Day 72 Tashkurgan 8th Sep 09

Tashkurgan is about 3000m above sea level so all 4 season is cold cold and colder. Yesterday night was so cold we had to squeeze into one single bed and have the 2 thick comforters covering us to keep us warm. We are just not made for cold weather.


Ramli trying to take a photo of the lady in yellow

We went out about 1000hrs in search for breakfast and also to look for the Tashkurgan fort. We walked along the clean and tree covered streets, mountains surround this small town. Quiet and peaceful with shops aligned along the roads. It is a beautiful day to walk around but the only sad thing is that the people here either the Tajiks or Chinese aren’t as friendly as Pakistanis… They would look at you and would not give a small even if you did. It is really weird, not sure if it was the bad situation in Urumqi about the syringe attack that put them on guard when they see strangers. We didn’t feel welcome here..


Beef Stew


Local Laghman and Beef stew and bun

We walked along and saw a local shop with a Muslim Food signboard hang outside and decided to walk in and get something for breakfast. Only one of the Tajik waiter could speak mandarin but also not so well. Asked him what they had and ordered la mien for me and Ramli had braised beef with bun. My la mien came with mutton which we guessed was the staple meat for the Tajiks. They cook it very well so it didn’t bother me much and Ramli’s braised beef taste good.. They offer complimentary tea served with a teapot on the table with bowls as cups. Interesting.. The waiter asked where we came from and said “Zhong Gua Hao!!” He meant to say that China is better since he know we came from Pakistan. But I think the other is best.




Snow capped mountains surrounding the town


Lets do some "excercise"

We paid Cny32 = SGD6.40 for the food and left and went along to look for the Fort. Walked about 20mins and came to the old town with mud houses and in the open field there are yurts with sheeps , mules and cows grazing in the field with the snow capped mountains as the back drop. Walked along and saw the fort from a far and look really sad as stated on Lonely Planet that the fort is slowly crumbling and it isn’t lying. We walked closer and found a way into the fort. Walked around to the front and after about 15mins we saw a man walking towards us with a binoculars.. We guessed he saw us from a far and wanted to come and collect “entry fee” from us and true enough he asked for Cny8/pax = SGD1.60/pax. We saw that Lonely Planet stated Cny5/pax and so Ramli only took out Cny10 to test him and he took it and say okay okay but told us that we shouldn’t have came in from the back.. We just told him we didn’t know and acted blur about it.


View of the fort


The crumbling fort

He gestured to us that we could walk around the area but we had already seen what we wanted to see so followed from behind towards the entrance and walk back to the town. We have finished the “tour” in Tashkurgan and didn’t know what to do next.. Hmm so we went and walked around the small town bought the local bread and some local hats for Ramli’s collection and sat around taking pictures and watching the locals. We notice that the Tajik men would hold each others hand and kiss it twice or four times as a greeting.. The Tajik women would either kiss on the cheek or the lips. Both Ladies and Men have their own traditional headwear. Ladies wear a colorful round hat and covered with a scarf just like the stewardess from Emirates and they would wear jacket and knee length skirt with tights and stockings to keep them warm from the cold. Older Men would wear bowler hats with suits which make them look really smart and tidy.


Ramli moustache, jangut and his new hat


Me with his new hat


The non (bread) shop with so much variety


The local Tajik ladies


More Tajik Ladies

We people watched till about evening time and headed back to the hotel and hide from the cold. We didn’t want to go out again for dinner so we cooked porridge with the instant soup powder we bought before.




Traffic Hotel.. My new hat..

On TV there was a documentary about a Chinese female reporter who went to Afghanistan, we felt really sad when we see the situations and life that the locals are leading after the war. There is a family who agreed to be film as the man of the family wanted to show to the world that even though due to the war he still could make a honest leaving by painting or polishing shoes to support his family of 5. What made it really sad is to know that his eldest daughter became a victim of the bombings, she use to be a happy and normal lady but after witnessing a suicide bombing she became a little out or sorts and has not recovered ever since. When his dad was telling them about the story, tears just ran down his face…Is really heart wrenching…