Hotan’s Sunday bazaar rivals the one in kashgar, but the best part is the lack if tourists. It was a pleasant chaos that stretched over a large area and even out in the streets where motorcycles and horse or donkey carriages where transporting everything from people to wood. It is organised into different areas for different products such as carpets, hats, scarf etc etc

Close to the bazaar is a small jade workshop, one part where they have eight stations making jade jewelry and an other with jade for sale. Hotan is full of street stands selling jade or at least jade looking stones. Not having a clue how to tell the difference we spent some time in the workshop looking at everything from small stones from qinghai mountains for one hundred rmb to white hotan river jade bracelets exceeding 80,000 rmb. As usual, after seeing really good jade you cannot but cheap ones so ended up buying a simple necklace of white hotan jade from the kunlun mountains for a somewhat higher price than planned….

After two weeks we have started do some souvenir shopping and after stocking up on home made jam and honey, next mission is to find a post office and send it all to shanghai.

Arranged through CITS we went on an overnight desert trip. Insisting on not having a guide with us they seemed to involve two more locals for safety reason so all in all we were a caravan of five people and seven camels.

Close to the area where we met up with the camel driver was the famous Rawak Stupa, an ancient Buddhist temple in the middle of the desert. Before only accessible by 4WD car + camel, today by newly made tarmac all the way as a side track of the new cross desert highway. We were informed by the travel agency a permit to visit was needed to the cost of RMB 500 per person. Considering it at first we then skipped it as to expensive. Upon reaching the camel caravan, one guy talked to our driver and translation went something like: if we want to visit the temple the guy can arrange a permit for RMB 200 per person. This as some bosses are away and you can avoid some costly bureaucracy. Wanting to visit it we gave it a try. We rode the camels for about an hour to the backside of the temple. There a sanddune had moved so it covered the fence surrounding the area…..all in all, although it was fascinating with the fact of an old Buddhist structure in the desert, it was not much more than a pile of mud resembling some kind of building. So it was a disappointment and not worthy that much money, especially not RMB 500. But of course it us of historical value.

The ride continued for another half hour to some larger sand dunes where we camped for the night. It was a few minutes of painful walk after spreading your legs over a camel back one and a half hour. Enjoying some water and naan bread on a blanket we spent the night enjoying the silence and looking at the clear sky and all its shiny stars. Surprisingly there was some small rain in the morning.

Location of our camp:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:37.36393,80.16222(I+am+here+-+37+21.835+N+80+9.733+E)

After a night in Yarkand the trip continued to Hotan (also called Khotan or Hetian). The road was far from as good as advertised and once again, majority of it under construction (probably destroyed due to flooding). Next to it was the new railway that soon will be in use.

Famous for its jade and silk we spent the day visiting an old workshop where I bought a nature colored handmade scarf. Thereafter we joined the locals searching for jade at the river. Seeing people looking for jade by the river bed, probably day after day, and knowing how many farmers who have gone bankrupt, you cannot stop feeling sad. But the feeling of just a slight chance is intoxicating and even I dug in for some time. Day was finished of by exploring the bazaar and shopping a local hat and hand-made knives.

Impression of Hotan is good and people are friendly and curious. Also here a lot of fun taking photos of people. And food is great, especially the bread that has even more different kinds here.

Leaving kashgar was with a surprisingly large dose of relief. The town is widely praised in literature and guidebook talks how different it is. For me it was an interesting place but unfortunately ruined by its people.

Overall, Kashgar had an ambience of aggression, tension and mistrust in the air. You often saw people screaming to each other or running out of cars to pick a fight, and heavy equipped military patrolling wither by foot or in trucks equipped for riots was a common sight. The only friendly people you met in the town was all trying to get money from you by telling you how difficult things are, that the road is bad or permits needed etc etc. We also had a few days of frustration with the local public security bureau that did not show there most professional or helping side. Only after calling higher bosses and supervisors was there any action.

When leaving the town for a local village market you were immediately greeted with more honest friendliness and curiosity. I realised the difference when we first arrived in Yarkand (Shache) three hours to the south on the southern silkroad. Nothing special there according to guidebooks but what I found was friendliness and people who were happy when I took photos and many wanted to pose or have their kids pose. Spent half a day walking around on small streets taking photos of people and sharing the result. A bit different from the daily feeling of irritation and mistrust in Kashgar.

After spending the night in tashkorgan and newly made bread for breakfast we continued to the border at Pakistan and the famous kunjerab pass, also called the valley of blood due bandits often attacking caravans there in the past. The pass consists of the Chinese/Pakistan border at an altitude of about 4700 meters (according to my gps) and zero degrees. My previous intel of the Chinese also making the road into Pakistan might have been somewhat of an exaggeration. Where Pakistan starts the tarmac ends and all you have is muddy roads.

After taking photos with Pakistani border guards, we went  to the karakul lake and spent the night in a yort. For 40 rmb we also got dinner which we shared with the kirgiz family in their house. Nice experience and they took good care of us serving tea and bread during the day, and warming up the yort in the evening. The son, and the only one speaking Chinese and limited English, also worked as porter for expeditions to Muztha ata and has reached the summit six times.

After watching the sun rise around 0830 (Beijing time which is almost a difference of three hours) against the view of beautiful snow covered mountains and the muztagh ata summit we packed our bags and tried to find a ride back. Our jeep arranged for the whole trip went back the evening before as the German girl sharing the car got very sick, either from food or altitude. At lunch we got a local who offered to drive for 70 per person and of we headed. Passing the spots that were destroyed going up we felt happy to have a smooth trip. But, right after that a long line of cars became visible. Walking to the front and talking to the special military guys (Wu Jing) we learned there had been recent  landslides and two to three days required to fix it. Not in the mood turning back we took our bags and continued on foot. It was not one landslide we had to cross, we climbed over rocks and walked through mud for almost 10 kilometers, passing abandoned cars stuck in between before we got to the end and a line of waiting cars. We negotiated a ride back to kashgar for 150 rmb. Halfway the driver didnt want to go any further and we were “sold” to another car and after 20 minutes of negotiation we were on the move again. After more than six hours on the highway we were back in kashgar.

Lessons learned:
1. The road is great all the way to the kunjerap pass. Although the road often seems to be under reparation from landslides, but if it is broken not even a jeep can cross so normal car or bus works fine.
2. No special permits needed. everything is arranged along the way at checkpoints. To reach the kunjerap pass a fee of 10 rmb per person had to be paid, nothing else.
3. Guides and drivers don’t really work for your best conveniency, more for their own benefit. This means it is more fun and rewarding doing things on your own. For example was our driver trying to convince us to follow his advise at the lake as we were not allowed to stay in local yorts. Well, it was possible and a lot cheaper and nicer…

Karakorum highway is famous in many ways, not only is it an old silk road route, it is also and important connection to central Asia.. The road gets all the way up to the Kunjerap pass on some 4800 meters before it continues into Pakistan, a part also where the Chinese has been involved.

Today we headed out in the early morning. It didn’t took long after getting into the mountains before a long line of cars emerged. With melting glaciers and landslides the road is often destroyed and the repaired parts can be rough. Along the route there were two stops where we had to wait for them to either repair the road enough so cars could pass, or clear away rocks that had fallen down. I am massively impressed over the effectiveness when it came to repair the road. Several other parts were also newly repaired or alternative roads made where the original had been washed away.

Today the car climbed to a max of 4000 meters before coming down to a valley at 3000 meters altitude, Tashkorgan. Here we walked around looking at an old stone fortress and then rested by a yort in the nearby wetland, chatting with both Tajikistan people and Chinese ex soldiers working together to move a yort to dryer place.

It was a nice quiet evening made to perfect when the power went out and we had to use candles.

Three days has already passed in the very west of China, where the sun rise almost three hours later than in eastern parts and the local time is two hours after Beijing time.

We were supposed to go for a three day trip on the karakoum highway today but after arranging it yesterday with a local guy that was friendly, we realised this morning that of what he had promised there was a lot missing so we cancelled and changed the plans.

Today we instead went on our own to a village market outside kashgar. Tour company suggested 120 for a car but we took a taxi for 40 rmb to there and 20 rmb back. Very convenient. Market was great and very local. Famous for its donkey market, the roads were full of small carriages coming in from other villages and in the market you could find sheeps, cows, bulls and donkeys. A lot of chaos and as only foreigner snapping photos of everything people were surprisingly friendly and smiled all the time. At one point I think someone tried to sell me a donkey and suddenly I was surrrounded by men gesturing and talking loudly to me, most likely making fun of me. Unfortunately is my vocabulary still weak with only phrase I remember being the greeting phrase “essalamu eleykum” – peace be upon you – and I think useful enough!

It is a completely different experience coming away from e.g. the touristy handicraft street in kashgar to a local village market where it is even more handmade, both in the way people threat you and price level. Lonely planet is a nice guide book but serves a better purpose to tell you what to avoid. Most fun comes from exploring on your own.

In kashgar and a long shower after, evening was spent tasting a lot of different local specialities and deserts. Despite all warnings I went with a traditional uighur drink made from ice collected in the mountains and then mixed with yogurt and honey. Very tasty in the summer although the cleanness of the ice can be questioned.

The normal things has been done so far, walked around in the old town, bought knife in local market, visited tomb of famous concubine to a Qing dynasty emperor, bought tea of mixed healthy herbs, saffron and black tea etc etc.

Rumours confirmed. After eight hours, upon reaching korla, we were asked to board another bus. As we were the only ones going to kashgar the driver felt it was easier to pay another bus  that had seats available and then reach their end destination by a shortcut across the desert to hotan instead of the long way via kashgar. We had to wait for two hours but it was arranged smoothly after three police officers came and separated two guys using rocks in a fight.

Roads were not the Chinese style highways I expected. Only to korla, thereafter it was road under construction and we had some bumpy 20 hours. I had to limit the food and fluid intake for two reasons. Toilet visits were made each 4-6 hour and toilet standard where we stopped can easiest be described as terrible. In the places without buildings to hide in, the ground was covered with remains from earlier travelers….

Around midnight there was a longer stop and food could be bought.

Turpan to Kashgar on a sleeper bus with at least 24 hours to go. Hopefully all the way but rumours say that they might change the route halfway depending on how many want to go all the way to Kashgar. We will see…