Silk Road Tour - (Part 1)

Silk Road
On the 28 September we left Xi'an for a 2-hour flight to Urumqi.
On the 29th we got on a bus and went to the Heavenly Mountain Resort, an hour or so distance from Urumqi. We took a boat ride on Heavenly Lake.
The buildings on the hill are a temple and many people were coming to prayer and worship on that day. It was the beginning of Ramadan for the Muslims.
Notice our tour guide holding up a blue flag and Dad right in front.









Many minorities live in the Urumqi area. About half the people are Muslims and there are also Russians. The signs are written in Chinese, Russian and Arabic. The Muslims are called Ughurs (pronounced “weegers”).





These pictures were of the night market. It was famous for its shish-ke-bob. I found popcorn and Dad bought some lamb.

Tuesday morning we left Urumqi by bus and drove to Turpan. That afternoon we visited several sights in the area. Tuesday was a good day because there were not hoards of tourists at the places we went. We went to Tuyugou Valley village - a Ughur village that hasn't changed in centuries (except for the motorcycles and trucks). A band of friendly little boys followed us around but they would throw rocks when your back was turned or try to steal your pocket watch. This village was in a canyon which was about 1 kilometer in width. The Flaming Mountain is on the sides of the canyon. Around the Canyon are numerous cultural heritage and historical sites. At the north side lies a vast grave yard of the ancient Gushi People, a tribe living in this area. Their homes were very primative.

This little village has recently been added to the tourist list and is over 800 years old.

This is a graveyard and it appears that their burial plots are much better than the homes they live in.

This picture with the hole is actually an oven. Some people bought some bread that had just been baked in the oven.

In the Pachikli Grottos on the cliffs there is now nothing much in the caves as they were stripped by several German expeditions. Entrances have been built around each of the caves.

The camels were a tourist attraction at the caves. We could not take pictures inside the caves.

Ross and Sister Kimball sillouetted -- they wanted to stay close to the "squatter" toilet. Both were having stomach problems.

We visited the ancient city of Gaochang by donkey cart.

Even donkey carts have tire problems. The donkeys really took off running. You can see the ruins of the ancient city in the background.