The World's Best Xinjiang Diary Ever: Golden Week Travels 4

The next day, the three of us and a fully recovered Catherine went to see some of the sights of Kashgar. We started with a bus journey to the Apak Khoja tombs. The tombs are located in a big mausoleum building. The building claims to have the largest dome in China, or something like that. The whole of the exterior was covered with mosaic tiles, and though many were falling off, it really was beautiful. We dressed up in traditional Uyghur and Tajik outfits and had our photos taken with some Uyghur women. The tombs were built for a historically important family line in Xinjiang, including an Imperial concubine. The main tombs are inside the building, covered in decorative cloth and tiered for importance. The tombs of their staff and distant relatives are outside and look a lot more bare! At the tombs you can also see an exhibition of historical relics (pots n stuff... oh and the mummy of a dead preserved governor, which was quite cool. Having said that, if he weren't dead, there may be problems.) and the orchard. In the orchard we got some grapes (of course - the food of Xinjiang!), as well as some pears that they'd grown there, and watched a stage show of traditional dancing. Frankie and I took to the stage, on invitation, to try out our dance moves, much to the amusement of the dancers.
After the tombs, we got the bus back into town to see the Idkah Mosque. It was then that we discovered we had actually already seen the mosque - twice! It was the big Uyghurified square! The mosque can hold 100,000 worshippers on holy days, and counts the square outside as part of its grounds for worshippers. We were allowed inside the mosque grounds which were lovely but we felt a bit like intrusive infidels as a lot of those supposed to be praying were shooting glances at the Westerners, so we left pretty sharpish. The square leads on to 'Old Kashgar' where all the buildings are preserved. I loved this part of town. Everyone was Uyghur and so friendly, and the architecture of virtually all the buildings is exquisite. We bought plain cake, which comes with cream, and ate it as we walked round the town. I invested in an original copy of Mao's Little Red Book. I really should bother reading that sometime soon. We wandered over to the old city walls and were disappointed to discover that they are basically now just a mound of earth in the middle of a residential area.
That night Catherine and Frankie disappeared to find Catherine a new camera battery. Catherine stumbled into a sex shop as well, and was looking around for batteries when she finally realised where she was and scarpered! While all this fun was going on, Liam and I went to see a show of song and dance, with about 20 other Westerners who had magically materialized from somewhere or other. We were late for the show because we were told the wrong time, but did see some impressive Tajik, Uyghur and Uzbek dance and heard some folk songs. Finally at the end, half the audience got on stage to dance, me being one of them. I wasn't the only Westerner there that didn't have a clue what I was doing!

Frankie, Catherine and Liam at the Apak Khoja Mausoleum

Dressed as Uyghurs (though we're pretty sure Liam is wearing an Uzbek hat, if ever we saw one!) Frankie is in yellow, I am in white and blue with a stupid hat, Liam is the only man, and the rest are all Uyghur girls who posed with us.