Day 19 : A Day and Night in Kargilik. I decided to take a trip to the neighbouring town of Kargilik, I read about a very old Mosque there and set out to find that. After a 5 hour journey by bus and for the first time a Police checkpoint where I had to step out of the bus and get my passport checked I reached my destination. Since there was not many hotels I had to resort to the Transportation hotel, a chain of hotels right at the Bus stations in most places in Xinjiang. After trying my best to explain to the Hotel receptionist that I need a single room, I got a single room and checked in.
After that, I got back to the receptionist and asked her for directions to the mosque but she had no idea what I was asking about or talking about. A Uyghur lady there tried to help me she probably understood something, but she replied saying that the place is very very far and also something in the lines of it being closed or broken.
So eventually I decided to stroll around town. I walked around the dusty old town which was also in the process of getting transformed with new buildings and a very "organised" town market in the middle. I took a stroll through the market and realized that it was another attempt at changing the traditional market into a more organised shopping street. At one of the junctions on the market street I noticed a dusty alley that lead into some very old looking houses and a very old lady sitting at the door of her house. I walked a few meters past that junction and something drew me to have a look at her again. She was really old and right above her head was some kind of a notice in Arabic script. I clicked a pic of her and decided to walk through that street.
I walked through that alley and noticed that all the houses in that alley had that notice in front of them and most of the houses were locked, except for 2 or 3. From what I understood later, it looked very much like a eviction notice, so that these old houses can make way for more structured and organized market. I could see half knocked down old houses and multi storey buildings in the background.
After a walk for over an hour I went into eat some Polo at a local restaurant a simple mixed rice eaten with simple yoghurt, one of the best tasting dinners in a couple of weeks.
After that, I got back to the receptionist and asked her for directions to the mosque but she had no idea what I was asking about or talking about. A Uyghur lady there tried to help me she probably understood something, but she replied saying that the place is very very far and also something in the lines of it being closed or broken.
So eventually I decided to stroll around town. I walked around the dusty old town which was also in the process of getting transformed with new buildings and a very "organised" town market in the middle. I took a stroll through the market and realized that it was another attempt at changing the traditional market into a more organised shopping street. At one of the junctions on the market street I noticed a dusty alley that lead into some very old looking houses and a very old lady sitting at the door of her house. I walked a few meters past that junction and something drew me to have a look at her again. She was really old and right above her head was some kind of a notice in Arabic script. I clicked a pic of her and decided to walk through that street.
I walked through that alley and noticed that all the houses in that alley had that notice in front of them and most of the houses were locked, except for 2 or 3. From what I understood later, it looked very much like a eviction notice, so that these old houses can make way for more structured and organized market. I could see half knocked down old houses and multi storey buildings in the background.
After a walk for over an hour I went into eat some Polo at a local restaurant a simple mixed rice eaten with simple yoghurt, one of the best tasting dinners in a couple of weeks.
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| The old lady who caught my attention, sitting at her door looking at the people walk by |
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| The crescent on top of a rusty spiral staircase next to a small mosque |
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| Two moons |
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| My dinner...Polo |
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