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The Oriental Caravan's 

Postcard from 

the Southern Silk Road

September 2004

Kyrghizstan            Kashgar           Southern Silk Road            Kazakhstan

Kyrghizstan

Ceremonial guards, Bishkek

Mausoleums en route to the Tourgut pass

Goat among goats

Family at Bishkek market

Burana tower

Crescent moon on the fence 
of a grave, en route to Bishkek

Sign?

Steppe horses 

Outer spiral staircase 
of the Burana Tower

A bemused Marx and Engels look out across to the former headquarters of the Supreme Soviet of the Kyrghiz Republic, 
now the 'American University - Central Asia' 

Inner spiral staircase of the Burana Tower

Sausages on sale in Bishkek market

Bishkek central square

Grapes on sale in Bishkek market

Kashgar

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Uighurs, long term residents of Xinjiang

Great Uighur poet and philosopher Yusup Hazi Hajup's tomb, Kashgar

Lei Feng taxi, Kashgar

New buildings, Kashgar

Singing and dancing fruit garden

Market street (Bishkek)

Chinese tourists enjoy a cigarette 
on the steps of the Id Kah Mosque

Old Uighur Man, Kashgar

Street barber, Kashgar

Id Kah mosque minaret 
as seen through the gate of a 
backstreet development in Kashgar 

In Kashgar a statue of Mao 
beckons towards the east

Street market, Kashgar

New square in front of 
Id Kah Mosque,

Kashgar Market

Wood turner, Kashgar

Soon to be demolished veranda 
in the old part of Kashgar

Video cassettes (in Arabic) 
on sale in Kashgar market

Young metal workers, Kashgar

Prize specimen!

New building, Kashgar

Dentist, Kashgar

Old town, Kashgar

Sheep bottoms for sale in Kashgar Market

Old town Kashgar

Chinese tourists pose 
in the new square 
 of the Id Kah Mosque

Garlic seller, Kashgar Market

Mahmud Kashgari's mausoleum

Mahmud Kashgari's mausoleum

Mahmud Kashgari's tomb

Mahmud Kashgari's statue (Bishkek)

Bitter Melon Beer

Southern Silk Road

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Beached fish on tributary 
of the Tarim River

The desert loving Hu Yang tree found in some parts of the Taklamakan

Taklamakan mummies - mummified people from an Indo European tribe said to have inhabited the Tarim basin several thousand years ago 

Khotan (Hetian) town centre 

Temple at Miran from where Aurel Stein removed frescoes of winged angels

Istanbul Supermarket,

Outskirts of Khotan

Statue in the centre of Khotan of Chairman Mao 

Malikwat ancient city, near Khotan

Tibetan temple, opposite the fort, in Miran

One of many new roads under construction

Crumbling crenellation, Miran fort

Gez defile between Korla and Turpan

Last remaining stretch of Road 218, the longest brick road ever built at 245 km, constructed during the cultural revolution

New resort set up at Bosten Lake  to provide leisure facilities for the ever increasing number of Han migrants arriving from China

New silk road under construction

Gez defile

Museum building covering the site 
of well preserved mummies near Cherchen

Mummified person, Xinjiang

Great Leap west

Tibetan fort, Miran

Mosque, Niya (Minfeng)

Roadside shrines between Cherchen and Charklik

Pottery shards, near Cherchen

Korla

Hard going in the sands 
of the Southern Xinjiang

Highway between Charklik and Korla

Steppe cloud

Yusup Hazi Hajup's tomb (Kashgar)

Lunch somewhere en route to Loulan new town

the 'Golden Man', a Sacae warriors costume 
(copy displayed)
that dates from around the 5th century BC, 
 found at Issyk kurgan in south-eastern Kazakhstan. .

Yurt erection, Kyrghizstan

Bare landscape among the ruins of Miran

Newcomers bring variety
to the cultural life of new Turfan

Kazakhstan

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Hero of the Great Patriotic War 
1941-1945
Almaty, Kazakhstan

Close-up of the Golden Man's hat 
reveals mountain goats

Golden man's costume (copy)

Guide and driver (Kyrghizstan)

Zenkov Cathedral, Almaty

Russian menu, Almaty

Cattle as seen from the Turk-Sib Express,
en route to Almaty

Almaty

War Memorial, Bishkek (Kyrghizstan)

War Memorial, Almaty

That's all for the moment. The next set of photos will be from 
The Oriental Caravan's unforgettable December desert journey through Libya. Until then, best wishes,

 from Phil

and all aboard The Oriental Caravan

01/02/05

dates and prices

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