DESTINATION KASHGAR
15 NOVEMBER 2014

After a night at the customs, we are placed without any other possibility in a taxi destination Kashgar.

The landscapes are beautiful, being on a military zone, I dare not take pictures, it is only far from the customs that I allow myself with the acceptance of the taxi driver to take my first pictures.

Too bad I missed a lot of beautiful landscapes and especially our first animals in liberties: a herd of ... CHAMEAUX !!!

Here we are in Kashgar, we are really out of touch with everything we have seen so far. It is necessary to get used to a new attitude of the drivers knowing that here the priority is not to the pedestrians even if the man is green!

We live in the middle of a Muslim neighborhood and yes here there is freedom of worship and we are even surprised to hear the call to prayer resound. The buildings in this area give us the impression of being in Morocco, really things we did not expect to see in China.

The district is divided into several parts or different trades are present: boilermakers, carpenters, hatters, Chinese pharmacists, musicians etc ...

In the evening we eat for misery in an outdoor market where the cooks prepare their dishes in front of us. We eat directly on the small stands, on the electric scooters that serve as kitchen and place to eat !!!

The electric scooter is seen everywhere it is used to transport all persons (taxis) animals, metal, wood, feeds of all kinds etc ...

Really this first Chinese city will leave us a good memory!

FROM KASHGAR TO TURFAN (TURPAN) OR THE DIFFICULTY OF STOPPING IN CHINA
16 NOVEMBER 2014

Since we arrived in China we go from surprises to surprises. For example, we have not seen a single foreign tourist. So we do not go unnoticed, where we are the looks follow us, some even go so far as to ask us kindly to ask for a selfy. At noon at the moment we set down to eat, we created a small gathering around us. Here people are really curious and they do it with such simplicity and without malice that it is not really embarrassing.

The stop is currently difficult for us, not that people do not want to stop on the contrary, many want to help us but do not understand the notion of autostop (not easy to explain to them when they speak only Chinese or Uyghur ) And want at all costs to call us a taxi where we get to the nearest station and sometimes on a misunderstanding ... they get there so we lose a lot of time.

Every time we manage to move forward. We cross huge desert lands either by truck or by car. We are amazed by the kilometers of peppers deposited on the ground drying. We also saw manually harvesting the cotton.

Today we are still on the Silk Road in Tourfan, the lowest place in the world after the Dead Sea. We are 154 meters below sea level !!! At the moment we imagined being between 600 and 1000 m! We regret more and more not having taken altimeters with us!

THE RUINS OF JIAOHE
17 NOVEMBER 2014


Today's small break, we took the time to visit an exceptional site that are the ruins of Jiaohe. It was a magical visit in a beautiful setting.

This city is part of Unesco's heritage, built on a mound of meadows 1,700 m long and 300 m wide, encircled by two rivers (Jiaohe means the confluence of two rivers). These rivers and cliffs have played a role of natural defense, for centuries.

Jiahoe built during the Han dynasty and was between 108 BC and 450 AD the capital of the kingdom of Jushi Anteriors.

Under the Tang dynasty it became a citadel protecting the region.

It was gradually abandoned after its destruction by the Mongolian army of Genghis Khan until after the Yuan dynasty towards the XIV th Century.

ALWAYS EAST OF SHANSHAN TO ZHANGYE
21 NOVEMBER 2014

We are still advancing towards the east of China and in ten days we still have not seen other westerners (Caucasian like the police of our home) !!!

Tired of being brought every time to the nearest station, we made small explanatory documents in Chinese that we give to the drivers. We have gained in efficiency, even if it happened to us again to the station! We keep smiling as the Chinese so far do their utmost to help us. We are often touched and embarrassed by so much energy and generosity.

After crossing the desert of Taklamanta, our journey of hitchhiker has passed by that of Gobi one of the biggest deserts of this planet. The roads are straight and the cities are separated by hundreds of kilometers, which allows us to move very quickly (near 900 km yesterday!).

These long desert roads leave room for reverie, so I like to make appear in my imagination Richard Sainct regretted buddy devouring on his motorcycle the dunes that pass before our eyes. These landscapes today make me better understand his passion for rallies raids.

We always go very well and we take great pleasure in discovering a country so different from ours.
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