old silk road: August 2012

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Hello donkey

The transport options in Xinjiang is nothing short of amazing. I've been itching to get a photo of the donkey transport and finally got some. Not exactly what I wanted as those we've usually passed at high speed on the roads... But mission donkey photos at least partially achieved.

Overheating in the desert

Yesterday we had to stop for a while to let the engine cool down. It was 37 in the (supposedly) air conditioned bus and a lot warmer outside.

Today we had to stop about 50 km short of Kashgar for much the same reason... Only this time when the driver poured water in, it shot back out in a gushing stream to the ceiling. Fortunately most of us, and anyone near the front, was standing outside at the time.

Bob did have a wet seat for the ride into Kashgar...

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Hotan to Kashgar

Today we're driving 520km across the desert from Hotan to Kashgar. We've been blessed with cloudy weather and a few rain drops, so the bus trip has been pleasantly cooler than expected. Our pit stop toilet was a hole in the ground with a short drop into a water system and was in a word, disgusting... With people having missed the hole...

The second time I've opted to use plan b - the bush.

Loving the donkey-drawn carts but haven't managed to get a good photo yet. Difficult in a moving vehicle. Hoping we might see something in Yarkand when we stop for lunch.

More scenes from Hotan streets

Engraving jade

We got to visit a jade factory yesterday.

Polishing jade

After the engraving the jade is polished...

Hotan streets

Bob on the silk road

Bob in desert gear before the hot camel ride in the desert, and then holding a silk worm cocoon

Street scenes in Hotan

Hotan is dusty and hot. Pretty much what you'd expect from a desert town. The one aspect that amazes me is the transport. Just about anything goes. Donkey drawn wagons, electric scooters, cars, tractors, motorbikes and busses fight for space on the road.

Although the people are mostly Muslim it is not an Islamic country so you see many women driving scooters and the like. There's also a noticeable police and military presence which has remained in place following the Xinjiang riots in 2009. One local referred to them as street workers.

Bob asked to look at their weaponry. One had a Bo length steel weapon with plastic coating in places. It had two different ends and came in two halves which could be unscrewed and used as tow shorter weapons - clever. The other two soldiers were carrying a steel baton. Apparently it is home made (but fairly prevalent as we saw a number of soldiers with them) with a few nails knocked in and protruding out the end.

Most patrols move in threes or fours with one machine gun amongst them. The soldiers in the Hotan public square last night had machine guns with bayonets attached. Apparently there is a group stationed at every hotel in the city.

Crazy transport in Xinjiang

Note the carpets on the bikes and the TVs on the wagon

Hand woven silk

We visited the last remaining hand woven silk factory near. The spindle visible in the second photo has been in the man's family for four generations or more.

Silk reeling

Creating small bobbins of thread....

Silk from cocoons

Unraveling the silk from the cocoon to form a silken thread. But before you do that the cocoon is boiled and assistance provided to unravel it.

Photos on the way

Shaz at the Melikawat Ruins and on a camel... And the very welcome watermelon we enjoyed after the camel ride to the Rawak ruins

Rawak Ruins

This is an ancient Buddhist stupa near Hotan

Camel pics

Rest stop at the Rawak ruins and a curious camel... Thankfully it didn't spit at me or the camera lense.

Dismounting

Going down....

Blowing bubbles

Apparently camels show their displeasure by spitting and can spit up to a meter. Caught this one blowing a spit bubble...

Camel ride to the Rawak ruins

A far less touristy camel ride, and much enjoyed. This time it was only our group on camels, not hundreds of others.

Characters of the Melikawat ruins

Local people provide a donkey cart service to the ruins covering the roughly 1km distance from the gate to the ruins. The ruins are near the white jade river where people search the river for jade stone. Using machinery was banned until recently, but the river is now mined with large excavating diggers.

The young girl on the right expressed her opinion of us deciding not to use her transport by spitting (not at us) in disgust.

We were followed by three youngsters - two are in the second picture. They became pests during a talk and our group eventually walked back to the car - without really seeing anything of the ruins except the first mound we saw.