Friday July 13

Friday July 13
On route to Kashgar

We have been unable to get the Internet over the last few days. We will be posting the last 5 days of entries at the same time. Please simply follow the dates on the blogs.

Yes! For me the most incredible experience was well going in the Taklamaklan and Gobi desert!! Yes, I mean going. We were riding along and several of us had to go. This highway through the desert has only been around for about 9 years, before this you had to use a Land Rover across the desert! Yeah, well good luck with that. Anyway, as you can imagine there are really no rest stops. Bridges are rest stops though! They provide the well needed privacy to "go" because we went under them. Well, this is where you just need to suspend any shyness you may have because there is no other option. Ms. Becker chose to pass but I happily went to say well that I went in the Gobi and Taklamakan desert! How many people can say that! So for the remainder of the the trip I wondered: where is that confounded bridge ( little ledzep shout out for those who know the song).

The sign forever marking our relief:-)



Our drive today took about 9 hours from Hotan to Kashgar. I did not have to go badly enough to "go" in the desert like Ms. Bisconti. But when we stopped in a town along the way and used their actual bathroom facilities I realized I probably should have just used the desert. It would have been cleaner. There were all sorts of fluids and solids on the floor and a man sitting in the ladie's bathroom cleaning his feet in a bucket of water. Lol- well at least the majority of stalls had working doors.

The craziest part of the trek had to be the bus ride itself. We ended up off roading it for a good portion of the trip. Ms. Bisconti and I, along with the rest of the tour group, were bouncing all over the place. A few times we got some serious air time. All of this was happening as we occasionally careened into oncoming traffic and whipped past huge trucks. Later in the evening we found out that our bus driver is a recent recipient of his license and had been falling asleep at one point during the drive. All I have to say is thank God I didn't know that before hand.

Tonight was low key. Ms. Bisconti and I broke away from the group for the first time and just walked around the square as the sun set. It was quite lovely.

Sights of Kashgar:












Statue of Chairman Mao:






Kids in old town Kashgar:











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