Kashgar – We got up early and rushed thru breakfast to be on the bus at 7:30am – some folks were late but not their fault as no one got any wake up calls.  First we went to the mosque/mausoleum of Abakh Hoja, built mid 17^th century for the family of a local Uygur spiritual leader and ruler.  The mosque/mauso. is beautiful with green and blue tiles, flower gardens – zinnias etc. – and former ponds.  From there we piled back on the bus and drove to the animal market – extremely lively with people buying and welling donkeys, cows, sheep, goats, chickens, pigeons, little birds, fodder for animals, bridles and ropes etc., with lots of scenes of kids driving herds or people and livestock piled on carts.  Fruits, veggies and wonderful bagels were also for sale.  Dusty but two tons of fun.

Then we headed to the main market of the city – the biggest such market in Central Asia – everything for sale – including services such as shoe repair, shaving, barber, herbal medicines, ground to order in big mortars, bike repair, tire sandals being made, etc., etc..  Also all food stuffs, cloth, dishes, clocks, band aids to batteries were for sale in stands on carts on tables, in stalls, etc..  No one seemed to mind us taking photos and everyone was friendly whether or not we wanted to buy.  At lunch time around 1pm we went to a house near the Id Kah Mosque for a huge and delightful spread with pilaf, melons, bread (nan) cookies-nuts-raisins-figs-peaches, and ending with a sheep noodle soup.  The lady of the house also wanted us to eat Kebab but we were too stuffed.  We thanked her and headed over to the mosque where our guide Abdul arranged for us to get inside (with some rearranging of clothes on the women).  There was a great sign listing appropriate and inappropriate behavior of which several people took photos.  We visited the mosque itself – the largest or one of the largest in all of China, Abdul gave us some history and pointed out a rug (silk?) donated by Ayatollah Khomeni.  After that we all headed off on our own to rest, shop, wander the streets or whatever.  Many folks seemed to be back at the hotel around 4pm having greatly enjoyed the day.  Barb bought an antique blue prayer ring after a lively bargaining session and Nancy had to be dragged away from gorgeous seat covers on a Honda motorcycle.  We had dinner in the hotel around 7:30pm after most of the group had had drinks either in their rooms (Turpan wine) or at the bar and so ended another lovely day of the Mongolia Tour 2002.

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