Fake sights, disappeared site

Train to Kargilik

After one night, I’m on the move by train again, this time to Kargilik (Yecheng).  I left the hotel at 0715 by taxi for the 0819 train.  This time it is only a 50 ride in the hard seat class.

With locals observing a 2h unofficial time difference, this ride is bloody early and the train crew were very good at going through their phones to wake up all disembarking passengers individually for each stop.

Surprisingly, yesterday’s grey Taklamakan Desert had turned green, perhaps with irrigation.  My ride was interrupted by an onboard police officer who checked on my travel plans but upon arrival, I left the station uninterrupted for the very plush Vienna Hotel.

As it was only around 0930 (or unofficially 0730), it would look bad to try check-in at the hotel.  I grabbed some wonton soup a couple of doors away before going to the hotel around 1000.

Fortunately, I was able to get a room straight away.  Even better, knowing that I have an early departure tomorrow again, they invited me to use my breakfast voucher straight away.  Damn!  Two breakfasts in one day.

This town is where a road branches off to the Tibetan plateau.  It’s kind of the back road from Central Asia to Tibet.  As such, security is tight as there are two sensitive areas at stake.

Xitiya Mystery City

One of the recommended highlights in this town is Xitiya Mystery City outside the urban area.  I took a taxi there and found that the CNY31 ticket had been waived for the morning.  As it was around 1130, I jumped at the opportunity before it could escape me.

I walked the 1km into the property where a fake mud-brick city had been built.  There was some kind of event on where many women and girls were being made up and dressed up in traditional costumes.

Ironically, almost all looked like minorities and they are dressed up in historical costumes of the Han Chinese.

I took walk around the various buildings, most of which were accessible on the inside.  Fortunately, it was a cloudy day.  About an hour later, I had had enough.

Activities in terms of traditional dances in costumes were just starting and I stayed briefly before heading to the road to try catch a ride home.

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In this out-of-town setting, taxis were rare but I was fortunate to be picked up by an intercity share taxi which dropped me somewhere busy in town where I caught a normal taxi to the Vienna Hotel.

Overall, the place was a tourist trap and not for me.  Fortunately, I didn’t pay anything apart from the taxi ride.

If anything, it gives an insight into the tourism model that is being pursued here.  Destroy real history, recreate artificial ones and charge the tourists, or put in lots of shopping in the recreated areas.

Mosques of downtown

My old guidebook from 11 years ago suggested that there is large mosque in the old town together with mud-brick old town.  Unfortunately, no map was given but with the assistance of Google, I found the coordinates for the mosque.

I took a taxi to near the area and walked through a simple pedestrian street which was gated with police guarding both ends.  Eventually, I made it to the area marked by the coordinates, only to find clear open space that looked demolished.

Google Maps’ satellite images strangely showed industrial type buildings or warehouses in the area instead.  Could it be the mosque that had been demolished or was it the industrial/warehouses?

A clue came up when the satellite images showed highway-style roads that didn’t exist.  Something is really fishy.  It’s OK for satellite images to be old and not show new roads or buildings.  But it is beyond fishy to have them show large roads when there are old established buildings there.

I found a small mosque nearby locked up and another one too, with a red banner saying “Love the Party, Love the Country”.

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Ramblings

After a bite of two lamb skewers and a little bread, I bought some fruit and headed back by taxi.

The fruit here in Central Asia and Xinjiang have been excellent.  Often, I buy the peaches but after washing them, I realise it was not fuzz but desert dust.  They are in fact nectarines!

With all the taxi rides I’ve done here, I must say that Uyghur people here have extremely varied appearances ranging from European, Turkish, Persian, Uzbek, Mongol, Chinese and even Thai.  This area has been the crossroads over the centuries.

Some of the guests at my hotels are pigs.  I walk past the open doors of rooms waiting to be cleaned after check out and see eg. sunflower seeds strewn all over the floor, instant noodle bowls on the table and floor along with drink bottles and cans.