Today was scheduled as a rest day in Kashkar, and I was very happy to have one more day in China to eat nice food and rest before continuing the journey.

I started the morning very slowly, only getting up at 9:30 (fearing that I’d miss the 10am cut off for breakfast).

A close up of Mao

Then, I went off to get my laundry. While it was more expensive than I’d anticipated, the service was no good! They handed me my underwear and socks still wet, saying (you can dry this yourself at home). Um, no, it doesn’t work like that. And so they put the clothes in for one more drying cycle while I waited.

One thing I have noticed here (and also in Kyrgyzstan) is that service staff are generally less attentive to the needs of customers. This manifests in often being slow to serve, forgetting orders, taking shortcuts, etc. I guess different people groups must have very different expectations and affinity to the service industry; the Thai and Filipinos generally are very lovely and are happy to work in this industry; Australians do it for the love of the cuisine/coffee/alcohol; and I guess in other parts, whether it is because the service industry is just emerging or because culturally to serve others is not a prideful pursuit, the experience is very different.

While waiting for the clothes to dry I took a walk in the park. It was bustling, full of senior citizens dancing, playing chess, table tennis, and some even sword fighting!

table tennis in the park

dancing waltz!

sword fighting…

I also had a look at the latest Huawei tech. The tablets are getting very impressive now, and I was tempted to pick one up but I realised that I have too many things that I never end up using, so my self restraint won in the end.

I puttered about for the rest of the day; a pedicure near the hotel, some snacks and fruit at the ancient city, and a stroll around the vicinity.

i tried to find “The Dark Forest” in chinese from the Three Body Problem Triology before realising that it was a Xinhua bookstore (aka government bookstore)

A lot of red

Shae, the dog of Alex and Mauricio

Traditional soup cooking

A police officer helping a blind guy walk in the direction he was after

Dinner was scheduled with the entire tour group (including arrivals from the Pakistani border; a Swiss couple and two Koreans) at a local Uyghur restaurant. While the tour guide was away (honestly, I have not been very impressed by the service of this tour), I was the defacto guide, ordering for people (inattentive staff yet again!), teaching basic Chinese phrases, etc. I do enjoy helping, but I also feel like the companies should be doing more. I also had a similar problem with my own tour; there was no communication about the plan for me tomorrow until I chased it down from the guide.

Our small dinner table (of 3); the Koreans who came from Pakistan, and Alex and Mauricio

I spoke to the arrivals from Pakistan to hear about the route ahead. It sounds like Chinese customs are shocking (hopefully I have an easier time when leaving), but otherwise the roads are clear and the weather has been very pleasant and sunny. No snow or ice on the roads; music to my ears.

After dinner was some final admin and then we said our farewells! I’m sorry to be leaving the group; it seems like a good group of very adventurous and kind people.

Tomorrow; Tashkorgan!

Some stats:

• No fuel added
• No KMs traveled
• 30g coffee consumed
• 8 unique interactions