For my final morning in Kashgar we left the hotel at 8am to head to the famous Sunday livestock market before the morning heat. Before The Kite Runner movie this is what Kashgar was most famous for. It is commonly known in Pakistan that if you head north from Islamabad thru the Karakouram Mountain range you will reach Kashgar in China and the famous sunday livestock bazaar.
There is long tree lined approach road into the market, where people are walking their animals or navigating the crowds with trucks and carts packed with livestock. As you enter the market the pens are grouped based on animal type. We saw yak, goats, elk, lamb, donkeys. I was told there would also be horses, cows, camels, but we didnt see as any. No slaughtering was taking place Sunday Livestock Market. I was told villagers from around the region come as well as restaurant owners. In the pens they tie all the heads together to the railing. Many of the european tourist we had seen the past few days were also here again for the livestock market. Its best to go in the morning as most deals are done by noon and the market clears out in the afternoon. After that we went to the Grand Bazaar, with the interestingly long name 'East and West International Grand Bazaar'. This is much like the grand bazaar in istanbul. The front section is touristy and had all the traditional wares such as muslim caps, handcrafts, copperware, and other souvenir items. However, the vendors were not pushy in any way like they are in Istanbul. The next section behind was the locals market. Here they had consumer appliances like fridges/tvs/dvd players/washing machines, and other household goods for the kitchen. They were also selling dvds and we tried to find the tv drama show I had been watching in the hotel but they were sold out. I was also able to buy my twin dvd pack of the girl trio shahrizoda as in urumqi we were only able to get the single dvd and were looking for a good price since as the twin one was being overcharged in all the tourist places Road to Market. We were able to get a bootlet for 20Y ($3) which also included 3 other dvds on the same disc of a Richard Clayderman piano concert, a Yanni concert, and the more interesting female Uyghar singer with folk dancers. The part I liked was the rug section. They had many persian and turkish style rugs, but made more of silk than cotton and wool, so more expensive. There were some intersting tapestry style rugs. My favourite was of a scene of a large group of musicians at court playing instruments. It was about 2m by 1m and I was told it cost $10,000 USD which doesnt surprise me. It was my favourite nonetheless. I found a wool version of the Apak Hoja Tomb about a foot wide each way, which he wanted $75 for, but that would have been exact cash I had remaining so I didnt, and he didnt try to negotiate the price or come after me either. In the market outside my guide also stopped to buy me a muslim cap for 25Y ($3.75) as a gift. Until know I was getting stares from everyone with my large rimmed hat to keep the sun out. As soon as I put on this cap nobody looked at me again as I instantly blended in. We still had lots of time for my afternoon flight and there was another tomb I saw on my map so asked to see that Taking Cattle to Market. This one was the Tomb of Yusup Hazi Hajup. I was immediately impressed by this one. Again in Taj Mahal style, this mausaleum had ceramic blue tiles covering the entire walls, mineret, and dome. Despite a 30Y entrance fee ($4.50), there were no tourists here and we had the place to ourselves. Inside was one large coffin draped in fabric with quranic lettering sown in, as well as quranic calligraphy on the walls and in the marblework. There was an outer courtyard of shaded arches and other stone carvings. I would really recommend people go to this one as well as the famouse Apak Hoja which is too touristy. This one is in better condition, no tourists or vendors, has ceramic tile work, much interesting architecture, and in better condition than Apak Hoja which has some deterioration. Even my guide said he hadnt been here before and will bring more of his visitors. Video : Driving thru Kashgar
http://www.you tube.com/watch?v=0AbkRK8VnQw For lunch we went back to the restaurant by the hotel I had been to last nite with the tour company owner View of Livestock Market. We ran into his other guide friend and the canadian english teacher from beijing we had met two days earlier. The same food items were on offer so I had pilow (not noodles again for the sixth time), some kebabs, and samsas. I'm told my pilow was 16Y ($2.40) So after hanging out in the restaurant it was time for my flight home. Sadly we passed a pedestrian accident with a woman lying on the floor and a large crowd. I didnt see any blood and we stopped the car to inspect. They said she was still breathing as I thought she was probably knocked unconscious. We made it to the airprot and I gave the driver a 20Y tip ($3) and 50Y to my guide ($7.50). It wasnt as much as the guide and driver in Turpan since they did a lot more legwork and long hours driving. Kashgar was more on foot so we hardly used the car. Now that I think about it I should have given the guide 100Y as he bought my dvd and cap as a gift so the 50Y only really covered those costs rather than being a tip.
So I really enjoyed my time in Kashgar, the soul of Xinjiang province and Uyghar culture, and would love to come back. I told them about my blog and that I would talk about my trip. They casually mentioned later my next trip is free though I wont hold them to that! Maybe next time I can go into the desert for camel trekking or into the mountains to see more lakes.
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