October 16th - 17:00pm
On a bus from Urumqi to Turpan

Well, we didn’t go back up the mountain today. After we woke and started a fire, we received word from Mark Zhong that we were to hurry back to Urumqi. This was after Ma Bing told me he had arranged a local guide who definitely knew the way. Though we didn’t actually end up going, it made me feel a little better about Ma Bing’s concern for the situation. Then, since we had to get moving, we packed up our stuff, had some breakfast, and headed off. I managed to say goodbye to most of the Kazaks, who almost seemed put off by it, or at least too surprised to say goodbye back to me.

When we got back Mark Zhong said that the reason was because it was going to rain. I had seen no signs of rain at all; in fact, it had been a beautiful day. Still, I could think of no way that Mark Zhong could have saved money by having me come back sooner, especially since Ma Bing was still going to stay with me most of the rest of the day. In addition, Mark Zhong said he’d pay for my Turpan bus ticket, Urumqi museum entrance fee (if I wanted), and lunch, so there really wasn’t much I could be dissatisfied with. I hadn’t planned to go to Turpan today, since I originally thought I’d be coming back from Heavenly Lake much later, but I don’t mind. It just means that I’ll spend one night less in Urumqi, which is fine with me.

After Ma Bing took me to lunch out at a Hui restaurant, I had him drop me off at the Erdaoqiao market (the place I ate dinner the first night – click here for some daytime pictures of interestingly presented goods), where I walked for a bit, then I just started walking toward the bus station. Along the way, I passed the hotel I stayed at the first night, and stopped at a net café, where I did a small update to the weblog. I figured now would be a good time to get on the internet, since I was still in a big city (granted quite remote), and maybe the speeds would be a little faster here. Well, they weren’t, and I discovered that making entries in this weblog takes longer than I thought (naturally, in retrospect) because I have to do a little editing and formatting each time. So, I only got to add one day’s log.

Yesterday, before I set out on my hike, a reporter from an Urumqi television station noticed me, and asked me if I would be interviewed because I was a foreign traveler at Heavenly lake. I said yes, but that I wouldn’t be back for a while, as I was going on a hike. I guess I took too long, because he apparently came looking for me before I returned. But today, while I was in the net café, I got a call on my mobile phone (which works just fine here) from the reporter, who went through a number of people to get my number. He said he’d like to meet with me wherever I was, and sounded so eager, that I finally agreed to meet him at the bus station. He basically wanted to ask me how I felt about the Kazak herdsmen uniting their efforts to form a company and make some business for themselves off the tourism industry at Heavenly Lake. I told him I knew very little about it, but was glad that it was happening, as I know that the ethnic minorities in China frequently have a very hard time making a living for themselves and their communities, much like the Native Americans in the United States (casinos excepted, of course). I told him that I hoped they would learn to take better care of the lake and its surroundings, in addition to making more money. He seemed satisfied, and thanked me. It’s too bad, but I don’t think I’ll ever get to read/see where this material will be published or broadcast.

The drive from Urumqi to Turpan is about 2.5 hours. Not especially pretty, but it could be worse. Lots of DRY plains and mountains in the distance. There’s a movie playing in the bus about two Chinese soldiers getting put together with some soldiers from other countries, and the hijinks that ensue, how the American soldiers underestimate the Chinese soldiers because they’re smaller, and in the end, how the Chinese soldiers save the day. Not a well-made movie at all, but a nice surprise to have a movie on the bus at all.

October 16th - 23:30pm
In a hotel in Turpan with a newly clean body

I’ve now had my shower, and hand-washed some of my dirty clothes. It does feel quite nice to be clean again. I haven’t had clean fingernails in days, even though I washed my hands when possible, and did my best to clean under the fingernails with my pocketknife. I also got my first bit of traveler’s diarrhea tonight, and I’m quite thankful. How could I be thankful, you ask? I’m thankful that it didn’t happen until now. I’m in a hotel room with a flushing toilet all to myself, and in a city where I can buy some medicine for it. If this had happened while I was at Heavenly lake, it would have made for some COLD, miserable time out in the woods. As it is, I can handle it.

The rest of the bus ride went fine. I ate some food, and there was another movie, but it was in Uyghur, so I had no way of understanding it. The view got more and more desolate as we went until we reached the Turpan Basin (which has portions below sea level, but since we’re over 2000 km from any ocean, it stays pretty dry). Then, all of a sudden, I started to see trees and green spots in the desert. Apparently, the growing of ANYTHING here was originally made possible by the Karez, a network of underground irrigation channels that have a history of around 2000 years. They bring water from the melting snow and glaciers in the nearby mountains, and since they’re underground, they don’t lose much water to evaporation (ingenious- and essential in the desert). Also, apparently only very skilled workers could build/maintain them. I’ll get to see a bit of them tomorrow.

As soon as I got off the bus at 19:30 PM or so, I was approached by a number of Uyghurs asking if I wanted to hire them to be my driver/guide for the day tomorrow. Apparently, that’s how most people see Turpan and the important sights surrounding it – they hire a driver with a vehicle for the day. Instead of dealing with these guys then and there, I headed straight for the Jiaotong hotel, which is right next to the bus station. I got an okay room for 120 RMB, a good deal nicer than the one in Urumqi. After dropping my stuff off in my room, I went and asked the floor attendant about how much I should pay for one of the day-long guide/drivers. I had read that it would cost around 250-350, but I think that price is during the summer – the high tourism season. She said that 200 should be plenty. Many people solicited me, starting at 260 RMB. One guy told me various stories about how good his car was, and pointed at a car, saying it was his, but when I asked him to open and start it, he didn’t have the key. One guy even found out what room I’m in and had his customer from today (some French girl) call my room and tell me that he’s a safe driver/guide. I finally chose a guy named Osman, who was a little less aggressive than the others, and who had a clean car with a well-kept interior (not to mention that he gave me a price of 100RMB). I guess I was just going on instinct. He seemed like a nice guy, and his hygiene/grooming was good. So I’m meeting him tomorrow at 8:30 AM and we’ll do the standard 1-day tour of the sights of Turpan.

My skin is still in poor condition. I must have REALLY got burnt these past few days in the Heavenly mountains, because my poor nose and cheeks are now peeling pretty bad. They also hurt still, which made washing my face a rather unpleasant experience. Now, I’m not on this trip to be beautiful the whole time, but a red, peeling face that hurts just isn’t fun, y’know? I wonder why my forehead is so unaffected. It seems as though the air pollution in Shanghai has been helping keep the direct sun off my skin, because it’s now really sensitive to the direct sunlight. I guess air pollution isn’t ALL bad. No, wait a minute. It is.

Jeremy