After a late breakfast and an internet-session to send the actual diary, we left Hotian on 12 October in the morning towards Kashgar. On the way there were a few nice villages to see, including a faulkner with his eagle on bike and camel carts, most of the drive was along the edge of the desert. The only adventure of the day was a “flying stone”, hitting the front window of the Toyota and causing some severe cracks. We taped the window with our multifunctioning and high appreciated “Gaffa” (a good german tape, which you should never forget when driving in Central Asia) and went on. 60 km ahead of Kashgar we stopped in Xinjiangs “Knifetown” to equip ourself with some sharp, uigur handmade blades.

At the hotel in Kashgar, the old English Consulate “Qinibagh”, they wanted to place us in the absoloutely cheapest chips of rooms on what Gerd protested sucessfully. So we were given some classy rooms with view on the old city of Kashgar.

Gerd, Ueli, Lee and Moritz took the cars to a service station to change the oil and the Toyota´s front window and to remove cracks and corrosion in the body’s paintwork. Todays last act was dinner at the hotel which deserved the certificate: “a bad load of nothing”, before going to bed.

Due to the Xinjiang time which is two hours behind the Beijing time of our clocks, we got once more the opportunity to sleep one’s fill on the 13th. After breakfast we hired two taxis and went to discover Kashgar. The first stop was a tomb which was built in honour of Apak Hodja, an islamic missionar. The Mausoleum contains 58 tombs. The façade was decorated with picturesque tiles in different colours. Some of the tiles even contained buddhist ornaments in islamic style. Later our attention was attracted by a portrait of a good looking young lady dressed with an armour like France´s Jeanne d´Arc. We learned that this was the grand grand nice of Apak Hodja who became the major concubine of the Emperor in Beijing…

After the Mausoleum another bazar was waiting for us. Compared to the one in Hotian it was a sterile looking place and the special flair was missing. We were a lot more excited by the craftmen’s lane: a road in the old part of the town where we found one workshop after the other. From copper products to knifes, cotton, backery utensiles and music instruments everything was offered for a bargain. For lunch we enjoyed kebabs with meat, liver and fat from the sheep, to that bread and tomatoes with garlic, chilli and onions – sheees, in this case not even a TicTac can  help… In an odd, small shop we were secretely offered old, unbelievable beautiful Corans. To lighten our guide we didn´t buy one of these probably illegal pieces.

In Kashgar you find the most important mosque for the muslim community  in China. Apart from its importance the mosque was nothing special.

At the other end of the craftmen’s lane we had a look at a carpet factory. We were watching the ladies placing one knot after the other – all handmade! A small carpet (about 50 x 40 cm) needs two weeks to be finished and costs about 200Yuan (= 20 € )!

After a chill out in the hotel, Gerd and Baerbel invited us for a big dinner. Back at the hotel the second blackout darkened the whole block - a reason more to go to bed.

Today recreation and organisation of the further trip was on the plan. Moritz and Ueli went to order the making of a box for safe transport of their aquired treasures. Baerbel, Gerd and Eva once more went through the offers in the shops. Clemens stayed at the hotel and arranged his luggage. Gerd, Moritz and Lee went to get the car from the service station. In the evening we enjoyed for the last time the tasty chinese kitchen.

(TC)