28 to 30 June – Kuche and Turpan (China)

I had to educate the other travellers one morning when they were complaining about the room phones ringing during the night. I explained that it was the ‘ladies of the  night’ ringing the rooms looking for business. Education is a wonderful thing!

Views on the way to Kuche showing the different scenery

Motorway Service Station. I had to get permission from the police to take this and be sure that they were not included in the photo

Leaving Kashgar at 6.30am it was a long days travelling to arrive at the Kuche Hotel at 7.10pm. The scenery was the same as yesterday with desert, trees, empty villages and industrial buildings. 

Kuche Hotel

Eating out

After such a long day cooped up I went walking for a while. It still surprises me that businesses are allowed to do welding on the public footpath without any protection for the public from the flashes and that the welders here still do not wear welding goggles or masks. There was also spray painting being done on the pavement with spray paint everywhere. This was the red light district as well with arms snaking out from behind curtained doors enticing me to enter. Didn’t!! The town, though smaller than Kashgar, was much noisier. It seemed that the drivers here had less patience as car horns were very much in use a lot of the time. There were plenty of police around as well, even one armoured car sitting on the street, but none bothered me.

Part of the Turpan Hotel

I must admit that I am impressed with the road system in the towns. The main roads through the towns generally have a divider between the two sides. Then there is a wide lane for scooters and smaller vehicles and next to which is a pedestrian walkway. All very civilised. Then I do like their rules of the road which seem to be that anything can drive anywhere, anyhow, the wrong way up a road or on a pavement makes no matter and the police take no notice. Oh! lights on vehicles at night does not seem to be important either.

 Qingnian Lu (Qingnian Street)

 A Turpan Street

I could not resist this- The Hard Rock Cafe

To return to the subject of the hotels and the quirkiness of them, in one hotel there was a sealed cylinder (about 60mm diameter by 15mm long) of what looked like a travelling towel in with the soap and shampoo. Thinking this was free Suzanne open the pack to see what it looked like only to be charged for it the following morning. One time we are all going to end up paying for the soap and other things put out if we are not careful.

And that brings me to the toilet rolls!!! The hotels we have been in so far have provided toilet rolls (thanks very much) but these are about a quarter the diameter of the norm (and narrower with no central hole for the holder sometimes) and only two supplied per room. There’s the feeling that if the residue of two rolls are not left in the hotel when we leave we are likely to be charged for the cost of the rolls. Woe betides anyone who takes a  roll I imagine! Backpackers and over-landers are well known for removing toilet rolls from hostels etc., it’s cheaper that way. I keep a flattened cardboard centre and continually top it up where ever we stop!

The journey to Turpan was another ten and a half hour day with similar scenery as before with the addition of a number of large brick works, coal fired power stations and the sight of the edge of the Taklimakan Desert. Due to extensive ground water Turpan is considered to be an oasis. Many of the streets are tree lined with overhead trellis supporting grape vines as this is a wine producing area of China. When in season it is illegal for anyone just to pick a grape to eat, they must only be picked by the vineyard staff. I am not certain if it is one place only or the whole of Turpan that is 154 metres below sea level. It is certainly the hottest place in China with he temperatures exceeding 40C, as we found out yesterday. The town was known as a major trading post on the Northern Silk Road.

The Hotel Turpan

The Hotel Turpan Foyer

     
Bathroom tiles in an otherwise white tiled Chinese hotel bathroom
  

I do not know why

Welcome to the Old Town

Trying to show the brickwork

Views of the Old Town

Showing the 30 metre drop to the rivers

Late that afternoon I hired a bicycle to go to a Uighur village I had seen in the morning near the Old Town. It was still quite hot but I enjoyed the ride while having the chance to look at the vineyards and side streets. People waved at me and shouted ‘Hello’, no shouts in any foreign language. How they knew to use English I do not know except that only ‘mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun’ and as I am Welsh! An hour and 45 minutes later I arrived at the Uighur Village with a flat tire and to find out that the village was not what it seemed. The 9 kilometre ride was slightly uphill so I was looking forward to returning back and taking it easy. The people at the village found a pump but the hole in the tyre let out the air as fast as it could be put in. I was invited to have some food but gestured that I had to get back into the town so waited while they organised a 3-wheel to take me back into  town. It was certainly easier stretched out on the carpeted tray of the side-less 3-wheel (that’s what they are called our guide says) than cycling back until the 3-wheel broke down about 2/3 of the way back. I was surprised how many people shouted and pointed to the flat tire in the bicycle as I rode it the rest of the way. An old white haired foreigner riding a bicycle (with the advent of electric scooters there were no Chinese on bicycles to be seen) must have been a strange sight for as soon as I wobbled everyone scattered out of my way. I just waved and laughed with them and merrily rode back to the hotel. At least I did not have to fix the puncture.

The intrepid explorer ready to go into the wide beyond

A in-glorious return

A lovely kettle

How to stress the vine support wires the Chinese way

Vineyards

A wall of the grape drying houses

The Uighur Village and children

The despot's house (a lovely name)

About 10pm I went out to the street stalls for some food but did not eat on the stalls that had the cows head lying in them. Kebabs at 20p a piece suited me with two extra as one Chinese man insisted that I have two of his kebabs while I waited for mine to cook.