Aksu to Kashgar, China June 2016

Dag 43. Aksu til Kashgar, 450 km

I dag kørte vi fra Aksu til Kashgar. Kashgar er vores endestation i Kina, inden vi i morgen kører til Kirgisistans grænse.

I dag kørte vi på næsten tomme motorveje, med ørken omkring os på hele turen. Flot men ret ensformigt.

The Desert - Ørkenen med mange farver

Fremme i Kashgar tjekkede vi ind på et flot hotel. Efter et lille hvil, tog vi med taxi til Basaren, nu ligner det helt meget, at vi er i Tyrkiet eller Iran, selv de fleste indbyggere ligner ikke kinesere mere. Vi købte stort ind af valnødder, pistacie nødder og pecan nødder, så nu kan vi nok klare os over grænsen i morgen.

The Kashgar Bazaar - Kashgar basaren

Russian hats - Russiske hatte

Sweets - Søde sager

Efterfølgende tog vi til en lokal restaurant, hvor vi kunne få lamme kebab, der mødtes vi med guiden som skal følge os til grænsen. Vi tog en (næsten) tårevædet afsked med Sophie, som har været vores guide de sidste 3 uger.

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27th June, distance 450 km, driving time 5 hours

Drove from Aksu to Kashgar, which is in the Western most corner of China.

Empty Highways - Tomme motorveje

Kashgar is physically closer, to Teheran and Delhi, than to Beijing.

But modernity, has swept through Kashgar, like a sandstorm. The saddest part is, that the Chinese government is bulldozing the old city, which has been here for thousands of years, in the name of economic progress. Kashgar, is our last stop before the border.

Went to the main Bazaar, and had to follow all my 5 senses, to get me through this market. There was a pungent smell of spices, the sight of different traders, the sound of jarring music, the taste of nuts and the feel of sheep skin caps, really made it an exciting experience. We bought a few caps, and a “shit load of nuts”, for our journey tomorrow.

The Bazaar in Kashgar - Basaren i Kashgar

Buying nuts - Vi køber nødder

Had dinner at a local restaurant, recommended by Lonely Planet. Here, we meet our guide, who was going to help us cross the border to Kyrgyzstan. Dinner was excellent, and we overate again, and of course Louis ordered soup, which came in a bowl as big as a bathtub. Great food, but arrogant waiters.

Mixed feelings, this evening, as we will be leaving China tomorrow.

China has been fascinating, tiring, exiting, dazzling all at once. So many memories, that I just can not contemplate which moments are the best. Regarding, the experiences I want to forget, are Chinese breakfast, toilets on highways, smell of Chinese spices and cigarette smoke in every hotel lobby, room and lift, and the language barrier. I will surly miss the Chinese kindness, and their curiosity, about foreigners, special attention given to our cars as they are right hand drive, and looks of shock, by the toll gate attendants ( Susanne driving without a steering wheel) and lastly the best roads in the world.  

Korla to Aksu, China, June 2016

Dag 42. Korla til Aksu, 528 km

I dag kørte vi fra Korla til Aksu, igen i dag en lang tur igennem ørkenen.

Jeg brugte mit kørekort i dag, for jeg kørte 200 km af vejen, helt dejligt. Så der er ikke taget så mange billeder, for Michael var ikke aktiv med kameraet.

Desert - Ørken 

Fremme i Aksu, fandt vi vores hotel og hvilede lidt. Michael fik vasket bilen af 2 kinesiske damer, hvilket han var rigtig godt tilfreds med.

Not to sure what they are selling here- Ikke helt sikker på hvad der sælges her

Vi planlagde vores videre rute igennem Kirgisistan og Kasakhstan, så er det på plads.

Gik en lille tur gennem det lokale marked og købte frugt og rosiner, og spiste middag på hotellet. 

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26th June, distance 528 km, driving time 7 hours

Today was a long, long drive through the desert.

At a constant speed of 120 km, (No more speeding in China). It took us just 7 hours to reach Aksu. This drive took us through the Taklamakan Desert. This is what was called the Southern silk route. Just south of us, is Tibet, and a bit west India, where we have the Karakoram highway. Again, amazed by the Chinese highways. You could actually put your car, on cruise control, and watch a movie in the car without taking your eyes of the movie. So taking this into consideration, Susanne decided to  drive, and for me it was a total boring, uneventful 200 km.

She, also used her Chinese driving licence to the maximum. Even Louis was impressed by her driving.

Empty roads - Tomme veje

Reached the very sleazy, small town of Aksu.

This town is so small, that it is not in any guide book. but has quietly wriggled its way, into the Chinese map. It must have belonged to either Tibet or India at one time, but of course taking the Chinese into consideration, they grab any piece of land they can.

Driving through this desert, of sand dunes and sand storms, got my car very dusty. So I decided to take it for a wash, next door, to the hotel, and even got the security guard from the hotel, to accompany me.

Two Chinese babes, ( both in their mid 40ties ) went ahead with the washing. I was not too keen of them cleaning the inside of the car, since we had a lot of stuff in there. But, these 2 babes, did not give a damn about what I said, or the security guards instruction. They both crawled into the car with their asses sticking out, of the car, and went about cleaning the inside of the car. I gave up discussing with them, and enjoyed the view.

Michael with the Babes- Michael med vaskekonerne

After this hilarious experience, I vowed never to get my car cleaned by Chinese babes. So back to the hotel, where I grabbed Susanne, Louis and Janet, and we walked over to the Chinese babes for a photo shoot. They were shocked to see me again, and must have thought that I had bought, 2 of my babes, to haggle with them. They readily agreed, for a photo shoot, and even called their daughters, to come along. Bought, some fruits at a market next door, which made my day. 

Watermelons - Vandmeloner

Turpan to Korla, China. June 2016

Dag 41. Turpan til Korla, 394 km

I dag kørte vi fra Turpan til Korla. Meget af vejen, gik turen ad motorvej igennem ørken bjerge, igen en rigtig flot tur. Ufatteligt vejnet de har, her i Kina – vi kunne mange steder slet ikke se, den modkørende del af motorvejen.

Windmills - I dag igen vindmøller

Beautiful landscapes - Flot landskab

I dag har vi kørt 10000 km, siden afgang fra Bangalore d. 15.5.

Vi fandt vores hotel i Korla, lækkert sted lige ned til en flod (Påfugle floden). Vi gik en tur langs floden, dejlig tur under skyggefulde træer. Her bruges virkelig penge på at forskønne ting ( på nær alle elmasterne som ses overalt).

Korla

Michael at the hotel - Michael på hotellet

Peacock river - Påfugle floden

Vi valgte at spise buffet på hotellet til 95 kr per person. Lækker mad med rejer og røget gås.

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25th June, distance 394 km, driving time 6 hours

We had a fantastic drive from Turpan to Korla.

As we were driving through the desert, we were suddenly told by Sophie, that we were going to hit a mountain range. So no more petrol bunks or rest stations. I did fill up my tank, and the drive amazed me even more. These Chinese, have build a 4 lane highway, right through the mountains. With fantastic roads, 4 lanes up, and down, the passes, and all this bang in the middle of a desert. Fantastic views, and it was a pity driving down the mountains, back to the flat land of the desert, till we hit Korla.

Sweeping the highway - Så fejes motorvejen lige.

Beautiful scenery and Highways - Flot udsigt og motorveje

Another milestone reached today, where we crossed 10000 km of our journey, since leaving Bangalore. This called for a small celebration, in the car, so we quietly sipped our chilled bottled water, while Sophie slept.

The Peacock river - Påfugle floden

The Buffet 

Reached Korla, and our hotel at about 5 pm. We were on the 24^th floor, with an amazing view of the river running through the town. Went for a walk by the river, which was a very peaceful experience, and had a fantastic meal at our hotel, which had everything from Sushi, foie gras, smoked goose, live barbeque counter etc. Stuffed ourselves for less than 1000 Inr. ( beer included).

Turpan, China, June 2016

Dag 40. Turpan

I dag brugte vi dagen i Turpan.

Vi begyndte dagen med at køre ca 10 km udenfor byen og se en gammel ruin ( Jiaohe ruinerne). Byen blev bygget for ca 1600 år siden imellem 2 floder, eftersom det er så gammelt, er det ikke meget tilbage, men et flot sted alligevel.

With Sophie - Sammen med Sophie

The Ruins - Ruinerne

Efterfølgende var vi ved Karaz vandingssystemet. Et unikt system af underjordiske vanding kanaler, som er blevet brugt her i området i mange, mange år, og stadigvæk bruges.

The amazing grapes - De flotte vindruer

Området her minder os rigtig meget om Iran. Rigtig mange af de samme slags bygninger og maden er også lidt som i Iran.

Vi tog så tilbage til hotellet og spiste frokost og slappede af. Louis og Michael var ude og få vasket biler. De formåede at blive væk fra hinanden, og fandt hver især en bilvask.

Love his ourfit - Er vild med hans tøjvalg

Buying fruits - Så købes der frugt

Om aftenen gik vi en tur i den lokale Basar – sådan et rigtigt Kinesisk marked med billigt tøj og krims krams. Vi har ellers fundet ud af, at importeret tøj er meget dyrere, end vi er vant til fra Indien.  Fra Basaren gik vi vel ca 3 km til en restaurant som Sophie havde valgt ved at følge Michaels kriterier, ( Kebab og Air kondition. Godt valg.

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24th June. Turpan

Sightseeing day.

Turpan is commonly called China’s Death Valley. Turpan is 154 m below sea level, and is the 2nd lowest depression in the world. (The Dead Sea being the first).

Local bus! - Den lokale bus

You would expect everything around here to be dead, but no, this is a massive oasis in the middle of the desert. In Turpan, the heat puts the local population into a state of semi-torpor. This town, has been inhabited for thousands of years, and was one of the most important towns on the Silk Road.

We left, for the Jiaohe ruins at 9,30 am.

This is one of the oldest, and best preserved ancient cities ( 1600 years old). It was nice walking around these ruins, but dammed hot. Fascinating to see, how they had build, interesting Buddhist monasteries, in caves, about 400 years after Buddha starting preaching.

At Jiaohe - Ved jiaohe ruinerne

Got back to our cars, which were even hotter than the temperature outside, 40 degrees plus. We then drove to the Karaz irrigation system.

This is a fascinating Central Asian irrigation system, which includes hundreds of km, of above and underground canals, wells and reservoirs. It was really nice, walking underground, to inspect these canals, where most of them are still working, and are still used for irrigation, to turn this place into a fabulous oasis. 

Karaz

On the way out, Louis was in a state of panic. He could not find his phone. He ran back in with our guide Sophie, and came back smiling, with his phone in his hand.

Drove back to our hotel, for lunch, and to rest our tired limbs.

Louis and I, in the late afternoon, went to wash our cars. Both of us lost one another, and were driving around in circles. Funnily enough, we both found 2 different places to wash our cars, with different experiences.

Waiting for Louis - Vi venter på Louis

We visited the local Bazaar in the centre of the town, and soon got tired of all the copy Chinese goods. If you stood in the same spot, for more than 10 sec, the Chinese will even copy you. So neither your wife, nor anybody else will know the difference. Walked a few km, to eat, at an air-conditioned dining place. ( For Louis it almost seemed like it was 50 km away.)

The dinner restaurant - vores restaurant

The lake by night - Søen 

Had a fantastic meal, of kebabs, yoghurt and aubergine. I am in 7^th heaven. Tasty end, to a long tiring day.

Hami to Turpan, China, June 2016

Dag 39. Hami til  Turpan, 417 km

I dag igen gik turen igennem ørkenlandskab. Vores endestation var Turpan en by som ligger 155 m under havets overflade. Her er godt varmt, vi nåede op på 40 grader midt på eftermiddagen.

                                          Beautiful desert landscape - Flot ørken landskab

More windmills - Flere vindmøller

The view through my sunglasses - Udsigten igennem mine solbriller

A film shoot set - En dekoration fra en film

Ca 30 km fra Turpan stoppede vi ved Bezeklik hule komplekset. Nogle huler hvor der er mange vægmalerier af Buddha, disse malerier er malet fra det 6. til det 14. århundrede, dog er det begrænset hvor mange som er tilbage, eftersom nogle tyskere og englændere røvede hulerne i begyndelsen af det 20. århundrede. Det var en flot, men varm oplevelse. Hele landskabet er utroligt flot, ørken bjerge – helt fantastisk.

The local entertainer - den lokale entertainer

Efter det kørte vi direkte til vores hotel. Sophie og jeg gik ud for at finde et vaskeri og hæve penge, de andre slappede af.

Street food - Gadekøkkener

Her i Turpan sættes der også gadekøkkener op om aftenen, så vi fik igen lokal mad, dejlig grill kylling og brød, med Tuborg øl til.

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23rd June. Distance 417 km, driving time 5 hours

Today, we drove towards Turpan.

Turpan is a town, which is 450 ft below sea level. This is the second lowest place, after the Dead Sea. This being said, it makes it the hottest/ warmest city in China. The province of Xinjiang, in which Turpan is situated, is Chinas largest province, and is home to the Uighur people who are 90 % Muslims.

Super highways - Fantastiske veje

Huts for grape drying - Hytter til drue tørring

The scenery today was again flat lands, as we were driving through the Gobi desert.

The temperature outside the car reached 40 degrees plus.

Just before we reached the town of Turpan, we drove into the mountains, and visited a beautiful place, where they had hundreds of small caves, with murals of Buddha. These murals were apparently stolen, by first the Germans and then the British, but whatever was left, was still beautiful. The landscape here is amazing with sand dunes and Rocky Mountains.

Sleeping security guard - Sovende vagt

Amazing caves - Flotte huler

We drove straight to Turpan, which has grapes growing all around it, and is famous for its Chinese crappy wines. It amazes me, how the Chinese when given a square inch of land, will grow something on it.

Grapes as street lamps - Vindruer som gadebelysning

Street food - Gadekøkken

Had another fantastic meal today of kebabs, grill chicken and Tuborg beer