Abdullah got us an early flight to
Kashgar. The population here is the reverse
of Urumchi which had 60% Han Chinese and 40% Ughurs. Now that the railway is in
place form eastern China there will be more migrating due to government
incentives. We were met by Abdul and taken to the Asian International Hotel,
quite a new Chinese hotel, to check in. We drove to the Taklamakan desert
Dawakul Lake. We had lunch of noodles, mutton and scrambled eggs under a wooden
arbor. Afterwards we had a very hot one-hour camel ride over sand dunes, which
was actually very comfortable. On our return to Kashgar we stopped a bazaar that
was uncomfortably crowded. Since it was Saturday all were there to socialize and
shop or sell. A stop in a village house showed us how the villagers live. They
cook in outdoor kitchen and have lovely felted rugs throught the inside of the
house. The owner was an older woman. We had dinner at the Ughur restaurant,
Nuran that featured dinner music on a grand piano. Strange juxtaposition.
Abdullah got us an early flight to
Kashgar. The population here is the reverse
of Urumchi which had 60% Han Chinese and 40% Ughurs. Now that the railway is in
place form eastern China there will be more migrating due to government
incentives. We were met by Abdul and taken to the Asian International Hotel,
quite a new Chinese hotel, to check in. We drove to the Taklamakan desert
Dawakul Lake. We had lunch of noodles, mutton and scrambled eggs under a wooden
arbor. Afterwards we had a very hot one-hour camel ride over sand dunes, which
was actually very comfortable. On our return to Kashgar we stopped a bazaar that
was uncomfortably crowded. Since it was Saturday all were there to socialize and
shop or sell. A stop in a village house showed us how the villagers live. They
cook in outdoor kitchen and have lovely felted rugs throught the inside of the
house. The owner was an older woman. We had dinner at the Ughur restaurant,
Nuran that featured dinner music on a grand piano. Strange juxtaposition.
