Day 5 : Turpan cont.

Day 5 was our day 2 in Turpan, we headed around to see the local attractions and markets, one of the most beautiful and enriching day in the trip...

Flaming mountains, in summer the mountains look flaming red in color hence the name

Tombs by the side of the mountains

View of the terrain through which the car was passing

Mazar Village, one of the most wonderfully preserved villages in Xinjiang

Tombs in the edge of Mazar village

A view of the village from afar

Alley by the side of the village entrance

A beautiful courtyard in a house, in the village

He was sitting by the road and cutting Hami melons, when we passed by he offered us a couple of pieces. Those were the most sweetest melons I have ever had in my life and he was generous enough to offer us more

We found a pile of Hami melons in his yard when he invited us home. We were naturally wondering if every one of them was as sweet as the ones we had

After having the melons he invited us home, a very simple but wonderfully decorated house

The village mosque

A view of the tombs from the village, the green tomb is the Mazar that the village is named after 

A wooden window in a mud house

The village reservoir, near and around the reservoir there are 1000's of caves that has been vandalised over the years. They had 1000's of buddha statues in them.

Our lunch, at a wonderful street side restaurant where we had Laghman or rice noodle with the freshest mix of veggies and meatAfter the meal we had a local walk up to us and offer another wonderful piece of Hami melon, the day was foodies delight

After the village we headed to see a traditional canal system called Karez. This was a dome in the museum that preserves part of the system 

A well decorated pillar

A pathway covered with vines of grapes

Towards the end of the day we went strolling around the local market, that showed us a really beautiful and local market.

Fruit Vendors

Nan vendors, very similar to the Indian Nan but a bit on the harder side

Inside the market

Butcher shop, they were very curious to know my nationality and very happy to hear that I am from India

A young boy at a nan bakery, he was more curious about Bollywood when he knew I am from India

Another friendly bread seller

Traditional hand woven carpets

Xinjiang has some of the best fruits I have had in China

The kebab guy getting ready for the evening rush

A local meat snack shop

A cold snack shop, it was all pure vegetarian and the boy at the end of the card was the cashier, helping his mom out

The day ended with this beautiful bundle of joy, sitting pretty in front of her dads Nan cart munching on some Nan