Day 30 Saturday 24 September 2011 Kashgar

Morgan being crated up for 7000 km truck trip to Shanghai where our local shipper also has an office.

About all we could face from the buffet breakfast was cold tomatoes & bread. The locals all piled up their plates but it was disgusting to see the wastage.

We met the guide at 9.30 am as arranged to be told that our hotel did not have room for us tonight so he had to move down the street to the next hotel.

We sent many emails to try & organise trucking the car to Shanghai where our usual Melbourne

shipping agent has a branch. Prompt response from Wongy at Tomax.

Windscreen view of Morgan being trucked to shipping company

In the meantime the guide had found a place that would truck the car to Shangai.

When we arrived there we found that the car would be put, not in a shipping container, but a wooden crate.

At trucking company for transport to Shanghai

We were to come back tomorrow to inspect the crate & on Monday had to organise a Customs inspection to get the car out of China.

Next we saw a travel agent in the hotel & organised flights to Llasa. These will not be direct but go to Urumqi (overnight), Chengdu (overnight) & then on to Llasa on Friday.

Very difficult to do any business here as credit cards are unheard of & everything, no matter the amount, has to be paid in cash…several trips to ATM’s.

As there wasn’t much else we could do today (4.30pm by now) we walked around what was left of the old Kashgar. Most had been demolished in the name of progress but some old parts still remain, down back alleys etc.

We also walked via a lively street with bread sellers, open air butchers, “antique” sellers & the like.

Bread stall in street: lots of these stalls but this type of bread doesn't seem to get to restaurants

Advertisement for a dentist: whole row of dentists next to the main mosque

Old Kashgar

Typical street scene: the cooking smoke adds to the industrial smog & fumes

Without the Puce Goose, The Great Game continues for us. The earlier participants in the 1800s and early 1900s often had their plans thwarted and had to adapt and make do. We will do the same.  The Puce Goose has done some amazing segments on unbelievably bad roads, and we will forge on by whatever means possible to Calcutta.