Hotan Night Market

Train to Hotan

I took a taxi for Kargilik station at 0815 for my 0919 train to Hotan.  At the security checkpoint for the station, they had trouble summoning a cop and I had to wait about 20 mins.

When boarding came, I noticed they had trouble locating my train booking at the turnstiles.  I noticed from past entries/exit that it only worked intermittently depending on how one searches for it.  Often, they would wave me through based on trust.

But today, they took my passport to the ticket desk and printed me a manual ticket. Even that didn’t work on first attempt scanning it.

The train was delayed by 17 mins.  This was the longest ride so far at 2h43 but it was actually a little longer as a result of the delay, perhaps around 3h.

When we arrived at Hotan around 1230, we had to wait for about 20 mins before they would open the doors.  It appeared that they were setting up to deal with impact of the delay but not sure exactly what.  I think Hotan is the end of the line and there should be no connections.

It was a long open walk through a square to exit through the security building (with no checks on the exit) to find a crowd at the taxi queue.  I decided to walk further out into the open street area but this seemed to be at the edge of town with not many taxies hovering around.  It had been raining and there was a little mud here and there from the desert dust and rainwater.

I eventually got to the Tuancheng Hotel by a recreated old street at 1330.  I headed out for lunch immediately and settled for a noodle hawker stall in a touristy set-up.

For the first time in two China trips, my WeChat payment was not available and I had to resort to cash.  Perhaps the payee was a private person rather than a business?

With my belly filled, I took around the recreated old town.  All I can say is that it is better than not having a recreated old town.  It could have been just ugly concrete blocks.  Like in Kashgar, local minorities have a chance to make business and profit from interest in their culture.

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Hotan Night Market

Hotan is supposed to have a great night market and I decided to walk there, taking over 30 mins.  It is located in a very long concrete building which I’m guessing was a warehouse before.

The array of food there was amazing.  The giant lamb skewer caught my fancy I got one after scouting around for better options.  The huge oysters came from Shandong (an area famous in my head for peanuts and beer).

Here we are, not far from the furthest point on earth from the sea and there are air-flown oysters.  This is not the same China I visited 26 years ago when even larger places like Kashgar were tiny.

I finished with a bowl of fruit salad and fresh fruit to take back to the hotel by taxi.

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Ramblings

Now that I’m in Hotan, you’ll realise I took a branch of the Silk Road south of the mighty Taklamakan Desert, Kashgar – Yarkant – Kargilik – Hotan.

It is somewhat off the tourist track in this sensitive part of the country, there is heavy police and military presence on streets.  They are armed and have anti-riot shields.

This route has a branch which serves as a backdoor to the Tibetan plateau, making it doubly sensitive.  Police checks are made on foreigners arriving and departing at every stop.

Despite all that, I would say that the average minority person here has a more modern and comfortable life compared to in neighbouring countries.