PLAYING POLO

A young man in a white skullcap brandishes a long knife. He’s beckoning us to notice his chrome, cross-shaped machine – part Middle-Ages torture implement with sharp points and a hefty screw, part useful tool - and the rich crimson liquid bleeding into a red bucket below it.

He’s got bottles of the stuff already filled, and just as we are about to shudder and turn away, we realise he’s squashing the ruby juice from pomegranates. 

This is the Kashgar Sunday market, on the far western border of China, and high point of the week. The locals dress up for this, hook the family donkey to the cart, then pile on and head for town.

The place is absolutely bursting with people. They come for the food – mounds of figs, cartwheels of bread, baked sheep’s heads, pomegranates - the energy, and the socialising. It was hard to imagine that a thousand years ago (and a thousand years before that) this place would have been just as busy.

The saga of the Silk Road is a long and complicated one, the story of a hapless scout that spent more time in gaol than research, a mystery fabric craved as much for the manufacture of pennants as petticoats, and a trade route that flourished, then foundered.

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This article continues with details of the amazing Silk Road, its history and its fascinating route today and  includes information on accommodation provided, local food and cuisine, things to do and see.

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(finishes…)

Always changing, the Silk Road is as fascinating today as it was two thousand years ago. 

I can almost hear Marco Polo agreeing with me. 

©Sally Hammond 2006

Picture Credits: ©Gordon Hammond 2006

(Sally and Gordon Hammond travelled as guests of Helen Wong Tours)

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