Turpan tour

Me and the Geman woman I met booked a tour yesterday and in the early morning buy some "nan" before we go to the place where we have agreed. An expensive car is our part, but we have to share it with two Chinese tourists. The first stop is at the Flaming mountains and the two do not understand that we do not go along.

Martha and I have decided to skip some parts of the tour to reduce the price because of all the entrance fees. The two go inside a building giving access to a cave as we walk past the camel riders up the hill, which gives a magnificent view of the nearby valley and the sand-colored mountains that all differ in color. The flaming mountains do not really blaze yet when we decide to go back and find the irritated Chinese back in the car ready to go to the second point.

The village Tuyoq is one of the reasons why we booked this tour. It is an Uighur pilgrim village where Muslims have to go seven times in their live-time instead of a trip to Mecca. We meet with the driver to be back in two hours and walk into the village where many "grapes" are grown.

We admire some amazing doors of the houses where the locals are beautifully cared for while we walk under a hedge of grapes. For the clay brick houses, people sit on wooden shelves that are usually covered with a piece of carpet or rug. On the sandy path is a beautiful not yet renovated mosque that gives the street an idyllic look. Perhaps this is also because it is dead quiet in the village.

We walk further up the hill, under the clay domes and gates, through small alleys where you can occasionally look over the clay walls into the courtyard. These courtyards are usually filled with the laundry hanging there to dry and/or a few goats or sheep. In the background of this mystical village are mountains with sand-colored flanks to blaze in the sun. In the distance we also see the new mosque that lacks everything the old one has. This is like a fairy-tale village and we’re the only tourist. 

The village is small and before we know it we are walking out again where clay bricks are manufactured. On the way back we walk past a stall where we can try some mulberries and something that looks like apricot. A big door is open and we peek inside. It is a large open space, a warehouse where things are stored.

On the side there is a small kitchen where a small local woman is cooking. We now also see a large staircase leading to a large plateau where someone is watching TV. The woman invites us inside and we are excited especially when we see the birds come inside the building in through the many holes between the wall and roof.

When we arrive at the top of the plateau, we see that the daughter is kneading bread there and the mother is filling it with vegetables, while a hedge of electric wires is hanging behind the TV. We can also have a look in the bedroom where three large yellowed posters hang. One is the capital Beijing, another is a golden mosque and the third is Jaighou National Park which I visit a couple of days ago. We sit down again on the plateau and are offered tea. Cake and almonds for dessert and then we thank the people and continue our way. Near the parking lot where we see a man watering the desert, a bus arrives full of people with large shopping bags.

Chickens hang upside down and this must be local people who have done their shopping elsewhere.

An old man with a beautiful long white beard, muslim dress and a fez on his head is shaving a sheep when I shoot a photo and he threatens me with his scissors. He points to a board where 10Y is written down on, but since we came from the other side we have not seen this. I give him a hand and smile at him while he does not know what to do with this kindness. Suddenly one of our Chinese passengers arrives and points angrily at his clock.

It is half-an-hour before we’re suppose to meet at the car so we do not understand what the man is concerned about. Well we decide to walk back because the Chinese are already mad but don’t understand. At a ruined city, the two are once again let out while we ask to drive on a bit further. Behind the busy street where donkey carts and tractors drive with carts behind filled with goods and/or people. Here we go out and we find an unusual cemetery that seems to come to an end. Back on the main road we see large houses that look like gigantic barns with air holes for some cooling. Children follow us or are shy behind their mothers and try to attract our attention by calling a careful "hello". 

In some places there are plateaus that people sit on; drink tea, work or just sit and talk. The people here look almost Turkish and they are terribly social and friendly. The Chinese are already ready in the car and seem to be holding a tour marathon today. This becomes even clearer if they do not even give the driver a quiet lunch in "the grape valley" and it turns out that these men are mainly interested in the Chinee tourist traps instead of the real "Uigur" existence and architecture that mainly concerns us.

Finally we arrive at our last destination today and that is the touristy Karez (a means to irrigate water that is used in the province "Xinjiang, but also in Afghanistan and Iran) which I also skip because the admission price is high and I hope to see one later on my trip. On the way back we see some machinery that gets oil out of the ground and I hope I am on time to book a bus ticket.