Kashgar to Yarkand

Breakfast and onto the bus. Our first stop was the Idkah Mosque with its’ very specific rules:
Rule #6: Breaking wind and speaking loudly is forbidden.

Outside the mosque, we bought two Uighur fur hats. The backstreets form the old market district. It was like going back to medieval times with food stalls, small wood and metal working workshops and colorful balconies teetering over narrow alleys. We bought a spoon from Chef Mohammed, some silver bracelets.

Then we were off to the Sunday Market. It was one of the most amazing sites we’ve ever seen, a hodgepodge of people, animals, donkey carts, and smells.

The market is filled with old men with white beards in traditional Uighur fur-trimmed hats, long coats and boots, carrying televisions, donkey carts, Muslim women trading for cloth. We bought some raisins and saw all our new friends, the Brits, Mike and his wife (the Scots), Miles the climber and the smelly Germans.

The animal market was spectacular with four-year-old boys riding bareback on huge horses through the crowded market.

We bought some Uighur bread.

A guy trying to sell an ugly Uighur knife followed John through the market. He finally caved at the last minute and we were the proud owners of a really sharp, really ugly knife.

We found a local restaurant with some very fresh lamb hanging and kebabs on the grill. Inside there were two very large tables surrounded by benches filled with Uighurs. They were very surprised to see us arrive and made room for us at their tables. We were definitely the main entertainment that day. Lunch was noodles and kebabs and tea.
We made a quick stop in the jewelry section of the market and bought some earrings while being watched closely by old Uighur men pressing in to see every detail of the transaction.
We couldn’t leave without a quick stop by the largest Mao statue in China.

A local Han Chinese woman forced her baby in my arms to get a picture of the strange white woman.
Then it was off to the mausoleum of the Perfume Concubine (a.k.a. Fragrant Concubine) The mausoleum houses a collection of unmarked tombs.

The “facilities” left a lot to be desire—two boards over nothing. We decided to start a 5 star rating system for bathrooms.
Then, we were on the road again for 4 hours of bounce and jounce to Yarkand and the gloomiest Soviet style hotel with strange smells. We set out to find beer in Muslim land and didn’t have to look far. We headed a block from our hotel and found a spot filled with outdoor cafes and Uighur men drinking beer and playing pool and spitting everywhere.
We caved in and settled for a group dinner then headed back “downtown” to check out the action.

We shared a table with some locals drinking beer and some kind of rice wine. John taught them to say South-Park-ism’s like “Cheesy Poofs and Snacky Cakes and Hi-di-ho. The little girl with the family next door was fascinated with us. We gave her a pen and wrote “Hello” on a piece of paper for her.

Jack headed to the local barber and got a complete shave—they shaved his eyelids, his ears while sticking their fingers in his mouth to get the closest possible shave.