October 28th, 2002
"Long Road to
I realized I didn't say much about the landscape of
The horse trip I did in the north reminded me of
Back to the present...this entry will be a bit different. One of the richest
parts of travel for me is eating everyday, whether it's the food itself, or
how/why you get it. So I'll try to paint the last few weeks from a culinary
standpoint, letting other details seep in between the cracks. I won't bore you
with all the meals, just 1 or 2 per day. Still travelling with Brendan, thus the
"we" appearing quite often.
Most of this travel took place in
08OCT--
My last day in the Tibetan town of Xiahe, I had my standard Xiahe breakfast of
fresh yogurt with honey, warm Tibetan bread, and a milk tea; this at the same
restaurant I had come to love during my stay in Xiahe; located about a
half-block down the dusty road from my guesthouse, toward the monastery. Didn't
do much during the day, walked around mostly. Supper was oily, fried bread
stuffed with heavily-spiced mutton skewers. This was prepared by a Muslim dude
in a street-side tent well after dark. You sit on little foot-high stools and
watch as he cooks it in front of you.
09OCT--
Supper was a pizza-looking thing, dried mango, yak snacks wrapped and in the
form of bouillion cubes, and almond juice. All this was bought at a supermarket
in
10OCT--
Lunch was at a crusty bus stop in the middle of nowhere. Still many hours from
Dunhuang. Toilet? The usual...a horrible never-cleaned squatter in a little hut,
or just go outside. We ate a standard fare of noodles in broth. Arrived in
Dunhuang that evening.
11OCT--
Breakfast was veggie and meat dumplings dipped in chili sauce and vinegar, on a
sidestreet lined with fruit vendors--a needed charging before a long day. We
rented bikes--I believe that I had the very same bike ridden by the Wicked Witch
of the East in 'Wizard of Oz,' complete with basket and everything. Anyway,
wandered out into the country. Accidentally ended up in the grounds of a prison
labor camp, where we chatted with two inmates for a while. Later, after earlier
in the day talking about how fun it would be to jump up and down in the back of
a cotton truck, we saw one being loaded. We asked if we could jump in. They said
okay! We had fun jumping for a bit, then helped load the rest of the truck.
12OCT--
Supper was a huge platter of dumplings with vinegar and chili again at the night
market in Dunhuang--a lively spot between some buildings, filled with food
vendors' carts. Everywhere, food being prepared under dim lighting--noodles, hot
pots, vegetables, meat... Topped off supper with roasted nuts, raisins, and
dried apricots from street vendors. We were hungry! Spent the day near some huge
sand dunes south of the city. Towards evening, we started climbing them. It was
exhausting work. Occasionally we were reduced to crawling on our hands and
knees. Succeeded in getting far enough out so that we no longer saw footprints
from other people and the town was out of sight. Watched sunset before bounding
down the dunes in giant leaps, like running on the moon.
13OCT--
Had an evening snack of beer and ice cream at the train station while we waited
for our train. We had left Dunhuang around noon via bus to our current location:
some town of no consequence, the nearest train stop from Dunhuang.
14OCT--
Dinner was a well-deserved 4-course meal with a Swedish couple we met at our
hotel in Turpan. We had spent the night on the train, hard-class, arrived in
some town before dawn, and slept in the train station until the buses to Turpan
started running. Turpan was nice, an oasis town in the desert. A land of figs
and grapes and nuts, mosques and dirt roads and clay buildings (once you
wandered off out of the developed portion of town).
15OCT--
Lunch was potstickers stuffed with mutton on a tree-lined country road outside
of Turpan. We were surrounded by about a mile-long string of people sitting on
tarps and sorting raisins by hand. Yellow raisins, green raisins, purple
raisins, on and on. Donkey-pulled carts going by, picking up and dropping off
more sacks. I returned later in the day and helped for a while--in return I got
to snack on some raisins.
16OCT--
Our last day in Turpan we went to Gaocheng, a mile-square ruined city. For 3
hrs, we wandered and climbed, avoiding the tour groups that get carted around.
Most of it was reduced to dirt, but there were still pieces of walls, buildings,
towers, and caves intact. A great broken mess!. That evening we took a bus to
17OCT--
Lunch was toast and juice at a department store after we had successfully
located the electric massage chairs and sampled a few of them. After a day of
wandering around
18OCT--
Boarded train in the evening. Snacked on dried figs, raisins, flatbread, dried
apricots, almonds, and beer. Some Uighurs had a jam session using Brendan's
guitar that turned into a dance party in another train car. After a demo, I was
made to dance in the aisle. The audience I estimated at about 80. People were on
top of seats, even climbing up in the luggage racks to watch. Afterwards, I was
challenged to arm-wrestle. Won every one until I started getting worn out.
19OCT--
Breakfast, lunch, and supper were the same fare as last night's snack, as we
were on the train all day. Very little sleep last night, and this my longest
train journey in
20OCT--
Supper was at the Kashgar night market, a wonderful place near the Id Kah Mosque
(largest in
21OCT--
Lunch was more chickpeas and walnut treats from street vendors as I wandered
around Kashgar. Supper, again at the market, about a mile's walk from the hotel,
through some of the
22OCT--
Today, we headed up the
23OCT--
We ate lunch at a Kyrgyz wedding in a nearby village that our host invited us
to. When it was time to eat, the men lined up in two long rows, perhaps 50'
long, opposing each other, sitting cross-legged on the ground. Bread was
distributed. Huge hunks of cold sheep carcass were distributed every so often.
People got out big knives and started cutting everyone an equal chunk. Our
mouths watered as we waited for everyone to get served so we could start. The
moment came. Ready, set, .... as we started eating, everyone got out bags,
cloths, pieces of plastic, put the meat in them and tucked the little
stashes in their jackets. Then everyone got up and left the wedding. What the
$#%*? We followed suit and ate our hunks an hour later as we sat by the side of
the road, waiting for a ride. A bus picked us and we continued further to
Tashkurgan, the last city before the Chinese border with
24OCT--
Had two suppers, the first alone at a Muslim place--noodles and mutton, the
second an hour later at a Chinese place with Brendan--dumplings and tea. I was
hungry from a long day spent walking around town and exploring the old stone
fortress perched on a small hilltop.
25OCT--
No breakfast. Too busy arguing with the bus ticket salesman because he was
trying to overcharge us for our bus ticket back to Kashgar. The driver joined in
and we ultimately lost the battle b/c they were ready to leave us in Tashkurgan
if we didn't pay up, and there's no other way back. And it was over about $3.
Anyway, the
26OCT--
Had dumplings for lunch at a Chinese place near the Kashgar bus station, as we
had to go there to purchase sleeper bus tickets to Hotan. Spent the rest of the
day wandering around Kashgar.
27OCT--
Arrived in Hotan at 4:30am local time. Long, drawn-out argument with cab driver
when he upped his price after we got to hotel. Hotel closed. Wandered around in
the cold and dark to 2 more--no luck. Had breakfast of noodles and tea at first
place that opened and sat around for a couple hours until it was light out so we
could find a hotel. Went to the Hotan Sunday Market--a truly amazing spectacle.
Many thousands of people come from surrounding areas to buy/sell. Donkey carts
making their way down dusty lanes, guys sharpening
knives, streetside barbers, vendors selling absolutely anything--dead or alive (ie.
camel heads and feet), produce, old men that look like sages with their
skullcaps and long white beards. Fascinating.
28OCT--
Got more money from bank--took 1.5 hrs. I had finally run out. Between my
arrival in
29OCT--
Another PB & J breakfast. Feeling a bit better. Leaving Hotan tomorrow morning.
So this whole journey, from Xiahe/Lanzhou to Tashkurgan, was a leap west across
Now I head for new terrain.
"You just like to
be poor." (--Dutch lady, to me and Brendan, after we talked about the virtues of
travelling hard-class on Chinese trains)
Away Awhile is hosted by Josh Trutwin.