Kashgar (2)

The trained pulled in to Kashgar 2 hours behind schedule having made up a little time during the night. We disembarked and were herded through a large gate along with several hundred other passengers and out into the front of the station. A short while later we had our bikes and gear and were loaded up ready for the ride into town.

Kashgar had grown! I shouldn't have been surprised given our experience so far with all the other towns east of here but somehow I had imagined Kashgar was just too far west to be of any interest to the Chinese even now.

We weaved our way through the traffic down 6 lane roads passed supermarkets, bookstores and hotels towards the old quarter of town and the Qinibar hotel.

The Qinibar was the old British Consulate built in 1908 and it was the place we had stayed in 1988. Back then the hotel had occupied the original 2 storied complex but today it has moved into 2 new and very large hotel towers in the front of the grounds. The old Consulate building is no longer visible and most tourists would probably not even know it was there. It has long since been converted into a Chinese restaurant.

After checking into one of the new buildings ($A8 per night each) and resting for the afternoon, we ventured out for dinner. We made our way to the Uighur night market in the heart of the old town and along the way bumped into an English speaking man by the name of Akbar.

Akbar quickly attached himself to us and before long the 3 of us were winding our way down back streets in search of somewhere good to eat. I don't know that we actually found anywhere good but we ended up at a place that Akbar himself was happy to eat at so we bought him dinner while we plied him with questions about the impact of the the Chinese expansion in Xinjiang. Akbar was fairly cynical about the motives of the Chinese government, as many Uighur are, seeing their interest out west as a ploy to dominate and eventually stamp out the influence of the minorities in these remote regions. It is a more complex issue than that though and from what we have seen many Uighur have also benefited very nicely from the economic expansion in this part of the country. In many cases their lives appear to have improved significantly compared with 20 years ago - at least in the towns and cities (I don't think too much has changed out in the villages).

By late the next day Neil and I were both starting to feel a bit antsy about sitting around in Kashgar and were keen to get moving again so we started making plans to head to Tashkorgan.