TAKLAMAKAN TO KASHGAR -- Journal by Stacey Irvin
The old Silk Routes traveled along the northern and southern edges of the Taklamakan Desert (the second largest in the world). After visiting Kuqa, I decided to check out the Southern Route via the new Cross Desert Highway. This highway was built primarily to facilitate the search for oil beneath the sands of the Taklamakan and there seemed to be more oil Dereks and refineries than sand along the road as we began to head south. However, soon some small dunes covered in dried brush began to appear. We passed patches of desert forests of scraggly trees with green leaves... and areas of dead trees that were being swallowed by the desert. In order to prevent the road from disappearing, there is a patchwork design of dried grasses and dune fencing that stretches along the entire length of both sides of the road! That's more than 400 miles!! Before we'd even reached the "real" part of the desert, I was salivating at the gorgeous dunes! The sand dunes just kept getting larger and soon there were no brushy patches in sight.... just solid sand dunes for further than the eye could see in EVERY direction!
Halfway through the day, we finally came to the one gas station and a small compound of restaurants and living quarters in the middle of this desolate place. The sky had gradually gone from a deep blue to bright white and then to an ominous gray...... As the wind began to pick up, my guide said that I couldn't have a real desert experience without a sandstorm... and that's exactly what I got! The dunes began to look like giant waves in an ocean with huge spray and we couldn't see but a few yards ahead at times. As we drove slowly, the streams of sand whipping across the dark road looked like flames or mist rising off a lake or a steaming hot skillet. Sometimes I would lose myself while staring at the road ahead; it was like we were traveling down a river and the sand was a very swift current!
The storm gradually let up as we neared the end of the road and entered the small town of Niya (Minfeng). Patches of lush bogy grassland began to appear right from under the dunes! Uighur men were bringing home their flocks of sheep and some led donkey carts stacked high with dried roots from desert plants. The storm went on, but here it was more in the form of dusty gusts.
The next morning the weather had cleared and it was the perfect day for a bike ride! We ended up borrowing some bikes from the post office and the local Uighur guide came along too. My free day ended up being fully guided! We cycled about 4 or 5 km out into the poplar-lined lanes of farms and homes. It was so nice out and the people were very friendly! I got to stop and visit a family making very large mats out of reeds woven together and they wanted me to photograph them. We also stopped and talked to some men sitting at a little crossroads. One young man was selling mutton and an one old man had his little granddaughter in his lap, while another was looking after a baby lamb that had been abandoned by its mom.
We continued on to see an ancient poplar tree and made our way through some lanes that were so caked with the finest dust, that we couldn't ride our bikes without getting stuck. We visited a house under construction and they were putting up the wooden ceilings with brightly painted designs and carvings on them! We also visited a house that was built one year ago and had very elaborate wooden ceilings and paintings on the walls! They fed us some yummy corn flour bread that reminded me of Mexican food and some walnuts that were really good! Niya is known for its walnuts and, of course, fruits! It was a great way to spend the morning and on the way back I got my exercise because Jean, my guide, wanted to race! She enjoys the American phrase, "Eat my dust!" However, today, she ate mine! : )
HOTANAnd I thought I'd been to markets! Holy mackerel! Today I spent a few hours wandering around the Hotan Sunday Bazaar. It was sooo huge and so crowded and filled with so much stuff. Kind of like an ancient dusty Home Depot/Super Walmart outdoors and densely packed with people and donkey carts! I barely saw it all! Huge cut trees for lumber, fresh handmade wood furniture and doors carved and colorfully painted. Endless rows of fabrics, mountains of freshly cooked noodles, tons of hanging lamb carcasses and smoking shishkebabs. Tools and knives and saws and knife sharpeners at work with sparks flying. Tables stacked with fresh bread. Cases full of watches, earrings and other shiny objects, hundreds of women sitting on the street selling stacks and stacks of bowls for rice, noodles and tea. Donkey carts and tractors and harnesses and brightly decorated reins for horses. Coppersmiths and every kind of aluminum container imaginable. Clothes and thousands of Muslim caps, spices, walnuts, pomegranates, huge barrels of flavored ice water with yogurt and fruits mixed in, --- and my favorite: the paint salesmen!
They sat with containers of bright powdered pigments - most were fluorescent looking and I loved the ones that sparkled! They would measure out scoops of powders and mix them together while carefully weighing the amount. Many of the salesmen were just covered in dusty reds and purples - their hands and faces almost permanently stained! I took some photos of one man with a deep pink colored face and sparkling gray-blue eyes with a great ivory smile! I sure hope it turns out! And I didn't even get to the animal part of the market! I'll probably wait and buy a camel in Kashgar! What is it to travel? What end does this activity serve? All I really know is that I wish others could have the experiences that I am having. I am so out of place here. Travel is definitely a displacement. But what will I do with this education, experience, displacement? This kind of travel is not simply “leisure”, or is it? How can I take this travel and transform it? I am witnessing people’s activities, I taste the food, listen to the language and the music, read their faces, see the sweat on their brows and the dirt on their hands, and the love amongst their families. It’s so much easier to observe all of these things when you are “displaced”.
4 or 5- 00Now I'm in Yarkand (Sache) and I've never had a problem like this before: the water in the hotel is way too hot! All of it . I even feel hot steam on my rear end when I go to the bathroom! So now I have to go another day without a shower in order to avoid 3rd degree burns! I can hardly wash my hands!
Yarkand is another Uighur town with lots of streets full of people making every kind of thing. There are also several surviving examples of old wooden Uighur/Islamic architecture. This morning I wandered around taking pictures of these colorful two-story buildings and this evening I went back to get the light hitting the other side of the streets! Lots of kids like to follow me until I take their picture and a crowd always forms whenever I stop for more than a couple of seconds. The young boys and men are much more eager to look through the lens and take photos. I had to pry my camera away a few times.
When I went back out this afternoon I got the usual stares and an occasional nod and smile but then, a group of men having tea and mutton (pockets) waved to me, and I took their picture and then they insisted I sit down with them for some tea. They ordered me a plate of laqman (my favorite Uighur noodle dish!). Another large group formed around me and people enjoyed looking at my small book of photos while two girls in middle school tried to practice what English they knew. It was great! But I was confused about my place in the whole thing. Islamiscism always worries me because of the way I perceive that women must behave. I am learning a little more about Islam every day, but luckily here in China it is very relaxed and I don’t have too much to worry about . I just never know if the stares are curious or contemptuous or if my nods and smiles will be returned or if the men I interact with are thinking bad things about the western woman in front of them.
Well! The men who invited me for tea showed up the next morning at the hotel dining room for breakfast just to see me! They wanted me to stay in Yarkand so that they could have a festival for me and even slaughter a lamb! Gosh! What an experience that would have been! However, I explained, with the help of my guide, that I had to leave for Kashgar. Yacen, the main man of the group, said that when I come back with my family, he'll have us over for a big feast and give my whole family Uighur hats and shirts and things! He made me wait while he went and got me a small Uighur knife as a gift!
5- -00We arrived in Kashgar last night and today Jean and Mr. Ma left and I went to the Great Sunday Bazaar! The market was huge and I particularly enjoyed the livestock market and the lumber yard. Unfortunately, for some strange reason I was compelled to buy a Uighur knife this afternoon and I outrageously overpaid! Ugh. I hate that feeling. But I’m getting over it because that is all I can do. Tonight helped because I got to have beer with some friendly folks from New York. I mentioned to one of them my ambivalence about the nature of travel and what I should do with my experiences. She and I agreed that there isn’t one real answer and that much of the effects of travel will be realized introspectively. She also reminded me of how many people there are in the world who wouldn’t enjoy or have the same appreciation for this experience (I know this is true, but it’s sure hard to believe!). I think having my stories and photos and creating multimedia presentations for school kids could help open people’s eyes to the wider world and maybe spread my enthusiasm for it! Who knows!
Over drinks, I also met a girl named Heather and her boyfriend, Eric. They are from the States, but have been teaching English in Japan. Heather worked in Antarctica for 5 months and I’m going to keep in touch with her about that! In addition, I met a guy named Alex from Brazil, who is an architect specializing in natural architecture.
5- -00Well, I’ve been in Kashgar for almost a week doing close to nothing and I haven’t even written. It’s strange how incredibly tired I’ve become. I really have had to push myself to get out and do things. I did spend a whole day figuring out the logistics of sending my film (109 rolls) from here to Xian and then to the US Of course, I’m quite nervous about it and that may be why I am having trouble sleeping at night. I also packed a box full of 9 kg. of stuff I don’t need to carry around with me and sent it home. I sure do spend alot of my free time packing and unpacking my bag and trying to figure out how to make it lighter. I feel like I’ve gotten rid of so much, but my bag seems just as doggone heavy!
I’ve taken a few photos that have raised my energy level, but much of the time I’ve left the camera gear in my room. Now that it is Friday I feel like maybe I’ve wasted some photographic time. But then, I think about all of the thousands of photos I have taken. You know, I just don’t know if I can handle going for this long without seeing what I’ve been doing. Next time, I must figure out a way to self critique as I go, the end product might have more meaning and focus... and I might like it better..... hmm.
5- -00The first Sunday Market was overwhelming and then put me in a bad mood because I got ripped off when I was compelled to buy a couple Uighur knives. But, hey, that's part of the experience!
I've found a great place to eat for only 40 cents (US.) a meal! I walk in almost every lunch and dinner and order laqman - I don't even have to say it anymore. I've also been wandering around the old parts of town getting happily lost in a maze of mud-walled lanes. Every little kid I pass loves to repeatedly yell "Hallo! Hallo!" Sometimes I feel like the pied piper (but with a camera), they'll follow me until I take their photo!
I did buy two musical instruments: a Rawap and a Dap. The Rawap is like an exotically shaped and decorated guitar with a sounding board made of snake skin. And the Dap is a Uighur drum/tambourine. They are really fun to look at and play with and I hope they make it back to the states safely. I hate to admit it, but I mainly bought them as souvenirs to hang on the wall! I also purchased a CD of some traditional Uighur Rawap music!
When I went to visit the Id Kah Mosque a Uighur fellow decided to get me to follow him to the People's Park which includes a sad sort of zoo. Finally he got around to trying to sell me knives. I didn't buy anything, but did pay for some kebabs and a yogurt drink with chipped ice in it. I didn't get sick, thank God!
For two mornings in a row I went and photographed around the old town as the sun was rising. The first morning I had a strange experience: I was wandering the old town and passed a sweet old man with a cane who smiled and greeted me very warmly. A few minutes later I returned and passed him again. He seemed very happy to see me and didn't mind me taking a few photos. As I said good-bye his eyes started to get red and tear up and his lips trembled. He was crying! I came back to him and he seemed glad although he was still clearly distraught. I patted him on the back and tried to calm him down, but I had no idea what was going on. He calmed down as I walked with him, but would whimper an "OK" and try to smile when I'd pat him and ask if he was OK. My mind was running with a million guesses at why he was crying. I wondered where he was leading me and what I would do. What had spurred such an outpouring of emotion? When we got to the end of the narrow lane, there was a larger street and he seemed to motion while smiling and whimpering that I could either go left or right. He seemed to suggest I best go right, while he turned in the direction going left and kindly waved good-bye. I am still wondering what happened that morning.
That day I met Melissa from NYC and we both rented bikes and went out to the Abkah Hoja Tomb. The ride was great especially because I got to lead her through the old town and past the Sunday Market grounds and out beyond the lumber market. The countryside was beautiful with poplars lining the road and the Tomb wasn't bad either. On the way back we rode down a few side lanes and played Chinese jump rope with some kids. Then I showed her the lumber market and we had fun conversing with a group of door and window frame sellers. They really enjoyed our visit and could communicate with Melissa because she can speak some Mandarin! Then we rode back to the old town and wandered a bit and were invited into a young girl's home for a look around. We also passed a very sweet old lady hard at work making mud bricks out of a wooden mold. Two young boys followed us on bikes while occasionally racing one another and wrestling. On of the boys led us to his home which was being elaborately redecorated with intricate plaster moldings on the walls indoors and gorgeous carved wooden walls, stairs, and railings outside in the courtyard. We met his father and found out that he sells fabrics. They sure were awfully wealthy!
On our way back towards the middle of town Melissa and I bought my favorite ice cream and met a young Uighur girl who desperately wanted to spend time with us. She helped walk Melissa's bike through the thick crowd around the mosque and we invited her for tea upstairs in the famous tea house. At first she declined and then later showed up with kebabs for us! Oh, she had such a wonderful smile and the warmest eyes. It sure is incredible how fast the children mature and "grow up" here while at the same time being much more free and childish too. I think kids in more western and developed nations are less free to be wild children and also end up being over-protected and mature slower, having less responsibilities at younger ages.
At the tea house, we sat with a couple of Dutch guys and enjoyed talking with them about all of our various adventures. The young Uighur girl loved my camera and was just into EVERYTHING. She finished a roll of film in my Nikon and proceeded to snap hundreds of blanks in every direction. A natural photographer! When the Dutch couple left, Christian, a French man currently working in Shanghai, arrived and we all ended up walking the bikes back and then had dinner at a nice garden style outdoor restaurant.
5- -00Well, another Sunday Bazaar has passed! I had a much better time today than I did last week. Christian, the man from France that I met yesterday, was interested in seeing how I work and wanted to come along while I photographed during sunrise. Well, I woke up 15 minutes late and had to scramble to get through the old town and try and find Christian. The mornings are so wonderful to witness! As the day begins, people sweep the lanes and the areas in front of their houses and then splash buckets of water onto the dusty pavement to keep the dirt down. People along the larger lanes are beginning to set up their store fronts and bakers are hard at work turning out warm and delicious nan. Old men wander past probably on their way to or from morning prayer at neighborhood mosques and you can hear the muffled murmurs of morning conversation behind closed courtyard doors.
I love the blue predawn light and the crisp yellow morning sun. People don't seem to mind my taking photos so early (probably because they're still sleepy). Sunday morning is different than others because there are many groups of people preparing to take goods down to the Bazaar. I met up with Christian in front of the intersection where there were many men with wagons loaded with giant chunks of ice. They were selling to the cold drink venders who were getting ready for the hot midday crowds. We peeked into the animal market only as small numbers were beginning to trickle in and line up their sheep and cows. I really love mornings! We also walked all the way up to the lumber yard and, like always, received a warm welcome from the door/window frame salesmen and the men hauling giant poplar logs. Gosh, it sure is a sight to see all of those towering logs dwarfing the Uighur men.
I also saw a camel in the lumber yard, the first I'd seen in Kashgar! We then left and grabbed a "hot pocket" filled with onions and fatty mutton and watched hundreds of people streaming down the country road towards the market. Afterwards, we got a ride on a donkey cart back down to the bazaar (which was now in full swing). We wandered through the covered areas past a myriad of things for sale.
We went looking for a high building where we could go to look down on the animal market and we ended up meeting a young woman with her five month old baby girl. She led us to her small home (a 2nd story room roughly 6'x10') and served us bread and tea while we played with her daughter. It is incredible how strong and resilient people are. Many parents in the US would tremble in terror if their baby came near this unsterile environment. Yet, here was a smiling wide-eyed baby girl and her mother.
Christian and I then walked away from the bazaar and back up to the old town to take a break from the crowds and see what life was like at home on such a big market day. We ended up being invited for tea by a 90 year old man and his friends and sat on the red carpeted bed frame in the shade as they looked on happily enjoying their foreign company. The people are just so friendly here!
Later, we walked back to the animal market through a back way on the other side of the stream separating the market grounds from the old town. The walk was nice because there were no other tourists - just lots of traders busily traveling the dusty residential lanes. We found the pigeon market and discovered the unfortunate sight of a stream of solid trash and waste flowing right into the adjoining stream. Not 20 ft. away, there were young boys riding horses into the water bareback and buck-naked! One boy was unbelievable! He had to have been about 9 or 10 and he was entirely naked running around the densely packed dusty market dodging cows and horses and sheep. He'd pick a horse, jump on, steer it through a maze of obstacles (even jumping the horse over a trough) and race it back and forth in the testing area for all to see before plunging into the river, horse and all! Just amazing!
After working our way through the dusty sea of animals and people, we caught a cab back to the hotel for a much needed rest. Later, we met up with Melissa and went to the music store to see about mailing my instruments and so they could have a look. We spent the rest of the evening in the music shop listening to the owner play various instruments while trying our hands at some too. It was such a relaxing way to spend the end of the day while watching life on the street, coppersmiths pounding away and woodworkers carving. I also love just watching the Uighur men interact and warmly greet one another on the street. I really have enjoyed being in Kashgar.
