The Apak Hoja Mazar is a beautiful tiled masoleum that houses the tombs of five generations of one family. Built in 1640 it is central to a peaceful, sprawling complex on the city’s outskirts that includes a mosque, gardens and madrasa. The monument is also associated with stories of Fragrant Princess 香妃. She was a…
Torugart Pass . 吐尔尕特山口
The air at 3752 metres left us breathless, but maybe it was the final 500 metre trek to the border post with all our luggage, that did it. A log-jam of semi-trailers and overloaded trucks blocked the way. There are 150 of them every day. Torugart Pass (from Kashgar to Kyrgyzstan) has been used since…
Kashgar Livestock Market.生畜交易市场
At the risk of being trampled by a cartload of prized fat-tailed sheep, we ventured to the livestock market today. After all, it has been a weekly highlight of Kashgar’s calendar for centuries and a magnet for Uyghur herders and farmers from miles around. In an earthy crush of man and beast, every saleable sheep,…
Kashgar . 喀什市. قەشقەر
The first thing that strikes you when you land is the chalk-dry heat, then the yellow dust and sand that billows across the plains. Yesterday we started our month-long travel adventure in Kashgar, an oasis city in the far-west province of Xinjiang. It took us 6 hours to fly here (via Urumqi) and we landed…
Yang Rou Pao Mo . 羊肉泡馍
They say the first thing you should try when in Xian 西安 is Yang Rou Pao Mo 羊肉泡馍. It’s hard to find a succinct translation for “crumbled unleavened flatbread soaked in mutton stew” but it’s a local specialty, steeped in more than 1,000 years of history. It’s the original fusion food – Persian flatbread…