to himself in Mandarin - don't know where come a 丫头, don't afraid of danger!

When we arrived at that "hotel", the manager wanted us to pay for a hotel room plus USD20 for "entrance fee of Karakul".  We were like "huh?" and refused to pay.  He couldn't do much as we just sat at the reception.  Finally, he put us into a yurt and charged us RMB30 per night.  I had altitude sickness, but my mind was clear, could still argue :-)...  And it was very clear to us what was the situation here.  We heard tons of stories through many channels, but nothing like living through it yourself. It couldn't be clearer than this as a case of abusive and corrupted power with the suffered civilian.

In case you don't know, Karakul lay just in front of the Karakoram Highway, "next to" will be the better word. That was the reason we refused to pay the "entrance fee".  There was no  fence nor gate, the lake is used by local as a pasturing area.  There was also not declared as any UNESCO status.

The next morning around 5am as we woke up, well, we didn't really sleep the whole night.  It was so cold and my girl friend got many cold sore on her face.  We saw Karakul morning scene.  At that time, we knew why Karakul is like a legend for travelers to pass by even it is in the middle of no where and so far from everywhere.
As the highest lake on Pamir plateau, junction with Tian Shan and Kunlun mountain ranges, Karakul is surrounded by snow capped mountain all year round. The lake is famous for its ability to reflect, due to the clarity of the water and the snow on the mountain throughout the year. The colour of the lake looks different at different giving time, from dark green to azure and light blue.  It all depends on your luck of the time.

Early morning before sun rise.

 

The sun is rising with the yurt we stayed over night.

Far back, the so called "hotel".

My pants felt so loose and I never felt this light before.

Since I had not eaten anything for almost 24 hours, only liquid, I felt so light like I lost at least 5kg over night. After walking around till 7am, we packed up and went to the reception.  We sat there, the hotel people kept looking at us but they served us hot tea.  We ate our biscuit, sat quietly as the bus will only come at 9am-11am, it depends. So happened, there was a group tour here.  The guide talked to us, turned out, he is from Malaysia!!! The group is from Singapore.  So rare, but so coincident!

Around 10am, we went out to the side of the Karakoram Highway to wait for our bus to go back to Kaxgar.  Sun was fully raised, the scene changed. Karakul, changes its scene every minute with different amount of light.

Photo from Wikipedia

There are 9 peaks in total.

Fui was at the road side of Karakoram Highway.

It was such a twisted feeling.  Physically, I felt sick.  Mentally, I felt joy! I can still feel the happiness at that moment.  In life, you couldn't ask anymore than such moment!

Silk Road - Xinjiang Karakul II, black lake on Pamir.

Karakul, in Chinese, sounded like noise. In Kirghiz, it means "Black Lake".  That says it all.  Located 196KM from Kaxgar and at an altitude of 3600M, 9 hours bus on the Karakoram Highway, also 2 hours bus from Taxkorgan near the Khunjerab Pass at the border from China to Pakistan. What more can I say, an amazing place.

As we arrived in the evening, the 1st scenery in sight has been no black.

The scene is so peaceful that those sheeps were not moving.

With the geographical location, I had not realized that I slowly slipped into my first ever mountain sickness, or medically called altitude sickness. Well, it was also because we didn't want to stay at the only so called "hotel" near the lake, but walked with a local peasant who was on the same bus with us to his house for a night stay. The local peasant is a local farmer and had just been out to Kaxgar Sunday Bazaar for his weekly trading and errand. We asked as the bus let us off and he was fine so we followed.  After "exerting" on high altitude for almost 2 hours, we reached his little village, front to start with, a mosque.

Mosque here could be just the arch with a door, it is outdoor praying!

As we turned our heads, we saw this amazing snow cap mountain right at the back yard.

On the way to his house, we met his children who were playing out at a bright sunny evening. You can not find children any more innocent as these children.

His house was surrounded with stone made wall. What the real surprise was as when entered the house, I saw the whole wall piled with beautiful, really nice and beautiful blankets.  I love looking at it.

In the middle of the house, there is a pipe with a stove to keep the house warm.  He instructed his wife to make noddle (exactly like fresh pasta or fresh pan mee), with a tomato sauce cooked with local lamb meat and chili. 

By that time, I was alreay badly hit. I had not eated anything since the morning, constantly felt drownsy and vomiting.  My head felt like drawing back, heavy and lack of oxygen.  I was laying down and lost all apertize.  The lady advised me to have some of the hot soup from cookig the noddle with a dash of salt in it.

She tucked me in with 3 of her pile of beautiful blankets, when everyone was having dinner, the night fall was freezing cold, much colder than those nights I had in Canada.

Silk Road - Xinjiang Karakul I, journey to the west.

We once thought we might start the journey from the west, Pakistan. The idea was aborted as there were only two of us, both ladies, a bit too dangerous! 

Thus, we plotted the westest point in China, Karakul.

After spending the weekend in Kaxgar, we were ready for our journey to the west.  As we arrived at the bus station, we saw our real journey had just yet begun.

Started off as empty top

Half Full

This bus is actually very "strong".  As we had to go through desert, canyon and any kinds of road conditions, the bus is equipped with the tyres from the tractor.  Thus, it run through sandy road like flying.

One thing about the road here is - always barrier with the Poplar tree, it is very nice and beautiful!

At the 1st resting stop, we saw an Animal Auction Market.  You can find anythings of donkey, cow, sheep, goat, etc inclusive of the internal organ...

Animal Auction Market

I would have to say I enjoy the local grapes so much I bought at every place I could find them.  But the most memorable food I found in the whole journey would have to be the Silk Road "Naan".  The word sounds similar to the Indian "Naan", but it looks like the western Bagel.  It makes from fresh goat milk and salt in a big stone oven.  The legend says the "Naan" is the main source of food the camel team brought for any journeys on the Silk Road.  The reason is because it is made from fresh goat milk and salt, it can stay edible for 30 days. I like the texture and it kept me full at all time.  It smells really good and fresh with a little bit salty and milk bread taste.  I found the combination of "Naan", milk with grapes was my best meal in Xinjiang.

Lovezzz it!

As the journey went further west, the landscape started to change from sand desert to plateau.

6 years before in 1998, I saw this landscape in United States's Grand Canyon.

4 years later in 2008, I see this similar landscape in Morocco's Todra Gorge.

6 years later in 2010, I see this similar landscape in Argentina's Cachi  to Cafayate valley.

The bus journey was really rough and bumpy as we headed to the Karakoram Highway, but the scenery was beautiful, with landscape from plateau to canyon, sandy hill to snow capped mountain.  Even with all these scenes that I had never seen in my life back before then, I could not feel as much as a nomad as more than that specific moment because the journey, the location, the scenery and the people made me felt exactly like a lonely backpacker.

As it was 2004, before I visit countries like Cambodia, Egypt, Morocco, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Peru with the similar amazing landscape and history, this journey stamped a permanent mark in my heart.  This journey told me who I really am.

Silk Road - Xinjiang Kaxgar IV, their historical veil!

For all it is, Xinjiang has a long and absolutely famous and interesting history while Kaxgar is like it's epic centre.  In this matter, I think Wikipedia will definitely do a better job than me.  It is good to check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaxgar

The Central Plaza

Id Khar Mosque

Well, any visits to Kaxgar is not a visit if it is without a visit to the Id Khar Mosque and the tomb of Abakh Khoja. Id Khar Mosque is right in the middle of the Central Plaza, hardly can be missed.  As the largest mosque in China, it houses 10,000 worshippers and can house upto 20,000.

The tomb of Abakh Khoja (pronounce like Spanish) is together with the tomb of Iparhan Khoja.  Abakh Khoja was the grandfather of the absolutely famous Fragrant Concubine in Chinese history, Iparhan Khoja. More than a religious and political leader, Abakh Khoja, is like an hero, but more than, a Sayid (prophet) to the Uyghur people. 

On the journey to the tomb of Abakh Khoja

Traditional Uyghur house

The tomb of Abakh Khoja and Fragrant Concubine

The mosque next to the tomb

After all, I love the culture, people, the Uyghur and of course we could not leave the topic of food.  The 1st destination on the Silk Road would have to end with a fest we took in which we came to know the serving size in this land.

Two of us did not know the serving size, so we ordered 5 dishes with a local beer.

Silk Road - Xinjiang Kaxgar III, the unforgetable, honest and passion Uyghur

One thing is very significant as we traveled in Xinjiang, the Uyghur.

The Uyghur, in a way as we first met, do not appear to be fun. As we walked, the kids are real friendly, smiling most the time and innocent.  As I dealed more with them, I come to realized that they are not polished, not diplomatic and not very hygenic at all.  In a first world country, we will deem this people "uncivilized".

But in the course of my journey, I found the Uyghur is up most honest people I ever met in my life.  They bargain, but they never con nor cheat.  May be due to the fact of a true muslim around here.  They may never queue, but they do not hide who they are.  They are loud and noisy, but they are passionate about everthing relates to their own Uyghur. They go out of their way to help, even though we were stranger and new to their territory.

My experience in buying grape, commoner will tell you what to pay, not anymore.  My experience in trying to catch a bus, a Uyghur lady who does not speak Mandarin, shout a distance for the bus driver to stop to wait for us.  My experience in having a Ughur dessert - ice sour yogurt, the stall owner just want us to try more and giving us a big bowl.  Well, two of us do look a bit "out of money" when we backpack, that is the way we want to portray people.  In a way, it works.

Foremost, Uyghur is such sincere people. I can feel it as I took my journey.  It gives me the calling that I love these Uygher and I shall come back one day, is like I keep hearing the old Chinese folks song "In the far far place..." constantly in my hear.  

Silk Road - Xinjiang Kaxgar II, Kaxgar and its Bazaar!

Kaxgar, or Kashgar in English, is the western extremity near the border with Tajikistan.

We chose Kaxgar as the starting point of our journey because Kaxgar is the farthest west city in China in term of altitude. Well, Taxkorgan is a little more west in the south near to Pakistan border, but there is no flight to go there, except bus.

Xinjiang is the biggest province in China in term of land size, but least populated and one of the riches because of it's oil and natural gas production. Urumqi is the capital, but Kaxgar is where the huzzle and buzzle is.  Why?  Kaxgar has the biggest bazaar in the world, called Grand Bazaar.  It has around 100,000 people flow in every Sunday.

And we arrived Kaxgar on Sunday, August 29, 2004.

When we first arrived, we realized the store here sells all sort of asortments.

However, we had not gotten to the bazaar yet!

As we left the hostel, with all the little kids we met along the way, we already started to falling in love with Kaxgar and the people here. They are welcoming, simple gesture and unique in their own way.  We waved and got a cab, cost us RMB5 to get to the bazaar.  Once we were there, we realized that it probably has the wierdest thing you can think to buy, it is all here. Instead of words, I think pictures really speak a thousand words here!

 I love this art.  If you are Chinese, you know this is from "Fu Lu".

I told myself, I will come back one day to make myself a beautiful dress!

I think animal protection group will faint if they see this bazaar, but all the things presented are so beautiful!

 

You can see they were once wealthy before!

All sort of traditional supplement.

We will end here.