Silk Road Suzie: February 2011

My diary for 27th May reads "Another long drive - left the desert only to come into a flat dreary landscape covered in salt pans. All along the road I have seen depressions in the sand - & wondered what they were - when we arrived at the salt pans I realised instantly what they were. On the way there was a stop at another wild west town - mainly for truckers. We carried on until we came to an industrial site near a railway & made camp!" And indeed it was an industrial site - it looked as if there had been some sort of removal of the surface over a large area and wherever we were we were in view of a mining operation slightly further up a hillside. Having a pee was difficult because I remember having to find an area where there was an indentation and squatting down so as to be out of view of the a) the campsite and b) the mining operation - but I managed. I also have recollections of the day being rather grey, spots of rain and certainly seeing puddles! This part north of the Taklamakan Desert is flat and very industrial.

On the 28th May we travelled through the mountains - I seem to think that this is the time that the road that the mountain road divided into 2 on a one-way system with quite a few miles between the 2 roads (if you look at this link you will see what I mean) before descending into the Turpan/Turfan Basin. The Turpan Basin is the third lowest place below sea level in the world being 154m/502ft below sea level and is also very hot and dry. But despite that the city of Turpan is a joy because of the beautiful pergolas which line the city streets in the centre. For some reason I did not take a photo of these but putting Turpan into Google images will come up with photos that others have taken. My main concerns in my diary entry for the 28th are to do with bodily functions - as follows! " Stopd for a pee stop amongst the most amount of turds I have seen. Lav at a truck stop in morning was truly horrendous. Wd. have gone behind the lav but that was even worse" The turd stop was just after we had descended the mountain pass and immediately before we joined the westward road at the end of the one-way system. So if ever you find yourself there - DESIST - HOLD ON, WAIT, BE CONTINENT but NEVER, NEVER get out just where the road is straightening out and there is a bit of a parking space - just hold on until you can safely stop further down the road!!! Other than that the road through the mountains was very pleasant. And on arriving in Turpan there in the hotel compound was another John's Cafe (see entry for 27th December) where I met a delightful French couple from Marseille.

We went off grockelling on 29th - diary reads "Went to visit ancient city of Jiahoe, very hot reacted badly to the heat. At this point I lost a lovely silk hat that I had recently bought and was still recovering from the illness, antibiotics, etc., was feeling down and I note "Am beginning to think longingly of home - Another 4½ weeks - I long to have some time on my own. Finding constantly being with people very wearing." But the next entry on a happier note reads - "City was fascinating- Lots of mud brick buildings - now ruined but outlines still visible and [something illegible even to me!] across on top of a hill between 2 rivers. Dates from BC to early CEs. Buddhist temples but no sign of Islam so deserted before then." And here are the photos of Jiahoe.

I managed to wait until this space was empty of school children!

The ruined city as it is now ...............

but you might imagine it as it was once with a caravan, carrying silks, metal wares, precious stones, carpets, glass, dried fruit, exotic delicacies and many other things winding its way up the street from the gate having braved the crossing of the Taklamakan Desert ..........

......... as busy messengers, puffed up with self-importance, make their way along the narrow streets with tablets or documents from one government department to another.

But by now these once proud buildings have weathered away.

After the morning spent at Jiahoe the next port of call was the Karez System, my diary reads- "Then went to look at the underground water system - karez - which are like the qanats of Yazd. They brought water (snow melt) from the Tien Shan to Turpan - they are a prodigious feat of mining through rocks - making channels to carry the water. The museum was very well laid out (better than Yazd) & gave good descriptions (Uighur/ Chinese/English) & also models with real water. There are little circular depressions across the desert (like at Yazd) so that it is possible to plot a karez as it makes its way down off the hills. The disturbing thing is that there is less snow fall each year and Turpan is completely dependent on the karez water systems. Also as an underground part of the museum showing a working karez. The water looked clean and clear." I met up again with the couple from Marseille and we had a longer talk in mixed French/English. They made similar observations to myself about the Uyghur situation. We discussed the insistence that the Uyghur learn Chinese, and I note "..... coming from the UK I can well understand this as to how we dealt with our linguistic minorities - very similar. Although there are a great deal of bilingual signs there are also many in Chinese only." Following this entry there is a description of some street eating- ".... Chinese first for deep fried veg/chicken- Then noodle dumplings from a Uighur stall. Always v. gratifying when the stall holders appreciate my poor Uighur - but now can say "goodbye" (her kosh)! Went into a Chinese pharmacy and saw a bat on a stick. Delightful meals - the city all very vibrant and a couple of guys at the next table taking photos of us!! in a very friendly and pleasant way. I have found people very accepting here. A very pleasant day all round apart from the hat." So obviously the low mood of the morning had lifted.

The following photos all appear to be a strange colour - but I can assure you that it is nothing to do with my camera (or your eyes) but the roofing covering the displays was made of green plastic!!!