Melting pot of everything

Leaving Gansu behind we entered the stew of Xinjiang. As it turned out later it is not so hot (at least the days we spent here so far) as feared. Mountain ranges are plentiful with Pamir, Tian shan (and some other) and deserts are large (Taklamakam and co.). Besides meeting point of various cultures (Central Asia and China) it is also meeting point of Indian and Eurasian geological plate which partially explains the contrasting geography here. Not only is this province the largest in China, but it also has the world's second lowest (Turpan - 154 meters below sea level) and the world's second highest (K2 - 8,611m above sea level) point. Xinjiang is also the place where the journey of our group of four ends. Our routes separate as I plan to continue around China's portion of silk road, Thomas (Norwegian backpacker) will continue on his journey across all the 'stans in the steps of the caravans, and girls return to Shanghai to follow their own paths. Below you can found account of our journey up to separation point in Urumuqi (Xinjiang capital).

Craddle of grapes (in China)
Upon our arrival to Turpan (or Tulufan as it is pronounce in Chinese) we negotiated cab for 50 kuai (5 euro) per person for the whole day (not including entrance fees for sights). This gave us opportunities to see everything we planned in the vicinity of the city. We started sightseeing at Emin minaret (monument dedicated and named after local chief who succumbed to the rule of Chinese empire in order to gain hereditary title of Xinjiang governor for his family. Also he led his people into 20 years relocation after armies of the empire were forced to leave. Upon his return he fought various warlords and gained the praise and title he aimed for. Minaret and mosque is open to public and is built in Afghan style (fairly unique sight in China).

Our journey continued some 70 km out of Tulufan to village of Tuyog (a true Uighur village). In there you can literally see Uighur way of life (doing nothing most of the day). It includes some magnificent scenery and canyons around. Unfortunately grottoes (local version of Mogao caves) is closed as of today due to safety reason (of course we walked as far as it was possible). Nearby grape valley is the epicentre of raisins industry (local wine on the other hand sucks as it is too sweet - wine tasting provided courtesy of our skilled taxi driver).

After short stopover in Karez museum (wells and underground irrigation system with almost 4,000 km of tunels at its peak) we reached our final destination - Jiaohe. Jiaohe is ancient city which reached its peak in Tang dynasty but then was sacked by invading barbarians and thus left for ruins. Even after 1,500 years you can see perfectly outline of the city with house and streets preserved by lack of rainfall in the area. One of the highlights of the trip for me, as you can walk between the buildings and temples and see how the city was organized. Surprisingly, preservation efforts are done with some delicacy and no major changes are visible.

Urumqi (Wulumuqi)
Capital of Xinjiang Autonomus Region (for Uighur minority) is something what looks most like metropolis west of Xian. It is also the most landlocked city with furthest distance to any sea or ocean. Surrounded by epic mountains of Tian shan it is supposedly hikers heaven. Unfortunately we do not have opportunity to confirm this findings.

In here we visited local museum offering nice exhibitions of local minorities (from Uighur - 8.5 mil - to Russian - 4,500 headstrong), history of Xinjiang (in western style - from Neolithic age till today, but with Chinese tweaks - skipping 'uninteresting' periods - namely three hundred years of 13 to 16 century), revolutionary struggle of red army during independence fight in Xinjiang (no English captions) and carpets of Xinjiang (world renowed local product - especially in the south of the province).

After museum we searched for the biggest local food market (Wuyi Yeshi - Wuyi night market). Believe me this is sight to be seen. Liveliest and by far the most crowded market I have ever seen, stalls spread over three streets and over at least five blocks. It offers food, spicies, dried fruits, fake T-shirts, jeans and handbags as well as anything you can imagine - from pigeons to sandals and entertainment options. Food stalls offer lamb (whole thing with head and rams still on, or just the favorite pieces, e.g. head), fish, shashlik and whatever else you want. Of course we tried and feasted on local delicacies (be warned as prices are somehow high). We haggled with fruit sellers and make all other customers laugh (still not sure whether it was due to our inability to negotiate and understand what was going on or jokes of the fruit seller :).

Anyway, after our last supper we went to bed as girls had to wake up for early plain. Morning of their departure left us asking and scrambling for our ongoing plans. I plan to circumvere the Silk road on Chinese territory by visiting first Kashgar and then continue its southern branch along Taklamakan desert. For further updates please stay tuned :)