Postcard from Kashgar
We had a great day exploring around Kashgar. We saw the huge statue of Mao, sections of the old wall and old buildings. Of course we took plenty of good pictures however, I forgot to put the memory card in my camera so none of them were actually recorded.
The wall was really incredible. It was about 30 feet high and 20 feet wide. You could really get a feeling what it would be like to approach a city like this in its hayday. Now it is just another chinese city with some old buildings still in it. It was a lot of fun to wander around the old section of the city and see all the old adobe style houses. It was also good to be in the bread part of the world again. Bread on every corner. I took some really cool pictures of people making bread and old homes but... well... use your imagination.
We stopped by the famous Kashgar Sunday market and perused for a while. It wasn't as big as I pictured it but it was fairly large. Lots of spices, knives, hats, carpets and anything else you want to buy there. We're going to some places with other really good markets. They are really packed with people.
The next day we left for Kyrgyzstan which was pretty easy to find a bus. Getting through the border was another matter. We had to go through a passport check to approach the border, show our passports to get in the building and get a departure card, show our passports at immigration, show our passports at customs, show our passport leaving the building and show our passports at the security check outside. Thats was all just to LEAVE China. I never though a country would care that much to make sure everything was just right when you left. Then we went over to the Kyrgyz side and made it through immigration without a problem but got pulled aside right away because we were Americans. The immigration officer asked me what state I was from to which I replied "Texas!" He told me that wasn't a state in the US. I begged to differ seeing as I had lived there for 11 years. He was not convinced until I pulled out my driver's license which is from Texas to which he said "Oh! Tehas! That is how it should be pronounced." Silly me. A couple more passports checks and we were home free.
The wall was really incredible. It was about 30 feet high and 20 feet wide. You could really get a feeling what it would be like to approach a city like this in its hayday. Now it is just another chinese city with some old buildings still in it. It was a lot of fun to wander around the old section of the city and see all the old adobe style houses. It was also good to be in the bread part of the world again. Bread on every corner. I took some really cool pictures of people making bread and old homes but... well... use your imagination.
We stopped by the famous Kashgar Sunday market and perused for a while. It wasn't as big as I pictured it but it was fairly large. Lots of spices, knives, hats, carpets and anything else you want to buy there. We're going to some places with other really good markets. They are really packed with people.
The next day we left for Kyrgyzstan which was pretty easy to find a bus. Getting through the border was another matter. We had to go through a passport check to approach the border, show our passports to get in the building and get a departure card, show our passports at immigration, show our passports at customs, show our passport leaving the building and show our passports at the security check outside. Thats was all just to LEAVE China. I never though a country would care that much to make sure everything was just right when you left. Then we went over to the Kyrgyz side and made it through immigration without a problem but got pulled aside right away because we were Americans. The immigration officer asked me what state I was from to which I replied "Texas!" He told me that wasn't a state in the US. I begged to differ seeing as I had lived there for 11 years. He was not convinced until I pulled out my driver's license which is from Texas to which he said "Oh! Tehas! That is how it should be pronounced." Silly me. A couple more passports checks and we were home free.
posted by Randall Knutson at
5:40 PM
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