Xinjiang Trip Day 12 (31-3-2007)
After doing a little work I had a late breakfast with Johnathan at Fubar and then caught the bus to Turpan.
On arrival in Turpan I met yet another prick of a Uigur. He must have hopped on the bus as it was coming into town, and as it approached the station he came over and offered me an introduction to a hotel (calling it ‘my hotel’) and tour services. I did take him up on the hotel offer because I had nothing else in mind and the rooms turned out to be a good deal (albeit only after his initial price was cut more than in half). The man then offered me a 400RMB tour for the next day to several of the sights around Turpan. I had no idea about the distances to these sights, and had not even checked what there was to see in the area, so I told him I’d think about it and let him know later. He said he would call me at 6pm. While we were chatting I asked if the museum would still be open after 5.00pm and he told me it was closed. After sitting in my room a little while I had a feeling the museum must be open and checked again with reception who told it didn’t close until after 7.00pm. So he had been lying.
I headed down to the museum and, as a courtesy to the guy, told reception to tell him I was at the museum and to leave a message for me. A couple of girls working in the ticket office took me on a tour of the museum, and while chatting with them I realized that his 400 RMB was a complete con. His tour only took in the closest sites to the city, while other tours for half the price also visited the more distant sites. Just as I was discussing distances and car hire costs with the two girls I felt a presence behind us and turned round to see that the slimeball had come into the museum and was eavesdropping on our conversation. He started accusing me of being dishonest for coming down to the museum when I had said I would wait for his call at the hotel, but realizing there was nothing to gain from hanging around he quickly left, leaving a bad taste in the air.
The girls showed me round the rest of the museum, including the display of preserved corpses unearthed along the Silk Road. They were remarkably well preserved, and some were wearing clothes that were still completely intact. There was also a display of fabric samples discovered in the area, including pieces of more than 2000 year old cloth that looked practically new. There were also oddities like preserved Chinese dumplings.
Turpan was a dull town to walk around, with very long wide streets and few shops or restaurants. For dinner I ate ‘da pan ji’ (big dish chicken - a sort of spicy chicken stew). I thought this was a Uigur dish, but all the restaurants in Turpan seemed to prepare it in more of a Chinese style, using Sichuan pepper.
