Culminating end of a Great Silk Road Journey

Prologue

After a long 16 years, we finally made it to the end of an epic journey!

The Great Silk Road Journey starts with SARS saga in 2003 travelling from Singapore to Italy. We made it to Venice in that year. After which we journeyed to the fabled land of Samarkand and Bukara in Central Asia Uzbekistan which is about mid-way of the whole ancient Silk Road.

Ultimately we ended the journey in 2019 going to Xian and finally ended in Xinjiang! An epic 12,000 km journey no less!

Marco Polo made the epic journey in the late 11th century starting from Venice to China in days of bandits and pirates, wild creatures, camels, extreme climatic and geographical barriers with no airplanes!

30-31 May 2019 Singapore to Xian via Scoot

Last day in Tanjong Pagar. Shook hands. Took MRT to Changi Airport. Amazing! Reaching within 45 minutes from 5.25pm to 6.16pm.

Dinner was Japanese ramen of $14.90 each at T1. Alas! The plane is departing soon, no time to go the fabulous $5-billion-dollar Jewel.

Scoot A320 flight was full ($508). Whole plane reeked of gasoline during the take off and landing. Jet fuel leaking odour. Plenty of children on board the flight with China mothers and a couple of Singaporean fathers.

Scoot just announced they ran out of China immigration cards.

What a bother!

The whole aircraft seems cramped and the $12 nasi lemak meal was soggy. The China Eastern airline we are taking to Urmuqi a few days later will be far more spacious. China Eastern will have more leg space.

Landed at 2.35am in the wee hours. Immigration checks were slow due to the crowds. However the security tried their best to expedite, assigning the queues to other counters. Kudos to them. Security are pro-active. They moved children under 14 years of age to to other lanes to speed up the queue.

Once exited out of immigration, very surprised to find the "space capsules" a few steps away. These sleeping pods are charged by the hours. Eagerly. we tried to check in quickly. We are more curious than sleepy at this stage in time. RMB 288 promotional prices from 4am to 8am. I tried to bargain till 9am and the pro-business lady actually acquiesced. Actually it's RMB60 hourly.
After many photos in the dark in the pod, we finally succumbed to tiredness.

When we opened our eyes it's almost 8.20am in the morning. We took a few more pictures and tried to find the shuttle bus to our hotel or at least the downtown area. But in the end we ended up booking the local tour for the following day to the Qin's Terracotta Site (RMB120 per pax) and Tang Dynasty performances (RM 198 per pax)

1 June 2019 - Saturday - Terracotta - Wonders of the World

Breakfast under soothing ambience at Eastern House Boutique hotel was a peaceful affair. Not that many guests. Good breakfast spread and staff were eager to please in exchange for good reviews.

The tour guide, a bespectacled man, whom he claimed worked for 26 years in this trade, was late. We waited rather impatiently at 8am but no sign of him. He appeared at nearly 8.15am and we had to walk a further of 10 minutes as he claimed the mini-tour bus was not able to park at the hotel.

The tour bus was full of local "chinese" tourists from other provinces. The tour guide persuaded us to watch big scale RMB20 million production 驼铃传奇 (promo price of 198) instead of 秦俑情

( RMB248).

At the Terracotta Science and Artefacts Museum, compulsory guide was assigned to us. She is a fasting talking woman whom repeated her stances many times. Hectic, have to beat the crowds, No time to talk or think and very little time to pose or take photographs.

2 June 2019 - Sunday - Xi'an to Urumqi

A spacious and steady sun-roofed Camry fetched us from the hotel to the airport arriving within an hour (RMB150).

The driver was an interesting Muslim young man with young wife and one kid. Presumably he loved and raved about Kuala Lumpur and has been to Sipadan diving sites in Sabah as well.

Xi'an Xianyang Airport has Facial Recognition technology that blew our minds off. Flight information panels with FR scanned our faces and display our names and flight details within seconds. We were dumb-founded!

The security at the airport is most exasperatingly stringent! At least 12 rows of security counters at the immigration checkpoints! Thorough body searches from head to toe were performed for each and every passengers. One girl nearly missed her flight due to the prolonged search. All personal belongings needed to be empty and the items in the hand carried bags were x-ray profusely. Everyone was made to empty power banks, umbrellas and even lighters and cosmetic pouches.

Luckily we boarded in time and unscathed. The China Eastern flight from 1045 to 1430 was breath-taking and awe-inspiring with views of the never ending white-coated range of the Himalayas.

Roof of the World indeed!

We chanced upon vast expanses of sand as we flew across the Gobi desert. We even spied the fabulous sand dunes of Dunhuang and colourful Zhangye as we flew towards Urumqi north-westly.

Upon arrival at Urumqi airport we were still hesitant which hotel to check in. Mainly due to location and "old-ish" nature of the accomdation. Old means bed bugs and dirty linen etc.. Finally decided to take the cab and proceed as planned at the original hotel of Urumqi Yilite at Changjiang Rd. The one across the street happened to be called Yili Hotel, though no relation to the current one we are staying!

Initially we were allotted a SMART room which the curtains draws and undraws itself. Even before we step in the room already gives us the creeps. Quickly called the Hotel manager and got it changed.

Went to the Urumqi Bus Terminal and buy tickets for Turpan. At the same time source for cheaper taxi fare to the Tianshan Mountains. Managed to get one at RMB500 for the whole day compared to quoted by the lady for RMB700.

Rained in the morning.IT was cloudy whole day thereafter till about 6 in the evening. Windy and cool throughout the day temperature about 19-22 degrees.

The previous day I "chose" and negotiated a white taxi from the South Railway Station.

We exchanged WeChat numbers. Taxi driver quoted 500 RMB which was cheaper that the RMB700 quoted by the tour agency. Taxi driver "impatiently" waited at the Tianshan carpark till 5pm.

Taxi driver with primary school education was born in 1977. He migrated from Henan years ago with his family. Run a business in Xinjiang. Moved to Xinjiang so that his 2 children are able to compete in lower entry requirements in the schools or university.

We were told to register at the Police Post near the ticketing booth, together with tour guides from tour agencies.

Above 4000 metres, the majestic Tianshan mountain range was breath-taking. Took a "GREEN" bus up and up and round and round before reaching TianChi. Took about 45-50 minutes.

The lake was shrouded in mist as it rained earlier. We walked and strolled and took plenty of photos. Really awe-inspiring. It was very cold when it rained again near noon. Temp plunged to perhaps 10-12 degrees. Hordes of Chinese tourists from other provinces.

Khaz minority tribes inhabitated TianShan area since time immemorial. It was a long one hour taxi journey back to city area, feeling dizzy perhaps lack of sleep or due to mountain sickness no one knows.

Shocked when told cannot take photo at MaryBrown Fast Food Chain. The Uighurs girl looked frightened. Obviously been controlled and brain washed badly. They cannot live in peace under China rule.

4 June 2019 Tuesday Flaming Mountains

In Xinjiang, looks matters.

At the Urumqi North Train Station, the female train station master goes around checking the IDs of Uighur look-alike passengers. Only if you look like Uighurs will your identification be checked. Otherwise if you look like a Chinese Han no one will check your IDs even if you loiter around the train station ( me ... wandering around from 1st floor to the 3rd of the train station) Us the Hans are safe!

A young lady Uighur lady dressed in sporty red attire was checked. A mum carrying her baby was asked for identification papers. A handsome-looking Uighur young men was stopped for identification. An odd looking couple from Singapore whom look like Han Chinese were never asked for IDs (that's us!) Funny leh!

5 June 2019 Wednesday Hilton Hotel. Rou Ci Jiem(Hari Raya Puasa Equivalent)

In Xinjiang, the 7 Eleven equivalent is called Eight Thirty. There are tons of outlets of Eight Thirty everywhere. The equivalent of the Hari Raya Puasa is called Rou Ci Jie. A muted affair. The Uighurs are supposed to feast and partty and celebrate the end of the Fasting Month.

However it is not a Public Holiday in Xinjiang. There are no big scale celebrations and fireworks, nor any pasar malam like Geylang Serai.

Security checks in all buildings, shopping centres, commercial offices, etc, including and surprisingly some fast food chains and convenient stores have security guard posts. Electronic metal door scanners and well as citizen-guards checking your bags and asking you to drink a gulp of your water.

The security checkers will ask to drink from the bottle of water found in your bag as proof that it is really water. Brilliant !

We checked in to the Hilton Hotel as one of the top 3 most expensive hotels in Urumqi. And far from the Grand Bazaar which is in city centre.

6 June 2019 Thursday Commencement of 3-day University Entrance Examinations

Nation-wide national examinations starts. Even taxi drivers heed to the call of duty as they provide free services to fetch the students to the examinations hall.

Accidentally fell visiting Red Hill. HongShan Park. Wore dark glasses because of the heat. Missed a step. Careless. Extreme heat. Easily more than 38 degrees outdoors.

7 June 2019 Friday Dumpling Festival Public Holiday

Read in the Straits Times News (using Changi Wi-fi frequently low battery router) that in Kashgar, Xinjiang there's unrest. Mosques are burnt. I wonder why would the Uighurs burn their own mosques. It was quite calm in Urumqi though. Not a single sign of unrest.

We had dinner at the Fast Food chain. Seems like the Uighurs are happy. Their children are happy playing in the fast food outlets playgrounds.

At Hilton Urumqi during checkout time, a lady manager tries to be civil and exchange pleasantries. She asked if I am flying back or just checked in to the hotel.

A bit of traffic jam for the usual 30 minutes journey to the airport maybe due to the Dumpling Festival holidays.

Mad rush at the airport due to incoming crowds by the busloads. The worst are the airport security checks. Passengers are body search and scanned from head to toe literally, and the hands even went round the linings of my underwear beneath the belt area!

We were instructed to empty battery chargers, power banks, mobile devices, USB devices, keys, lighters, sharp objects etc from our self carry bags.

Those unidentified or unidentifiable objects were singled out, and have to rejoin back the queue to go through the scanners again!

Very thorough and rough checks. Very impractical, though, due to the hordes of passengers checking in all at the same time. Peak travelling season!

Flight back from Uruqmqi to Xian at 1520. However the plane started to taxi at 1503. Super efficient. It seems all passengers had boarded much earlier. Full flight onboard.

Reached Xian airport at 1805 instead of the scheduled 1835. Too much time on hand.

The Scoot flight back to Singapore was scheduled to depart only at 2330!!

8 June 2019 Saturday Home Sweet Home

Touched down Singapore at 0535 in the wee hours. Headed to Jewel to catch a glimpse of the Magnificent Waterfall but we are disappointed. Seems like the Waterfall only open from 10am to 10pm.

Conclusion

Tight security is an understatement in Urumqi.

Overall Urumqi gave me a feeling of over-hyped security and heightened sense of uneasiness for overseas tourists. Hence we saw only few foreign tourists compared to local Chinese tourists which comes in busloads.

Taking photos at the International Grand Bazaar and Er Dao Qiao is a no-no. From the young Uighurs, fear is in their eyes. One is the security boy at the Grand Bazaar and the other is the young worker at MaryBrown. We were asked to delete photos!

Another peculiar culture in Urumqi, drivers do not generally switch on air conditioning despite the hot weather. Actually I secretly observed and noticed that only the BMWs and Mercedes drivers turned on the air-conditioning.

The hot sun comes out at 6am and by 8am in the morning it is as hot as day! Yet taxi drivers on turn on the air conditioning after noon time. The cab driver explained it is due to "dry" heat phenomenon. Despite the hot sun, the temperature under the shade is very cool. Hence one will get sick easily if under air-conditioning whole day whilst driving!