Niya / Minfeng was far smaller then expected. An old guide from central Asia traveller with a lot of information (in contrast to lonely planet which skipped it) gave many good tips. Only problem is that things seem to have changed. The advertised bus to the shrine of Mazar Imam Jafar Sadiq did no longer exist. We spent almost an hour trying to find transportation to there. A guy at the bus station, could have been a taxi, offered to take us there for rmb 200 but a lot of people was unaware how to get there. Even some local authority, whose tourist brochure we found in hotan, claimed when we called them there were buses to the shrine from the bus station. In the end we found a helpful Chinese guy ay zhejiang hotel who arranged a car, still for 200 though but felt more trustworthy than the first one.

The 90 km trip to the shrine took an hour through beautiful desert, with sand dunes all around where strong wind made the sand behave as ghost-like spirits moving from dune to dune and crawling over the road, disappearing just when the car reach them. The highway continues across the desert, a challenge as the desert keeps moving, and along the road are rows of trees and bushes in an effort to hinder the desert from coming in over the road.

Upon reaching the small village of Kapakaskan, the desert once again changed form and green vegetation emerged with the help of niya river oasis. At the end of the village was a checkpoint, and we had to search for someone to allow us to continue the last 5 kilometers to the shrine. As a very holy place we not only had to pay 50 rmb per person, but also leave cameras with the man and have our passport details recorded. Arriving at the shrine there were about ten people resting in the shadows and we were told to wait for the man responsible so he could show us around. Sleeping just a few meters from us a lady finally took the initiative to wake him up. We first went to the mosque, a simple looking building with area for prays, and then wandered around among  old buildings behind it. A bit further away below a sand dune was some ancient buildings 700 years old where dining areas was still well preserved. Outside the building was an area were animal  sacrifices were either done it preferred. At least was there remains laying on the ground. Scattered around the area were also graves with interesting decorations in the form if branches and trees. Above the building on top of the sand dune was the holy shrine and end destination for pilgrimages. Unfortunately, our visit came around 15.00 during Ramadan and we was explained that they could not go up there before they have had food which they would in the evening, and we were not allowed to venture up alone. With a slightly stressed driver and many hours to wait we went back to the city instead.

Back in town we tried to post some stuff to shanghai but neither honey nor knives were allowed to be sent in a package. Being told in the airport that knives are not even allowed in check-in luggage I make the conclusion that knives are not supposed to be carried at all and we will see if my handmade knives from yingisar will be confiscated later on or not.

Dinner was spent with a Chinese guy we ran into on the street trying to find transportation to our next destination.

Tags: desert Xinjiang, Mazar, minfeng, niya, shrine