Yarkard

11 may 2012

Today I carried on the journey along the southern silk road towards

Today I carried on the journey along the southern silk road towards. Kashgar intending to stop at a town called Karklick but the bus driver would not stop for some reason so I ended up a little further along in Yarkard. On the bus was a passenger going back home after being in hospital in Hotan. He had a serious cut on one leg and had needed hospitalising - a six hour bus   journey away. He was so excited to be going home. Also met two French travelers who were doing my trip in reverse. It was good to get some up to date information about visas in Central Asia.

Yarkard was a strange place, very dusty and dirty. There was only one hotel that foreigners were able to stay in and a very obvious police presence on the streets. The town has been a silk road town for years and in its centre is a mausoleum to a famous Uighur poet and musician. The mosque area here is fascinating too. Many of the older woman cover their faces totally in a brown sacking which is very similar too that found in Eastern Turkey. It seems that in this area the Uighur people speak a language dialect very close to Turkish  and the food certainly reminds me of the foodstalls of Istambul. It's a meat eaters paradise!